Biden snaps as 'Today' show host confronts him on Hunter

Joe Biden reacts to Savannah Guthrie's questioning of his son Hunter Biden's Ukraine deal in a "Today" show interview aired Feb. 3, 2020 (screenshot)

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden got testy with the "Today" show's Savannah Guthrie for confronting him about the conflict of interest in his son Hunter's position with a corrupt Ukrainian firm.

Biden charged in an interview aired Monday that Guthrie didn't know what she was talking about as she pressed him on an arrangement that "seems kind of sleazy" to many people.

The former vice president – who was the point man for Ukraine policy while his son was paid $1 million a year by a Ukrainian company under investigation for corruption – said it's "a good thing that no one's found anything wrong with his dealing with Ukraine except they say it sets a bad image."

Guthrie then asked: "Do you think it was wrong from him to take that position –"

Biden interrupted: "No."

Guthrie finished her question: "– knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?"

"Well that's not true," Biden retorted. "You're saying things – you do not know what you're talking about. No one said that. Who said that? Who said that?"

Guthrie pressed further.

"Don't you think that it's just one of those things where people think, 'Well that seems kind of sleazy. Why would he have that job if not for who his father was?"

Biden said his son is "a very bright guy" but admitted the "appearance" wasn't ideal.

"Well, he said he regretted having done it," Biden said of his son. "Speak for himself. He's a grown man."

See Biden's exchange with the 'Today' show's Savannah Guthrie:

Hunter Biden's receipt of more than $3 million from the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings while his father oversaw a U.S. effort to address corruption in Ukraine was a subject of the July 25 phone call at the center of the articles of impeachment against President Trump.

Trump mentioned to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the call that Joe Biden openly boasted of threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine if then-Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko did not fire the country's general prosecutor, who was investigating Burisma at the time.

See Joe Biden's boast:

Democrats contend Trump's request that Zelensky assist Attorney General William Barr in looking into potential corruption in Hunter Biden's position amounts to digging up dirt on a political rival, insisting there was "no basis" for any investigation.

But the White House presented evidence last week in the Senate trial to bolster its argument that it was a legitimate matter of public interest. The president's lawyers argued, for one, that two witnesses called by the House Democrats testified that the Obama State Department expressed concern that the Biden arrangement was a conflict of interest.

According to State Department documents, Burisma invoked Hunter Biden's name when it pressed the Obama State Department to end a corruption investigation into the company.

See White House defense lawyer Pam Bondi present details of the Hunter Biden-Ukraine connection:

Peter Schweizer, who exposed the Hunter Biden-Ukraine deal in his 2018 book "Secret Empires," said in an interview last week with SiriusXMs Breitbart News Daily that the key to understanding the matter is the timing.

"The timing is clear: February of 2014, Putin moves into Crimea, that creates this whole crisis," he said. "In March of 2014, Joe is point person on Ukraine policy. Within three weeks, Ukrainians suddenly decide, 'Hey Hunter Biden is the guy, the expert, we want to join this company. And yeah, we need to pay him a million dollars a year.'

"You look at that and think, 'This is absurd.' ... It's not like he was advising Ukraine in 2005," said Schweizer.

His new book, "Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite," presents evidence that five members of Biden's family profited from his position as vice president of the United States.

Schweizer also recalled that when the Obama administration "pivoted" its foreign policy to Asia, Hunter Biden accompanied his father on a trip to Beijing on Air Force Two.

"Joe goes over there on one of his first significant trips, and what does he do? His son comes with him, and 10 days after the trip, the son suddenly announces this billon-and-a-half-dollar private equity deal," Schweizer said.

"It’s clear, it's crystal clear what’s going on."