The Bidens have attracted a wide range of conspiracy theories between them whether it be that President Joe Biden wears a mask of his own face, that he was pictured on Air Force One with a "little boy," or that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the destruction of documents connected to Hunter Biden.
The discovery of cocaine at the White House has led to a myriad of unsubstantiated rumors, including from former President Donald Trump who made the evidence-free claim that an unnamed "they" use cocaine to "pump" Joe Biden up before speeches.
Among the most recent conspiratorial claims was a rumor that a JPMorgan Chase director, James Crown, who was killed in a motorsports crash in June, had damaging information about President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden.
The Claim
Multiple social media posts, published between June 30 and July 2, 2023, claim that the late JPMorgan executive James Crown had damaging information on the Biden family.
QAnon influencer Liz Crokin tweeted, on June 30, 2023, viewed 923,000 times, stating: "REPORT: Senior JP Morgan board member and billionaire, James Crown reportedly vowed to expose damning evidence regarding financial crimes involving Joe and Hunter Biden before his unexpected death from 'blunt force trauma' in Colorado from a car accident."
Another tweet, posted by user @TaraBull, on July 2, 2023, viewed 2.3 million times, also stated: "In case you missed it, a Senior JPMorgan board member and billionaire, James Crown, who vowed to expose damning evidence of financial crimes involving Joe and Hunter Biden, died unexpectedly from blunt force trauma."
The Facts
Crown died on June 25, 2023, at age 70, killed at the members-only Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colorado, in a single-vehicle collision with an impact barrier, according to reports.
Crown was chairman and chief executive officer of Henry Crown and Company. It has stakes in a diverse range of businesses including the Aspen Skiing Company—which runs the popular resort—and the aerospace and defense firm General Dynamics Corporation. Forbes estimated the Chicago family's fortune at $10.2 billion as of December 2020.
The incident was described by Chief Deputy Coroner Audra Keith, of the Pitkin County Coroner's Office as a "single vehicle accident," with evidence of "multiple blunt force trauma."
The claim that Crown was to reveal information on the Bidens before his death follows similar conspiratorial stories that have appeared online following the death of famous public figures.
Among the most infamous of these is that multiple celebrities have died while trying to uncover underground sexual abuse rings, claims that are either entirely fabricated or based on very tenuous information.
Apart from the topic matter, Crown's death appears to have been similarly exploited and, much like those other deaths, is based on an entirely fabricated premise.
There is no evidence to support any claim. Articles that have led with this false headline offer no evidence themselves.
A screengrab in the Liz Crokin tweet showed what appeared to be a news article titled "Dead JP Morgan Executive, Reportedly Vowed To Expose Biden Crimes."
Newsweek found a copy of this article which, at best, poorly attempts to make very tenuous links between JPMorgan and a number of common conspiratorial targets such as Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, and Hunter Biden's Rosemont Seneca investment firm.
There is simply no evidence here or elsewhere that supports the claims made on social media.
By all accounts, the Bidens and James Crown shared a friendly relationship. President Joe Biden even went as far as to honor Crown, releasing a statement a few days after he died.
"Jim represented America at its best—industrious, big-hearted, and always looking out for each other. He was a good man, a dear friend, and a great American," Biden wrote.
"Jill and I send our love to his wife, Paula; their four children and two grandchildren; as well as to Jim's parents, Renee and Lester, and his six brothers and sisters."
In short, there is no evidence that Crown was to expose, or was in possession of, any damaging information on the Bidens prior to his death and the claim's construction fits the shape of similar posthumous conspiracies, which are typically based on no (not even dubious) evidence to support them.
Crokin, who shared the claim about Crown on Twitter and Telegram, has helped promote the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory and has accused famous public figures of being "satanic pedophiles."
In May, crowdfunding platform Buy Me a Coffee said it had suspended all known accounts associated with QAnon figures, following an investigation by Media Matters for America. Crokin's page on Buy Me a Coffee is no longer accessible.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative at JPMorgan Chase, Liz Crokin via a website contact form, and a White House representative via email for comment.
The Ruling
False.
There is absolutely no evidence to support this claim. Blog posts that may have been the source of this fabricated allegation have not substantiated their claims either.
The notion that a public figure was investigating or had important information about powerful people or groups before their death has become a common trope of conspiratorial disinformation.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
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