Former Vice President Joe Biden issued a painfully careful, hair-splitting denial about the allegations surrounding his son Hunter Biden’s lucrative dealings in Ukraine.

“We never once discussed it when he was there,” Biden told the Associated Press Monday. “There’s not a single bit of evidence that’s been shown in any reporting that’s been done that he ever talked about it with me or asked any government official for a favor.”

“All the reports indicated that not a single, solitary thing was inappropriate about what my son did. He never talked to me. He never talked to anybody in the administration,” Biden added.

First some background. As Breitbart News previously reported:

When he was vice president, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine if officials did not fire the country’s top prosecutor, who was pursuing a corruption investigation of an energy company while his son Hunter was serving on the board. The connection was revealed in author Peter Schweizer’s best-selling book Secret Empires, and the reporting was confirmed in the New York Times. Hunter Biden was paid as much as $50,000 per month while serving on the board, as his father led the Obama administration’s policy with Ukraine.

So, basically the allegation is this: To protect his son’s company and that sweet, sweet $50,000 per month salary, as vice president, Biden abused his position by threatening to kill a billion dollars in aid to one of our allies if that country’s prosecutor, who was looking into corruption surrounding Hunter’s company, was not fired.

During an appearance on Breitbart News Tonight last month, Schweizer said the prosecutor was indeed fired and pointed to reporting from The Hill’s John Solomon, who wrote that this prosecutor “told me in written answers to questions that, before he was fired as general prosecutor, he had made ‘specific plans’ for the investigation that ‘included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.”

Knowing this, there is no way to read Biden’s slippery denial and not smell a total dodge, a carefully crafted way to issue a denial that is meant to distract everyone with words like “never” and “no evidence” that have no real meaning.

Let’s walk through it carefully:

“We never once discussed it when he was there.”

Biden claims he and Hunter never discussed the prosecutor or the investigation. That’s a meaningless statement no one can verify, and as you will see below, it is awfully hard to believe this was all a big coincidence that worked out so well for Hunter. But then Biden gets tricky:

“There’s not a single bit of evidence that’s been shown in any reporting that’s been done that he ever talked about it with me or asked any government official for a favor.”

Well, what does that mean? Where would evidence come from about private conversations? And why would Hunter have to talk to anyone other than his dad? Why would Hunter have to talk to government officials when his own dad is vice president of the United States?

Biden is spewing nonsense, because this is what he wants us to believe…

It was just a wild-eyed, geopolitical coincidence that Vice President Biden used the threat of withholding American aid to call for the firing of a prosecutor who was a threat to his own son. No, really, don’t you see, it was all a big coincidence!

Boy, that Hunter Biden must be the luckiest guy in the world. Imagine how relieved he was when, straight out of the blue, this surprise turn of events occurred, which had absolutely nothing to do with him. In fact, he did not even know any of this was happening until all his problems magically disappeared!

I’ll bet when he learned the news, Hunter called his dad and said, “Dad, you will never guess what just happened? I know there was no way for you to know this because we never spoke of it, but that guy you got fired was threatening to investigate my company.”

And Joe said, “OMFG, I had no idea. Isn’t it funny how life sometimes works, son?”

“Gee, it sure is, Dad.”

This is not the denial from Joe Biden I was looking for.

What I wanted to hear from Biden is that he was not motivated by a familial conflict of interest to threaten and muscle an ally.

What I wanted to hear is that Biden never asked Ukraine to fire this prosecutor. But he can’t deny this because the far-left New York Times verified it.

What I wanted to hear is a straight-up, flat-out denial that no threats were made against the same prosecutor who was looking into his son’s company. But Biden can’t deny this because the far-left New York Times verified it.

So all Biden could do is spew gibberish no one can verify about private conversations, telling us nothing and explaining even less.

What’s more, the second part of Biden’s non-denial-denial is even worse.

“All the reports indicated that not a single, solitary thing was inappropriate about what my son did. He never talked to me. He never talked to anybody in the administration.”

Again, more meaningless drivel about Biden and Hunter’s private conversations. However, it is what Biden did not say that spoke the loudest…

Had Biden assured us that neither he nor anyone on his staff ever once brought up his son’s company to anyone in Ukraine, that would have been a real denial. But Biden did not say that, did not deny that, did not crawl out on a limb that could be contradicted by any number of people — those on Biden’s staff and government officials in Ukraine.

You see, no one can contradict a private conversation between father and son because only father and son know about those conversations. But that is as far as Biden’s denial went, which means his denial is nothing close to a denial and there are still a ton of questions left to be answered.

Why did Biden want this prosecutor fired?

Why did Biden threaten our ally if he was not fired?

Did Biden or anyone on his staff mention Hunter’s energy company during these threats?

This was really all a big, fat, coincidence, Joe?

This is the first I’ve written about any of this. I was waiting to hear Biden’s side of the story, and as of right now, his side of the story is pure BS and deflection.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.