The Republican-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee demanded records from President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and from the president’s brother, James, related to the duo’s overseas dealings with Chinese intelligence-linked businessmen.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who now holds the committee gavel, fired off the Thursday letters to James and Hunter Biden, as well as to Hunter's former longtime business partner Eric Schwerin, arguing that the three men “are key witnesses in our investigation of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s international and domestic business schemes.”
“Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections,” Comer said. “Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world, including individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party, to enrich themselves to the detriment of American interests. If President Biden is compromised by deals with foreign adversaries and they are impacting his decision making, this is a threat to national security.”
While Joe Biden was vice president, his son profited greatly as a member of the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma. He also pursued business deals in China and elsewhere during and after his father’s tenure, raking in millions due to these associations. The younger Biden believed some of the Chinese businessmen he was working with were tied to Chinese intelligence.
The letter to Hunter Biden noted that “evidence shows that you engaged in foreign business deals with individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party and received significant amounts of money from foreign companies without providing any known legitimate services” and said GOP investigators are “investigating President Biden’s knowledge of and role in these foreign business deals to assess whether he has compromised our national security at the expense of the American people.”
JORDAN AND TURNER DEMAND INFO FROM HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP DENIER LETTER SIGNATORIES
CEFC China Energy was a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by Ye Jianming, a tycoon with links to the Chinese Communist Party who later disappeared in China but with whom Hunter Biden had attempted to work out numerous deals.
Comer told Hunter Biden to hand over a host of records and documents by Feb. 22, including any communications with Joe Biden, James Biden, or James’s wife Sara Biden related to his or their interactions with CEFC officials, including Ye Jianming, Patrick Ho, and Gongwen Dong.
Hunter Biden received at least $5 million in payments from CEFC, and Ho, a CEFC deputy, also agreed to pay him a $1 million retainer. Ho was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Hunter Biden referred to Ho as "the f****** spy chief of China" in a 2018 voice recording.
House Republicans also told Hunter Biden to hand over all information on his former business partners, including Schwerin, who was a leader at the Rosemont Seneca consultancy with Hunter Biden, as well as including James Gilliar and Robert Walker, who were involved with the efforts by Hunter and James Biden to set up deals with CEFC.
The GOP also told Hunter to hand over all communications with Tony Bobulinski, who has said that the “10%” for “the Big Guy” in a 2017 email related to the CEFC business efforts was a reference to Joe Biden. Bobulinski had said he met Joe and Hunter Biden in person to discuss potential business deals with China.
Hunter was also told to provide the committee with all records of his interactions with Jonathan Li. Hunter Biden wrote in his memoir that in 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden flew on Air Force Two to Beijing, where the older Biden was meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Hunter Biden arranged for his father to shake hands with Li in a hotel lobby. Hunter Biden would go on to be a longtime 10% stakeholder in BHR Partners, formed along with Li, with the firm investing in a number of controversial Chinese companies that have been sanctioned by the United States.
Comer also told Hunter Biden to hand over all of his communications with former business partner Devon Archer, who had joined the president’s son on the board of Burisma, and was separately sentenced to prison for fraud last year.
Additionally, Hunter Biden was specifically told to hand over all documents related to his Rosemont Seneca, Hudson West, Owasco, and Skaneateles businesses. He was also told to provide the committee with all of his records related to CEFC, Bohai Harvest, and Burisma.
Comer also asked for similar records related to travel with any government agency, all domestic and international financial activities such as overseas bank accounts and wire transfers, and any interactions with the Biden Foundation and the Penn Biden Center.
The House Republicans also told Hunter Biden to hand over “any document, record, or communication designated classified by any government body, including but not limited to any constituent agency of the U.S. Intelligence Community.”
This request comes amid the revelation that Joe Biden’s personal attorneys said they discovered classified documents in early November at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. Biden’s lawyers later discovered additional classified documents at his house in Wilmington, Delaware, and the DOJ found more when it conducted its own search last month.
Comer sent a nearly identical letter to James Biden, as well as a similar letter to Schwerin.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in October that “protected disclosures” by whistleblowers revealed that “the FBI has within its possession significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct” by Hunter Biden and James Biden.
The whistleblower allegations relate to the duo’s dealings with CEFC as well as to Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma. Grassley said his staff "reviewed the unclassified records" supporting the whistleblower claims. This evidence was forwarded to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is investigating Hunter Biden.