A newly surfaced document allegedly helps prove that Hunter Biden was working with Chinese state-linked CEFC China Energy while his father was still vice president, as Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into the president’s alleged corruption suspected.
President Biden has repeatedly claimed that his family never received money from China, despite their alleged direct involvement in two different companies backed by the Chinese government.
“We anticipate working together on a number of opportunities in the U.S. and abroad,” reads the potentially damning March 22, 2016, letter that surfaced Tuesday and was addressed to CEFC CEO Jianjun Zang, with the Hunter’s letterhead, about 10 months before his father Joe left. position of vice president.
“I believe we have presented a collection of projects that parallel your and your team’s interests and we look forward to discussing them in detail,” reads the draft letter to Zang, which was distributed between Hunter and his partners Rob Walker and James Gilliar. as an email attachment.
“As we await your upcoming visit to the United States, please continue to coordinate all matters with my confidant and trusted advisor, James Gilliar,” the letter reads.
President Biden has repeatedly claimed that his family never received money from China, despite their alleged direct involvement in two different companies backed by the Chinese government. Getty Images
Walker provided the document to the House impeachment inquiry before his closed-door testimony on Jan. 26, which also backed up some of what the letter suggests with other supposed evidence.
The email was released Tuesday as part of the transcript of his interview.
It is unclear whether the letter, presumably signed by Hunter, actually reached Zang and, if so, whether any of the text was revised.
The emails indicate that an aide to Hunter was to send the letter to the Chinese once approved.
Joe and Hunter Biden have neither specifically confirmed nor denied the start date of a CEFC relationship, but Hunter is expected to be questioned about that detail during his own deposition later this month.
In the hot seat during a closed-door session of the impeachment inquiry Tuesday was another former Biden family associate, Tony Bobulinski.
He is one of Republicans’ best hopes for confirming damning details about the president’s ties to his relatives’ relationships with the Chinese government.
President Biden has said that, in addition to his family never receiving money from China, he had no interactions with his relatives’ business partners and that Hunter’s abandoned laptop was Russian disinformation, claims that have been refuted.
Joe Biden, as vice president, interacted with the sponsors of his first son, Hunter, and his first brother, James Biden, from Russia, Mexico, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and had coffee in 2013 with the CEO of a former Hunter company Biden backed by Chinese state, according to evidence and laptop photos. and witness statements.
In a court filing Tuesday, the Justice Department said it provided Hunter’s legal team in a weapons case with a “complete and identical” copy of the infamous laptop recovered by the FBI in 2019 from a Delaware repair shop and first reported by The Post.
Hunter’s representatives and Democrats have yet to use that cache to support their claims that some evidence publicly presented against the president may have been manipulated.
A newly surfaced document allegedly helps prove that Hunter Biden was indeed working with Chinese state-linked CEFC China Energy. REUTERS
In his congressional testimony, Walker comprehensively defended the president against allegations of wrongdoing while also confirming key details in the Republican impeachment case, including the fact that the origins of the Hunter Biden-CEFC relationship date back to 2015. .
An investigator asked Walker, referring to a different document, “it is fair to say that in February 2016 you, James Gilliar and Hunter Biden had begun doing business with CEFC.”
“That’s correct,” Walker responded.
“I remember Zang was in DC,” Walker added. “He was in DC probably three or maybe four times.”
Walker also told investigators that Joe Biden, just weeks after stepping down as vice president, met with his son’s CEFC partners, including Chairman Ye Jianming, at the Four Seasons hotel in DC.
Joe Biden attended the meeting shortly before the Biden family received an initial tranche of more than $1 million from the CEFC, Walker said.
The $1 million haul for the Biden family, which was split between Hunter Biden, his uncle James Biden and sister-in-law Hallie Biden, according to bank records, was about a third of a $3 million transfer from a corporate affiliate. . to Walker, who kept about a third and sent a third to Gilliar.
Gilliar insisted that the $3 million payday “had nothing to do” with Joe Biden’s visit to the D.C. hotel and was, in fact, payment for services performed during Biden’s vice presidency.
“The payment of 3 million dollars, then, was payment for the success that you had previously shown them. Do I have that right? asked one researcher.
President Biden reportedly met with his son’s CEFC partners at the Four Seasons hotel in DC. Rachman, Chad
“Because of the opportunities we had shown them, yes,” Walker said.
‘BELT AND ROAD’ AND THE BIDENS
The CEFC company fueled one of the most explosive corruption allegations against Joe Biden in 2020 when communications appeared to show that the Democratic candidate received a share of the partnership linked to the Chinese government, which sought to obtain overseas resources for China.
A May 2017 email from Gilliar, recovered from Hunter’s laptop, penciled in Joe Biden, nicknamed the “big guy,” for a 10% cut that was going to be “held by H,” although the Evidence has not confirmed that the president ever received that portion.
An October 2017 email also named Joe Biden as a participant in a call about CEFC’s attempt to buy American natural gas.
Business partner Gilliar warns Tony Bobulinski: “Don’t mention that Joe is involved.”
Republicans say the president was a central figure in the lucrative relationship.
A threatening July 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to a China-based CEF associate named Raymond Zhao specifically invoked his father and warned of retaliation if an agreed-upon deal was not executed, according to language provided to Congress last year. by IRS whistleblowers.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter wrote. “Tell the director [Zang] I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of control, and now that means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or a text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the president, I will make sure that the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to maintain a relationship forever resentment that you will regret not having followed my instructions.”
Ten days after that message, CEFC transferred $5.1 million to bank accounts linked to Hunter and James Biden, according to a 2020 report by Republican-led Senate committees.
President Biden’s memory has come under scrutiny since a scathing Justice Department report was released last week. Follow The Post’s coverage here.
IRS whistleblowers say the Justice Department prevented them from obtaining cell phone geolocation data that could have proven Hunter and Joe Biden were indeed together, but photos from Hunter’s laptop show he was indeed at his friend’s house. father at that time.
Walker’s testimony filled out part of the broader CEFC chronology, including the origins of the relationship.
Additional email records produced by Walker showed that Hunter Biden received copies of arrangements for a February 2016 CEFC board meeting in Beijing, which Gilliar was scheduled to attend.
In an email dated February 23, 2016, Gilliar wrote: “It has become clear to me that CEFC wishes to establish further business relationships with our group and we will present some projects to them.”
Hunter Biden and his first brother James Biden ultimately received more than $7 million from the CEFC in 2017 and 2018.
Bobulinski, an American partner in a proposed CEFC joint venture, alleged in 2020 that he twice discussed the plans with Joe Biden in May 2017.
THE NAME OF THE CHINESE THOUGHT HUNTER COULD OPEN DOORS: WALKER
Walker told investigators that the Chinese seemed impressed by Hunter’s last name.
“Why use Hunter Biden to send the letter instead of Rob Walker or James Gilliar, especially if James Gilliar was in the original relationship?” asked a House investigator.
“Hunter in our relationship was that everyone had different roles. He was who I imagine Zang would expect him to come from,” Walker responded.
“Is it because he was the son of the vice president at the time?” the congressman asked.
Hunter Biden and his first brother James Biden ultimately received more than $7 million from the CEFC in 2017 and 2018. Getty Images
“Well, I think in Zang’s eyes — that I worked for Hunter and James worked for us or Hunter, and that’s how it would be — Zang considered him the head of this organization,” Walker said.
“And that’s because of your last name?” the interrogator pressed.
“I can’t vouch for Zang, but, sure, he had an interesting last name that would probably appeal to people,” responded Walker, who said his own relationship with Hunter later soured over a $50,000 personal loan he made to the former. son who was never returned.
Spokespeople for the White House and Hunter Biden’s legal team did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn