WASHINGTON — A newly surfaced document allegedly helps prove Hunter Biden was indeed working with Chinese state-linked CEFC China Energy while his dad was still vice president — as long suspected by Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into reputed corruption by the president.
President Biden has repeatedly claimed his family never got money from China — despite his own alleged direct involvement in two different Chinese government-backed ventures.
“We anticipate working together on a number of opportunities in the US and abroad,” says the potentially damning March 22, 2016, letter that surfaced Tuesday and was addressed to CEFC Executive Director Jianjun Zang on Hunter’s letterhead about 10 months before his dad Joe left office as vice president.
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“As we await your next visit to the United States, please continue to coordinate all matters with my confidant and trusted advisor, James Gilliar,” the letter says.
Walker provided the document to the House impeachment inquiry ahead of his Jan. 26 closed-door deposition — which also backed up some of what the letter suggests with other alleged evidence.
The e-mail was published Tuesday as part of his interview transcript.
It is unclear if the letter, presumably signed by Hunter, actually reached Zang and, if so, if any of the wording was revised.
E-mails indicate that an assistant to Hunter was due to dispatch the letter to the Chinese once approved.
Joe and Hunter Biden have not specifically confirmed or denied the start date of a CEFC relationship, but Hunter is expected to be grilled on that detail during his own deposition later this month.
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He is one of the Republicans’ best hopes of confirming damning details about the president’s ties to his relatives’ Chinese government-linked relationships.
President Biden has said that in addition to his family never getting money from China, he had no interactions with his relatives’ business associates and that Hunter’s abandoned laptop was Russian disinformation — claims which were disproven.
Biden, then as vice president, interacted with first son Hunter and first brother James Biden’s patrons from Russia, Mexico, Kazakhstan — as well as having coffee in 2013 with the CEO of an earlier Chinese state-backed Hunter Biden venture in China.
In his congressional testimony, Walker broadly defended the president from allegations of wrongdoing while also firming up key details in the Republican impeachment case, including saying the origins of the Hunter Biden-CEFC relationship dated to as early as 2015.
An investigator asked Walker, in reference to a different document, “it’s fair to say that by February of 2016 you, James Gilliar, and Hunter Biden had begun pursuing business with CEFC?”
“That is correct,” Walker replied.
“I do remember Zang being in DC,” Walker added. “He was in DC probably three or maybe four times.”
Walker also told investigators that Joe Biden, just weeks after leaving office as vice president, met with his son’s CEFC partners, including Chairman Ye Jianming, at the Four Seasons hotel in DC.
Joe Biden stopped by the meeting shortly before the Biden family received an initial tranche of more than $1 million from CEFC, Walker said.
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Gilliar insisted that the $3 million payday “had nothing to do with” Joe Biden’s stop-in at the DC hotel and that it was in fact payment for services provided during Biden’s vice presidency.
“The $3 million payment, then, was payment for the success that you had previously shown them. Do I have that right?” an investigator asked.
“From the opportunities that we had shown them, yes,” Walker said.
‘BELT AND ROAD’ AND THE BIDENS
The CEFC venture fueled one of the most explosive corruption allegations against Joe Biden in 2020 when communications appeared to show the Democratic nominee getting a cut from the Chinese government-linked partnership, which sought to procure resources abroad for China.
A May 2017 e-mail from Gilliar, recovered from Hunter’s laptop, penciled in Joe Biden, nicknamed the “big guy,” for a 10% cut that was to be “held by H,” though evidence has not confirmed that the president ever received that slice.
An October 2017 e-mail also named Joe Biden as a participant in a call about CEFC’s attempt to purchase US natural gas.
Republicans say that the president was a central figure in the lucrative relationship.
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“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] that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.”
Within 10 days of 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 DOJ report came out last week. Follow The Post’s coverage here.
The IRS whistleblowers say they were blocked by the Justice Department from getting cell-phone geolocation data that could have proven that Hunter and Joe Biden were indeed together — but photos from Hunter’s laptop show he was indeed at his father’s home at the time.
Walker’s testimony filled in some of the broader CEFC timeline, including the origins of the relationship.
Additional e-mail records produced by Walker showed that Hunter Biden was copied on preparations for a February 2016 CEFC board meeting in Beijing, which Gilliar was due to attend.
In a Feb. 23, 2016, e-mail, Gilliar wrote, “it has been made clear to me that CEFC wish to engage in further business relations with our group and we will present a few projects to them.”
Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden ultimately received more than $7 million from CEFC in 2017 and 2018.
An American partner in a proposed CEFC joint venture, Bobulinski, alleged in 2020 that he twice discussed the plans with Joe Biden in May 2017.
CHINESE THOUGHT HUNTER’S NAME COULD OPEN DOORS: WALKER
Walker told investigators that the Chinese seemed to be impressed by Hunter’s surname.
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“Well, I think in Zang’s eyes — that I worked for Hunter and that James worked for us or for Hunter, and so that would be — he was viewed as the principal of this organization by Zang,” Walker said.
“And that’s because of his last name?” the questioner pressed.
“I can’t answer for Zang, but, sure, he had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” replied Walker, who said his own relationship with Hunter later soured over a $50,000 personal loan he made to the first son that was never repaid.
Spokespeople for the White House and Hunter Biden’s legal team did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment Tuesday.
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/02/13/news/e-mail-allegedly-helps-prove-bidens-in-biz-with-china-linked-firm-while-joe-was-vp/amp/
