Joe Biden's role in son's China deal goes public

FPI / October 25, 2020

"Joe Biden needs to come clean before Americans go to the polls," the New York Post Editorial Board noted on Thursday.

At the very least, the evidence revealed on Thursday by Hunter Biden's business partner Tony Bobulinski indicates that Joe Biden was lying about never discussing his son Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings.

“Hunter Biden called his dad ‘the Big Guy’ or ‘my Chairman,’ and frequently referenced asking him for his sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing. I’ve seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I’ve seen firsthand that that’s not true, because it wasn’t just Hunter’s business, they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line,” Bobulinski continues.

The Washington Times reported that Hunter Biden was involved in "myriad million-dollar deals" with China and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee has more than 45,000 documents on the deals.

Committee Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa co-wrote a report which accused Hunter Biden of cashing in on Joe Biden's vice presidency.

"There is no bottom-line number for how many millions of dollars Hunter Biden was paid by oligarchs in Moscow and Ukraine, as well as by Communist Party-linked companies in China," the report said.

“I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life,” Biden said at Thursday's debate with President Donald Trump.

But analysts said that is a typical politician response from someone who has been in politics for nearly 50 years.

Biden was playing political semantics and the major media will let him get away with it.

If Hunter Biden took money from China, Russia, Ukraine and others and then gave it to Joe Biden, that would in the semantics game confirm Joe's contention that he "took" no money from foreign sources. He merely was gifted the money by his son.

In other words, Joe Biden took money from other countries, he sold access to his office, but he wasn’t physically handed a check or a pile of cash so that puts him in the clear?

Bobulinski said in a statement on Thursday:

“The facts set forth below are true and accurate; they are not any form of domestic or foreign disinformation. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and offensive. I could no longer allow my family’s name to be associated or tied to Russian disinformation or implied lies and false narratives dominating the media right now.”

He reveals: “I am the recipient of the email published seven days ago by the New York Post which showed a copy to Hunter Biden and Rob Walker. That email is genuine.”

Another partner sent that May 13, 2017, e-mail (subject line: “Expectations”) to detail “remuneration packages” for six people involved in a venture with Shanghai-based conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co.: 10 percent would be “held by H for the big guy” — and Bobulinski confirms the “big guy” was Joe Biden. “The other ‘JB’ referenced in that email is Jim Biden, Joe’s brother,” says Bobulinski.

Bobulinski, who served in the Navy before pursuing an investment career and notes he’s made “few campaign contributions,” all to Democrats, concludes: “I don’t have a political ax to grind; I just saw behind the Biden curtain and I grew concerned with what I saw. The Biden family aggressively leveraged the Biden family name to make millions of dollars from foreign entities even though some were from communist controlled China.”

Bobulinski says the Chinese weren’t looking to make a “healthy” return on investment: “They were looking at this as a political or influence investment.”

The New York Post Editorial Board said Joe Biden needs to answer: "Does he know Tony Bobulinski? Is the man lying? Why was the former veep meeting with Hunter Biden’s business partners when he’s angrily denied ever discussing his son’s overseas deals? And did Hunter fork over big money to Joe?"

Kimberley Strassel noted in a Wall Street Journal report that Bobulinski provided the Journal emails and text messages associated with his time as CEO of Sinohawk Holdings, a venture between the Bidens and CEFC China Energy, a Shanghai-based conglomerate.

That correspondence corroborates and expands on emails recently published by the New York Post, which says they come from a Hunter laptop.

Bobulinski’s text messages show he was recruited for the CEFC project by James Gilliar, a Hunter associate. Gilliar explains in a December 2015 text that there will be a deal between the Chinese and “one of the most prominent families from the U.S.” A month later he introduces Rob Walker, also “a partner of Biden.” In March 2016, Gilliar tells Bobulinski the Chinese entity is CEFC, which is shaping up to be “the Goldmans of China.” Gilliar promises that same month to “develop” the terms of a deal “with hunter.” Note that in 2015-16, Joe Biden was still vice president.

As the deal takes shape in 2017, Bobulinski begins to question what Hunter will contribute besides his name, and worries that he was “kicked out of US Navy for cocaine use.” Gilliar acknowledges “skill sets [sic] missing” and observes that Hunter “has a few demons.” He explains that “in brand [Hunter is] imperative but right know [sic] he’s not essential for adding input.” Bobulinski writes that he appreciates “the name/leverage being used” but thinks the economic “upside” should go to the team doing the actual work. Gilliar reminds him that those on the Chinese side “are intelligence so they understand the value added.”

This dispute almost derails the deal. Hunter is hardly visible through most of the work, until final contract negotiations ramp up in mid-May. He brings in his uncle Jim Biden for a stake. (Gilliar in a text message soothes Bobulinski with a promise that Jim’s addition “strengthens our USP” — unique selling proposition — “to the Chinese as it looks like a truly family business.”) Hunter in texts and emails wants offices in three U.S. cities, “significant” travel budgets, a stipend for Jim Biden, a job for an assistant, and more-frequent distributions of any gains. As for annual pay, he explains in an email that he expects “a hell of a lot more than 850” thousand dollars a year (the amount Bobulinski, the CEO, is getting), since his ex-wife will take nearly all of it.

Bobulinksi pushes back, warning Gilliar in a text that they need to “manage” Hunter because “he thinks things are going to be his personal piggybank.” The duo worry about his “mental state,” substance abuse, and his ability to make meetings.

Hunter, in his own angry texts, makes clear that his contribution is his name. He rails at Bobulinski that the CEFC heads are “coming to be MY partner to be partners with the Bidens.” He reminds him “that in this instance only one player holds the trump card and that’s me. May not be fair but it’s the reality because I’m the only one putting an entire family legacy on the line.” Gilliar privately tells Bobulinski to show flexibility, since “I know why [CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming] wants the deal and what makes it enormous, It’s the family name.”

CEFC was closely entwined with the Chinese government and military until it went bankrupt, following U.S. charges of money laundering. "There is no question CEFC was buying Hunter for influence," Strassel notes.

Joe Biden claims he has never discussed his son’s business. Yet a May 2017 “expectations” document shows Hunter receiving 20 percent of the equity in the venture and holding another 10% percent for “the big guy” — who Bobulinski said is Joe Biden.

In one text, Hunter says that “my Chairman gave an emphatic NO” to a version of the deal. Walker, Hunter’s partner, explains in a text to Bobulinski that when Hunter “said his chairman he was talking about his dad.”

Bobulinski’s texts show he even met with Joe Biden. Gilliar reminds him in May 2017: “Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they are paranoid.”

Biden had left office by then, though CEFC was always a suspicious company with ties to a rival government.

Strassel notes: "It would have a been risky for any public figure to deal with it, much less a potential presidential candidate. Biden was given ample opportunity to deny the authenticity or facts of the Bobulinski information at Thursday’s debate; he didn’t."

The deal fell through on the Chinese end in the summer of 2017. CEFC was supposed to supply $10 million; it never arrived. This is where Sen. Johnson's report comes in. The Senate report notes that CEFC wired $5 million to a company called Hudson West in August 2017. The report says an associate of CEFC Chairman Ye in September opened a line of credit under Hudson West’s name, and Hunter, Jim Biden and Jim Biden’s wife, Sara, were given credit cards associated with the account, and bought items totaling more than $100,000.

The report says Hudson West also sent $4.7 million in “consulting fees” to Biden’s law firm over the course of a year. Bobulinski suspects Hunter and Jim had found an easier way to cash in on their name, one that didn’t involve pesky partners and complex deals. He sent a furious text to Jim Biden after the release of the Senate report, accusing Hunter and Jim of “lying” to their partners and secretly taking money from CEFC. The FBI last year subpoenaed Hunter’s laptop.

"All of this is news," Strassel pointed out. "The press corps that is ignoring it spent four years writing about Donald Trump’s Moscow business. The correspondence meanwhile blows up Rep. Adam Schiff’s claim that the Hunter story is Russian 'disinformation.' It raises real concerns about what security risks Hunter might pose for a Biden administration. And it raises questions about Joe Biden’s involvement."

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