Republicans on the House Oversight Committee say they have now identified over $21 million that flowed to President Joe Biden’s family and their associates from foreign sources over the course of the mid-2010s.
The broad majority of that comes from sources in China and Eastern European nations. In their investigation, Republicans on the panel identified a trend of Mr. Hunter Biden and his associates “courting wealthy oligarchs with political and financial influence but tainted backgrounds,” as several business contacts identified in the reports have since faced criminal action for corruption or illegal business practices.
The committee has so far subpoenaed six different banks, receiving thousands of records, including the new ones, as they probe the Biden family. They haven’t yet subpoenaed records of members of the family. None of the payments so far uncovered have been directly tied to President Biden, though at least one account that received money was held by an unidentified Biden.
Due to the use of nearly 20 different corporate entities and even more bank accounts, Republicans have had to review thousands of pages of bank records to piece together an image of Mr. Hunter Biden’s alleged sprawling web of interests.
The panel accused the Biden family of “[using] associates’ companies to receive foreign funds and [attempting] to conceal their payouts from those funds by incremental payments to various accounts over time.”
Still, after months of research into the bank records, Republicans have begun to put together the story of Mr. Hunter Biden’s diverse foreign business dealings over the course of the 2010s.
$3 Million From Romania
The committee first discusses the sourcing of more than $3.1 million that was paid to Mr. Hunter Biden and his business associates from a source in Romania.That money originated with Bladon Enterprises, owned by Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu. Mr. Hunter Biden, a lawyer, reportedly provided legal advice to Mr. Popoviciu when the business mogul was facing criminal action for corruption—a trend among Mr. Hunter Biden’s associates, the panel argued.
Mr. Popoviciu was later prosecuted on counts of corruption.
Two of Mr. Hunter Biden’s associates were involved in the Romanian enterprise: Mr. Rob Walker, the owner of Robinson Walker, and Mr. James Gilliar, owner of the European Energy and Infrastructure Group (EEIG).
For reasons the panel was unable to discover, Ms. Hallie Biden—President Biden’s daughter-in-law, a school counselor—also received $10,000 after a payout from Mr. Popoviciu’s firm. Ms. Biden, the widow of the late Beau Biden, began a publicly-acknowledged relationship with Mr. Hunter Biden following her husband’s death.
Another undisclosed member of the Biden family also received money from Mr. Popoviciu.
In total, Republicans were able to identify more than $3.1 million that went to the Bidens, Mr. Gilliar, and Mr. Walker. Of that amount, roughly $1.038 million went directly to the Biden family.
Between November 2015 and May 2017, Robinson Walker received 17 payouts in amounts ranging from $172,000 to over $186,000.
Mr. Hunter Biden and his family never received the money directly from Bladon Enterprises. Rather, each payout was credited to the account of Robinson Walker and then dispersed piecemeal to Biden family members.
$8 Million From China
The panel has also discovered roughly $8 million from Chinese sources that benefited the Bidens and Mr. Hunter Biden’s business associates.On March 1, 2017, State Energy HK Limited wired a payment of $3 million to Robinson Walker.
The next day, Mr. Walker sent a payment of $1.065 million to EEIG, Mr. Gilliar’s company.
The same amount was paid to the Bidens but was spread out in incremental payments over the course of several months.
The beneficiaries discovered included the still-unidentified “Biden,” Ms. Hallie Biden, Mr. Hunter Biden’s Owasco PC and RSTP II, the president’s brother Mr. James Biden’s JBBSR Inc, and an unidentified account called First Clearing believed to belong to Mr. Hunter Biden.
The unidentified “Biden” received $70,000. Ms. Biden received $25,000 following the payout. Mr. James Biden received $360,000. The remaining $610,692 is believed to have gone to Mr. Hunter Biden.
In the second report on bank records, the panel reviewed additional information about State Energy HK Limited, as well as new information on Chinese businessmen Ye Jianming and Dong Gongwen, each of whom was connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) affiliated energy firm CEFC, which is now bankrupt.
Mr. Ye reportedly had close ties to the CCP regime, serving as the deputy secretary-general of a Chinese body connected to the CCP’s military.
CEFC, a firm with which Mr. Hunter Biden had a close business relationship, also had close ties to the central communist regime.
Mr. Dong, an associate reported to have been Mr. Ye’s “CEFC emissary” in the United States, established several firms in the United States, each named under a variation of “Hudson West,” and other firms like CEFC Infrastructure Investment. Each of these firms directly benefited Mr. Ye.
The formation of so many firms was indicative of a Chinese effort to launder money into the United States, the panel said.
In June 2017, Mr. Ye wired an initial payment of nearly $25 million to Hudson West V, registered under Mr. Dong’s name. In August 2017, Mr. Ye wired an additional $110 million.
That same month, Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Dong established a new firm, Hudson West III, in which both men were 50 percent owners.
Between its founding in 2017 and October 2018, Republicans found, Hudson West III wired $4 million to firms associated with Mr. Hunter Biden and $75,000 to firms associated with Mr. James Biden.
In 2018, CEFC’s enterprise began to fall apart when Mr. Ye was arrested by Chinese authorities.
Mr. Hunter Biden sought to distance himself from the firm, saying in an email reportedly verified by The Washington Post, “I am not in a [venture] with CEFC. I am not partners with CEFC. I am not employed nor funded by CEFC.”
The panel report called this statement “false,” saying it had identified a wire transfer of $100,000 from a CEFC subsidiary to Mr. Hunter Biden’s firm Owasco PC in August 2017—the same month the first son founded Hudson West III with Mr. Dong.
That money came from Shanghai Huaxin, a company incorporated in China.
Just a week after he founded CEFC Infrastructure in the United States, with a controlling interest in the firm to be held by Hudson West V, Mr. Dong transferred a 100 percent stake in the company to Shanghai Huaxin.
The next month, Shanghai Huaxin wired $10 million into CEFC Infrastructure. The $100,000 payment to Mr. Hunter Biden was made by CEFC Infrastructure to Mr. Hunter Biden the month after.
Additional payments of $5 million also were transferred from CEFC Infrastructure to Hudson West III, bringing the total Mr. Hunter Biden received to $5.1 million from the CCP-connected firm.
The panel accused Mr. Dong of trying “to hide the foreign source of the money” by “layering LLCs formed in Delaware.”
$3.5 Million From a Russian Oligarch
Another source of income to Mr. Hunter Biden and his associates totaling $3.5 million was Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina.In March 2014, Ms. Baturina wired a payment of $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, a firm registered in Delaware by Mr. James Bulger of which Mr. Hunter Biden was a beneficiary, as part of a “consultancy agreement.” The firm was one of several subsidiaries of Rosemont Seneca Partners, a firm founded by Mr. Biden in 2009, involved in the transactions investigated by the panel.
Later, $2.75 million was sent from Rosemont Seneca Thornton to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, another subsidiary of Rosemont Seneca Partners.
The other $750,000 went directly to Mr. Archer.
The spring following the $3.5 million wire transfer, then-Vice President Biden attended and stayed for dinner at the Cafe Milano in Washington with Ms. Baturina, Mr. Archer, Mr. Hunter Biden, and others.
$142,000 Gift From a Kazakhstan Businessman
Mr. Hunter Biden also received $142,300 from Mr. Kenes Rakishev, a Kazhakstani businessman.Mr. Rakishev was an oligarch and millionaire and served as a director at Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil company KazMunayGas. Mr. Rakishev had close ties to Mr. Karim Massimov, who became prime minister of Kazakhstan on April 2, 2014, and who was later sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason, abuse of power, and attempting a coup.
On Feb. 5, 2014, Mr. Rakishev met with Mr. Hunter Biden in Washington.
On April 16, 2014, Mr. Hunter Biden, then-Vice President Biden, Mr. Rakishev, and Mr. Massimov attended a dinner at the Cafe Milano in Washington.
Just six days later, on April 22, 2014, Mr. Rakishev sent a wire for $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, the firm jointly owned by Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Archer, by way of a Singaporean firm. The next day, Rosemont Seneca wired the exact same amount to a luxury dealership in New Jersey to purchase an expensive sports car for Mr. Hunter Biden.
$6.5 Million From a Ukrainian Energy Firm
Finally, Mr. Hunter Biden and his associates received $6.5 million from the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma over the course of a years-long relationship with the company, the panel found.Specifically, the Oversight Committee said this figure was derived from the testimony of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. They said this figure was consistent with their own findings.
Mr. Hunter Biden’s relationship with Burisma began in the spring of 2014.
At the time, Mr. Hunter Biden was retained by the firm as legal counsel. However, he was soon upgraded to board member status after a meeting with Burisma corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky and owner Mykola Zlochevsky, according to testimony by Mr. Archer.
According to Mr. Archer’s testimony to the Oversight panel, as director Mr. Hunter Biden was paid roughly $83,000 per month, equating to a yearly salary of $1 million. These payments were sent from Burisma’s account to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, the firm jointly owned by Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Archer.
Rosemont Seneca Bohai’s account was used both for the personal expenses of Mr. Hunter Biden and for joint investment activities with Mr. Archer. Payments from Burisma were later transferred to Owasco, Mr. Hunter Biden’s professional corporation, in small increments.
Mr. Archer could not explain why Mr. Hunter Biden used Rosemont Seneca Bohai rather than another account for the income from Burisma.
In 2014 and 2015 alone, the panel found, Mr. Archer and Mr. Hunter Biden received $3.32 million from Burisma, accounting for over half of the total $6.5 million the two received from Burisma.
Establishing the Link to Joe Biden
In their third report, the panel referenced the testimony it heard from Mr. Archer.Mr. Archer also told the panel that President Biden was “the brand” his son used to gain access to his high-level business associates.
“No one in the Biden Administration or in the Minority has explained what services, if any, the Bidens and their associates provided in exchange for the over $20 million in foreign payments,” the panel wrote.
“Joe Biden, ’the brand,' was the only product the Bidens sold,” they wrote.
Still, critics of the investigation have said that these findings establish no clear links to President Biden, as they have not proven that President Biden directly benefited from foreign income received by Mr. Hunter Biden.
In a statement after the release of the bank records memo, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said, “Today House Republicans on the Oversight Committee released another memo full of years-old ‘news,’ innuendo, and misdirection—but notably missing, yet again, is any connection to President Biden.”
In the report, committee Republicans replied to this contention.
“President Biden’s defenders purport a weak defense by asserting the Committee must show payments directly to the President to show corruption,“ they wrote. ”This is a hollow claim no other American would be afforded if their family members accepted foreign payments or bribes. Indeed, the law recognizes payments to family members to corruptly influence others can constitute a bribe.”
They accused President Biden of “moving the goalpost” about how involved he was as more information has come to light.
While the president previously claimed to have no knowledge whatsoever of his son’s business dealings, the White House has since amended the claim to one that “the president was not in business with his son.”
This claim too has been challenged by former associates of Mr. Hunter Biden’s.
Most prominently, Mr. Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of Mr. Hunter Biden’s, has confirmed that the then-vice president was involved, but that there was an unspoken rule “[not to] mention Joe.”
Mr. Bobulinski has also alleged that President Joe Biden did receive cash from his son’s business dealings, referencing an email discovered on Mr. Hunter Biden’s laptop referencing a 10 percent cut for “the big guy.”
“The ‘big guy’ is Joe Biden,” Mr. Bobulinski told reporters.
