Grassley Urges DOJ to Evaluate Whether Hunter Biden Should Register as Foreign Agent

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) speaks during Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee to serve as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 4, 2018. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) urged the Justice Department (DOJ) to look into whether Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and his uncle James Biden should have registered as foreign agents due to their business dealings with a Chinese energy company with links to the Chinese military.

Grassley sent a 7-page letter (pdf) on Monday to Attorney General William Barr asking the department to determine whether Hunter and James Biden had complied with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) over their efforts to come to a deal with CEFC China Energy (CEFC).

“The actions by Hunter Biden and James Biden on behalf of CEFC, Ye Jianming, and other officers connected to CEFC, potentially make them agents of the Chinese government for purposes of longstanding public disclosure laws,” Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote in his letter.

The multi-billion-dollar Chinese energy giant is led by Ye Jianming, who had ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He also served as deputy secretary-general of the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) from 2003 to 2005, according to a report released in September (pdf) by Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

The association is a front group for the Chinese military’s former General Political Department (GPD), a political organ within the Central Military Commission—the Chinese Communist Party agency that controls the military, according to a 2018 report published by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). The GPD was replaced by a new agency called the Political Work Department in 2016.

“When the available evidence is taken as a whole, it is clear that CEFC intended to make inroads in the United States for the purpose of expanding its business and used Hunter Biden and his business associates to help effectuate that intent. In pursuit of its goals, it appears that CEFC may have taken action to influence U.S. policy and public opinion in its favor and gain access to several U.S. politicians in an attempt to curry favor for potential business transactions,” Grassley said.

The report also provides details on Hunter Biden’s “questionable financial transactions” with Chinese nationals connected to the country’s regime and military and other foreign business pursuits.

It found that Hunter Biden began developing associations with Chinese nationals beginning in at least 2009, the year he co-founded the U.S. investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners. These financial connections “accelerated while his father was vice president and continued after he left office,” the report stated.

Joe Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates previously said the Senate report was using taxpayer dollars to launch “an attack founded on a long-disproven, hardcore rightwing conspiracy theory.”

Biden was also associated with Chi Ping Patrick Ho, a business associate of Ye’s and CEFC, who was charged and convicted of international bribery and money laundering offenses, according to Grassley.

Hunter and James Biden’s alleged business dealings with Chinese executives were also exposed in emails obtained by The New York Post.

FARA, which was enacted in 1938, requires agents of foreign governments and entities who are engaged in political activities or other activities on behalf of the foreign entity to disclose their relationship and the details of the activities.

The Epoch Times reached out to Hunter Biden’s attorney for comment.

Frank Fang contributed to this report.