Hunter Biden admitted in court during his failed plea deal hearing on Wednesday that he received over half a million dollars from a company with links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), appearing to contradict President Joe Biden’s earlier claim that no one in the Biden family made any “money from China.”
The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, would later seek clarification about that company.
“$664,000 from a Chinese infrastructure investment company. Is that one of the companies we’ve already talked about?” she asked.
“I believe so,” Mr. Biden replied.
“Which one is that?” the judge asked.
“I believe CEFC,” the president’s son answered.
CEFC is a CCP-linked Chinese energy company. It was founded by Ye Jianming, whom Hunter Biden told the judge was the individual he co-founded the firm Hudson West with in 2017.
“Who was your partner?” the judge asked.
“I don’t know how to spell his name; Ye Jianming is the chairman of that company,” which Mr. Biden said is no longer in existence.
Hunter Biden’s remarks in the Delaware court appear to contradict the president’s earlier denials.
“My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what are you talking about, China,” Mr. Biden told then-President Donald Trump during a televised debate in October 2020.
“The only guy who made money from China is this guy,” Mr. Biden said at the time, referring to Mr. Trump. “He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the apparent contradiction.
Spotlight On CEFC
CEFC has been in the crosshairs a number of times before, most recently as part of an IRS whistleblower’s redacted testimony (pdf) before the House Ways and Means Committee.The whistleblower disclosed WhatsApp messages indicating that Hunter Biden demanded $10 million from CEFC, promising services from “the Bidens” in return.
The Epoch Times reached out to Hunter Biden’s attorney following the disclosure of the alleged demand for $10 million from CEFC but did not receive a reply.
Further, a report from a Republican-led Senate probe of Hunter Biden’s business dealings found that he had conducted business with multiple Chinese nationals linked to the CCP, including Mr. Ye.
At the time, a spokesperson for Hunter Biden’s legal team confirmed to Fox News that the payment had taken place, but stressed that the accounts “belonged to Hunter, his uncle and Hallie–nobody else,” referring to Hallie Biden, widow of the president’s deceased son Beau.
Probe Into Biden Family Business Dealings
Hunter Biden’s admission in court on July 26 that he received money from CEFC and that his business partner was the firm’s chairman comes as House Republicans continue to probe the Biden family’s overseas business dealings, arguing that there are possible national security implications to payments from foreign nationals.A spokesperson for the White House said earlier that the Oversight Committee’s probe into the Biden family is a waste of time and accused Republicans of engaging in a politically motivated investigation.
A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said at the time that questions need to be answered about the Biden family’s business dealings and that the panel is “investigating how the Biden family benefited from influence peddling and if President Biden is compromised by his family’s business transactions with foreign adversaries.”
Meanwhile, during the July 26 hearing in Delaware, the judge refused to accept Hunter Biden’s plea deal, which Republicans had criticized as too lenient.
The unraveling of the deal led to Mr. Biden entering a not guilty plea, setting the stage for a revised plea agreement in the future as the judge gave both sides 30 days to file briefs addressing her concerns.
Hunter Biden was on track to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges for failing to pay taxes and agree to a so-called diversion agreement that would allow him to avoid prosecution on a gun charge.
