President Joe Biden twice denied Wednesday that he had anything to do with his son’s ‘shakedown text message,’ which showcased Hunter Biden’s willingness to use his father’s clout to pressure a Chinese business associate to pay him.
Hunter told Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017 in a WhatsApp message that he was ‘sitting with his father,’ adding, ‘and we would like to know why the commitment made was not fulfilled.’
Hunter was known to be staying at the guesthouse of President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware residence at the time.
On the South Lawn Wednesday as he departed for Chicago, the president was asked how involved he was in his son’s Chinese shakedown text message – and if he was seated beside Hunter, as the message said.
‘No, I wasn’t and I -,’ he said pausing. When pressed again he loudly said, ‘No!’
President Joe Biden twice denied Wednesday on the South Lawn that he had anything to do with a WhatsApp message his son Hunter sent to a Chinese business associate, using his father’s clout to pressure the official to pay him
The president’s son was staying at the guest house of Biden’s Delaware home when he wrote to Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017, revealing that his father was seated beside him and asking ‘why the commitment made was not fulfilled’
The existence of the message prolongs the drama surrounding the president’s son as Biden, 80, starts to campaign for a second term in earnest.
Last week, Hunter agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and likely entering probation over a gun charge.
But two IRS whistleblowers told House Republicans that they believed the president’s son got preferential treatment in criminal investigations.
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee released the claims last week, with the sources saying Hunter failed to pay taxes on $8.3 million in income and the Delaware’s U.S. Attorney David Weiss had wanted to bring charges against Hunter in California and Washington, D.C. and was denied.
The WhatsApp message was given to House Republicans by one of the IRS whistleblowers.
Hunter’s lawyer Chris Clark responded by calling the whistleblower ‘biased.’
Clark also pointed out how Hunter was in the throes of addiction when he insinuated his father, then the former vice president, was involved in his business deals.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer pointed out that the first son was in the throes of addiction when he insinuated his father was involved in his Chinese business deal
‘Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrible addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,’ Clark said.
Clark also pushed back on Republican complaints that the Department of Justice’s investigation into the president’s son didn’t go far enough.
‘An extensive, five-year-long investigation conducted by the United States Department of Justice concluded this week, which resulted in my client taking responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments, as well as a firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement,’ said Clark. ‘As his attorney through this entire matter, I can say that any suggestion the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or cut my client any slack, is preposterous and deeply irresponsible.’
Weiss himself had assured House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan that he had full autonomy over the investigation.
Weiss was one of the few Trump appointed U.S. attorneys who retained his job once Biden came into office – and did so because he was in charge of the Hunter probe.
On Tuesday, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released more of Hunter’s WhatsApp messages.
In messages from August 2017, the first son pushed that $10 million needed to be invested annually into the joint venture with CEFC China Energy, and called a $5 million proposal ‘new to me’ and ‘not acceptable, obviously.’
The House Oversight Committee’s Twitter account said that Hunter was messaging Gongwen Dong, a CEFC China Energy associate who used the nickname ‘Kevin.’
‘I’m tired of this Kevin,’ Hunter said. ‘I can make $5 million in salary from any law firm in America. If you think it’s about money, it’s not. The Biden’s (sic) are the best at doing exactly what Chairman wants from this partnership. Please let’s not quibble over peanuts.’
The next day one of Hunter’s shell companies, OWASCO PC, was given a $10,000 payment from CEFC, the House Oversight Republicans said, sharing a receipt.
In a series of tweets Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee Republicans released new WhatsApp messages between Hunter Biden and a Chinese business associate as they embarked on an energy deal in August 2017
The ‘chairman,’ Republicans said, was now missing Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming, who disappeared in February 2018 after being taken into custody by Chinese authorities.
The Oversight Committee Republicans alleged that Ye was tied to an intelligence gathering agency for the Chinese Communist Party.
‘Ye stated that that CEFC China’s vision “is to obtain overseas resources and serve the national strategy,”‘ Oversight Republicans’ Twitter account said. ‘He wanted to expand China’s reach and influence around the world.’
‘As more facts come to light, it becomes even more evident that the Bidens put China and their interests first and America last,’ House Oversight Republicans charged.
Ye had previously been questioned by federal authorities in New York in November 2017 over a bribery scheme related to CEFC’s business in Chad and Uganda.
Ye’s lieutenant, Patrick Ho, was eventually convicted of seven counts of bribery and money laundering in relation to the bribery scheme.
Ho had dialed James Biden, Hunter’s uncle and the president’s brother, upon being arrested, according to a 2018 New York Times profile of CEFC’s downfall.
James Biden told The Times that he believed the call was meant for Hunter.
‘There is nothing else I have to say,’ James Biden told the paper. ‘I don’t want to be dragged into this anymore.’
Since January, the House Oversight Committee under the leadership of Chairman James Comer has been looking into what he calls Biden family ‘influence peddling.’
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