WASHINGTON — The National Archives has finally released a photo of Vice President Biden meeting with two Chinese government-affiliated business partners of his eldest son Hunter Biden, another example of the president's interactions with the family's foreign benefactors. I proved that I was lying when I said it didn't happen.
A cache photo released just days before Biden left office on January 20, long after Biden had any potential for political prominence, also shows Vice President Biden during a visit to Beijing in December 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also seen grinning as he introduces his son.
The meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden, which has not attracted much attention so far, appears to have been over a meal, but Mr. Hunter called it “pretty surprising'' in an email to his former colleague Devon Archer. states. spend 2 hours together [but it] Extended to 7 hours. I think they love each other. ”
It's been about two months since Mr Xi launched his ambitious Belt and Road campaign to boost foreign influence and investment, and BHR Partners, a Chinese state-backed company aligned with that vision, has It was about to be launched in collaboration with Mr. Hunter.
The newly released photo, which would have been politically explosive had it been released during the currently closed House impeachment inquiry into corruption allegations against the Biden family, shows Biden as the next CEO of BHR Partners. He is seen shaking hands with CEO Jonathan Lee and greeting the company's managing director Ming Xue. .
Joe Biden later wrote college recommendation letters for two of Li's children, and Archer said Hunter greeted Li in a subsequent speakerphone conversation when he returned to Beijing.
BHR Partners was officially registered as a company 12 days after the Second Air Force plane landed in Beijing with the Biden family, The Wall Street Journal reported. reported.
The company has played a key role in China's acquisitions of overseas companies, including the acquisition of cobalt mines in Congo from companies in the United States and Canada in 2016. Cobalt is used in electric car batteries.
The troubled eldest son, now 54, held a 10% stake in BHR through at least part of his father's presidency, and is credited with “sugar brother” Kevin, who loaned Hunter an amount believed to be in excess of $6.50. He states that he has relinquished management rights to Morris. Since I met him at a 2019 Biden campaign fundraiser, $1 million has been raised.
These photos were released to the America First Legal Foundation in response to a transparency lawsuit.
“The AFL obtained the photos through our lawsuit against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) filed on September 8, 2022,” said the group, led by President-elect Donald Trump's adviser Stephen Miller. I wrote With X.
“NARA was scheduled to release these photos on October 23, 2024, 13 days before Election Day. Lawyers and representatives for Presidents Biden and Obama said they were expected to release these photos, along with other important records, by NARA. The release of these photos has been postponed until after Election Day.
The latest announcement does not mention Joe Biden's alleged interactions with his son and brother James Biden with officials from a second major Chinese state-owned company.
Mr. Biden is said to have attended a luncheon with CEFC China Energy Chairman Ye Jianming at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington in early 2017, and shortly before the first $3 million flowed to a consortium of Biden family associates. Rob Walker, an associate of the Biden family, testified before Congress.
These funds are a thank you for the preparatory work done while Biden was still vice president, Walker said.
Hunter Biden claimed in his impeachment testimony earlier this year that he couldn't remember his father making a cameo appearance at lunch with Ye, who disappeared amid President Xi's purported anti-corruption campaign. It becomes.
A May 2017 email written by Biden family member James Gillier mentioned Joe Biden and another former family member, Tony Bobulinski, and ranked them among the top 10 “great people.” % reduction is written in pencil and states that he spoke with Joe Biden about the CEFC project in the same month. .
Another $5.1 million went to entities associated with Hunter and James Biden after Hunter wrote a letter to CEFC officials in July 2017 saying he was “sitting here with my dad” and expected to be paid. flowed directly.
CEFC's operations focused in part on China's attempts to purchase US natural gas.
The fact that Joe Biden met with foreign associates of his son and brother James Biden during his time as vice president and in subsequent years has been established by eyewitness testimony, including Hunter's own testimony in February. , the president continued to deny while asking for a second question. election.
“I did not interact with their partners,” Biden told a Post reporter in March. About five months earlier, fellow Democrats in rebellion had forced the incumbent to abandon his party's presidential nomination in July following a disastrous debate result. Republicans then concluded their impeachment inquiry in August by releasing a report accusing Biden of abuse of power.
“Didn't you have dinner, lunch or coffee?” The Post then followed up, citing contrary witness testimony from former business associates of the first family.
“No,” said the president.
Last December, Biden similarly denied having any contact with his son or his brother's partner, saying: And that's just a bunch of lies. those are lies. I didn't. Those are lies.''–Nearly 70% of Americans, including 40% of Democrats, believe he has acted illegally or unethically regarding his family's business interests, according to the Associated Press. When asked about the findings.
Hunter Biden acknowledged numerous interactions between his father and business associates, including shaking hands with Lee, but claimed in his impeachment testimony that they were brief.
Republicans have accused Biden of misleading the public about his role in his family's foreign consulting business, and both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) have accused Biden of exporting fentanyl. , claimed that China had taken an unnecessarily soft approach toward China on a variety of issues, including espionage and criminal activity. The origin of COVID-19 was caused by his family receiving government funds.
Joe Biden interacted with other foreign members of his family.
As the second son, Hunter admitted that in 2014 and 2015 he organized dinners for his father and business associates from Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine at Café Milano in Washington.
Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were photographed at one of their dinners with a group from Kazakhstan, including Kenneth Rakishev, who bought Hunter a $142,000 sports car.
Another dinner guest was Vadim Pozharsky, an advisor to the board of directors of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, who Hunter has worked with since early 2014, when Hunter's father took control of the Obama-Biden administration's policy toward Ukraine. was paid a salary of $1 million.
Mr. Pozharskiy's letter of thanks to Mr. Hunter was the subject of the Post's first bombshell report from the current president's son's discarded laptop in October 2020, but his father's campaign He vaguely denied it, insisting that there was no mention of such a meeting on the official calendar.
Documents from laptop cast doubt on Joe Biden's claim that he “never” discussed business with his son and brother, and then-Democratic presidential candidate revealed a cache of documents during the final debate of the 2020 election. falsely claimed to be a “Russian factory.”
Photos from a laptop also show Joe Biden having breakfast at the vice president's residence in 2015 with a group of Mexican businessmen whose relatives were courting. He also gave the group a tour of the White House.
The outgoing president granted his son a sweeping pardon on December 1st. The move vacates Hunter's June conviction on firearms charges, avoiding potential criminal charges for unregistered foreign lobbying that could have led to further scrutiny of his role in the business dealings. Ta. In September, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion of $1.4 million.
The White House, Hunter Biden's legal team, BHR Partners and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
