Hunter Biden's pardon from President Biden on Sunday not only applies to his tax and gun charges, but also clears him from charges dating back a decade to when Biden served as vice president. grant exemption.
Hunter Biden's pardon applies to crimes against the United States that Hunter Biden “committed or may have committed” between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024, including It involves several controversies surrounding his son and his overseas dealings.
Burisma
Hunter Biden joined Ukrainian energy company Burisma as a lawyer in the spring of 2014 and earned millions of dollars as a director of the company before being promoted to director later that year.
biden claimed Appointed with no industry experience, he had “no intention” of gaining anything from the job, but Republicans have long argued that Hunter and his father wielded influence through Burisma.
Hunter Biden pardon undermines party's 'self-proclaimed authority' on rule of law: Democratic strategist
President Biden and Hunter Biden arrive in Syracuse, New York (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden family accused Republicans claim Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky was 'forced' to pay millions of dollars In exchange for cooperation with an investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors who fired the company during the Obama administration.
“Why 2014?” FOX News Contributor Andy McCarthy wrote on FoxNews.com this week. “Well, the most damning evidence of the Biden family's influence-spreading business occurred in the final years of Joe Biden's term as vice president, specifically from 2014 to 2016. Of course, Burisma's misdeeds That's when it started It's time. In fact, Hunter's board seat at the corrupt energy company was apparently tied to his father's political influence, and Burisma's compensation paid off as soon as Biden left office in 2017. was significantly reduced. half.”
Emails sent from Hunter's discarded laptop show that then-Vice President Joe Biden's son received monthly payments while serving on Burisma's board from April 2014 to April 2019. In addition to more than $50,000, he also appears to have received lavish gifts from the company's founder. Verified by Fox News Digital.
china business deals
President Biden's pardon also outlines a timeline of Hunter Biden's controversial business dealings in China, which Republicans say was also part of President Biden's failed impeachment effort. This suggests that it is embodying part of an influence pedaling plan.
Hunter Biden's confident demeanor in unearthed video raises questions about father's pardon plan
President Joe Biden, wearing a Team USA jacket, walks with his son Hunter Biden as they head to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
The Biden family made millions of dollars in business deals in China that began between 2014 and 2016 as part of Hunter Biden's relationship with two Chinese companies, Bohai Harvest RST Investment Company and CEFC.
Earlier this year, the House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital that “Joe Biden has been working with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenneth Rakishev, Burisma corporate secretary Vadim Pozharskiy, I can confirm that I met with Jonathan and almost all the foreigners who poured money into my son.” Mr. Lee of BHR and CEFC Chairman Mr. Ye Jianming. ”
Mr. Biden attended dinners in 2014 and 2015 with Mr. Baturina, Mr. Rakishev and Mr. Pozharskiy at Cafe Milano, a Washington, D.C., restaurant in Georgetown. Biden also met with BHR's Li in China in 2013. According to Hunter Biden's testimony, Biden spoke with Ye during the 2017 meeting. former business partners Rob Walker and Devon Archer;
Biden's relationship with Chinese companies continued into 2017.
Joe Biden, May 3, 2017 spoke at the conference, Hosted a “Dialogue with Joe Biden, the 47th Vice President of the United States.”
Days after the May 2, 2017 meeting, the now infamous May 13, 2017 email included a discussion of a “compensation package” for six people in a business transaction with a company. Chinese energy company. The email appeared to refer to the bankrupt CEFC China Energy and identify Biden as “Chairman/Vice-Chairman as per agreement with CEFC.”
After Biden spares Hunter his sentence, who else will pardon him?
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs from the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware on June 3, 2024. Biden is on trial for a felony firearm charge. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The email included a note that said, “Mr. Hunter has some expectations in his office that he will explain in detail.” In the proposed stock split, “H” is “20” and “H has 10 for the big guys?” There are no further details.
Tony Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden to form Sinohawk Holdings, a joint venture with Chinese energy company CEFC, said he met Joe Biden in 2017. provided “unchallenged” testimony During a closed-door meeting of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this year, he claimed that the “great man” mentioned in the message was President Biden.
Plus, Hunter Biden demanded $10 million According to reports, a Chinese business official in 2017 asked for “more profits” from a joint venture with CEFC, saying that the chairman of a Chinese Communist Party-affiliated company wanted “Mr. It is being carried out accurately,'' he said. WhatsApp Messages House Oversight Committee.
Hunter Biden's former colleague Tony Bobulinski speaks during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 in Washington, DC, USA. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Farrah
Hunter Biden's connections abroad also include: aroused speculation It was alleged that the company failed to register as a foreign agent, violating disclosure laws under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Ministry of Justice revealed indirectly Hunter Biden was still under investigation for possible FARA violations at his first court appearance last July, and his “sweetheart” plea deal fell through.
When U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware asked if the government could charge Hunter Biden in connection with FARA, a Justice Department prosecutor said, “Yes.”
“Expect Jim Biden to be pardoned next” Author Peter Schweitzer Posted in X this week. “Remember, while the pardon was being handed down, the family was still being investigated under FARA. Joe may have been involved.”
Romania
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee scrutinized the Biden family's alleged business dealings in Romania dating back to 2015.
“On September 28, 2015, Vice President Biden welcomed President Klaus Iohannis of Romania to the White House,” the House Oversight Committee website said.
“Within five weeks of this meeting, Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian businessman implicated in a high-profile corruption prosecution in Romania, began depositing money into the bank accounts of Mr. Biden associates, and ultimately the Biden family. Mr. Popoviciou made 16 of the 17 payments.''While Joe Biden was vice president, more than $3 million ended up in Biden's family accounts. Received $8000.
Fox News Digital reported last year that President Biden's ambassador to the European Union provided advice to Hunter Biden in 2016 about a Romanian “client” who was on trial for corruption at the time.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, leaves a House Oversight Committee meeting at the Capitol. (Photo provided by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images) (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Other overseas transactions
Congressional Republicans have taken issue with Hunter Biden's business presence in other countries, including Kazakhstan and Russia.
According to the House Oversight Committee, in 2014, a Kazakh oligarch “used his Singaporean entity, Novatus Holdings, to transfer $142,300 to one of Hunter Biden's Rosemont Seneca entities.” The next day, April 23, 2014, the Rosemont Seneca corporation sent the exact amount it would have paid to the car dealer for Hunter Biden's car. ”
In 2014, the committee also alleged that the Biden family and their associates received $3.5 million from Russia in payments from Baturina, Russia's richest woman.
taxes and gun fees
President Biden's pardon for his son comes after he was convicted earlier this year of making false statements when purchasing a gun and making false statements related to information that federally licensed gun dealers are required to keep. This means that President Biden will not be punished for his actions. Possession of a firearm by an illegal user or addict of a controlled substance.
Mr. Hunter faced a separate trial in his tax case on three felonies and six misdemeanors for failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. As jury selection was about to begin, Los Angeles federal court In September, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea.
“Aside from the fact that President Biden has repeatedly said he will not pardon his son, what concerns me most is the broad nature of this pardon,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Ta. Posted in X.
“Hunter Biden has not only been pardoned for multiple felonies — crimes he was convicted of and pled guilty to, but also committed or may have committed” over a period of more than a decade. and immunity from all crimes.'' This decision makes a mockery of our justice system. Everyone must be held accountable for their actions under the law. ”
Both President Biden and Hunter Biden have long denied allegations of fraud or influence propagation, and in his statement pardoning Hunter, President Biden said his son was only charged because of his last name. insisted.
Hunter Biden is all smiles as he leaves Arby's in Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. This is the first time President Joe Biden's son has been photographed since being pardoned by his father. (Fox News Digital Image Direct)
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the decision-making of the Department of Justice, and I kept that promise even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted.”
The president went on to claim that his son was “treated differently” by prosecutors.
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Biden went on to say that “absent any aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a weapon as a straw purchaser, people cannot be tried for felonies solely because of how they fill out a gun form.” “There is very little that can be done,” he added. “Non-criminal resolutions are typically available for people who missed paying their taxes due to severe addiction, but then repaid them with interest and penalties. It's clear Hunter was treated differently. ”
Biden also cited his son's struggle with addiction and blamed the unraveling of Hunter's plea deal on “raw politics.”
“Efforts have been made to break through Hunter's five-and-a-half years of sobriety in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution,” his 82-year-old father wrote. “In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me too. And there's no reason to believe it'll stop here. Enough is enough.”
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Jessica Chasmar and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
