Hunter demanded $10M from Chinese energy firm because ‘Bidens are the best,’ have ‘connections’
Fox News
Hunter Biden demanded $10 million from a Chinese business associate to “further the interest” of his joint-venture with a Chinese energy, saying that the “Bidens are the best I know at doing exactly” what the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party-linked firm wanted, according to a newly-released WhatsApp message.
The House Oversight Committee released the message, dated Aug. 3, 2017. The exchange is between Hunter Biden and CEFC associate Gongwen Dong.
“Very simple,” Hunter writes. “10 M per annum budget to use to further the interest of the JV. This move to 5M is completely new to me and is not acceptable obviously.”
Hunter breaks down how expenditures and expenses will be determined, in consultation with his firms Owasco and Hudson West.
“If the Chairman doesn’t value this relationship is being worth at least 5M, then I’m just baffled,” Hunter writes. “I am tired of this…I can make $5M salary at any law firm in America. If you think this is about money, it’s not.”
He adds: “The Biden’s [sic] are the best I know at doing exactly what the Chairman wants from this partnership. Please let’s not quibble over peanuts.”
According to a September 2020 report released by the Senate Homeland Security Committee and Senate Finance Committee on their investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong and other Chinese nationals that Hunter Biden had business associations with were linked to the Chinese Communist government and the People’s Liberation Army.
That Senate report, showed that on Aug. 8, 2017, just days after this WhatsApp message, CEFC wired nearly $5 million to the bank account for Hudson West III, a firm that Hunter Biden opened with Chinese associates.
“These funds may have originated from a loan issued from the account of a company called Northern International Capital Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investment company identified at one time as a ‘substantial shareholder’ in CEFC International Limited along with Ye,” the report stated. “It is unclear whether Hunter Biden was a half-owner of Hudson West III at the time.”
The report also stated, “the same day the $5 million was received, and continuing through Sept. 25, 2018, Hudson West III sent request payments to Owasco, Hunter Biden’s firm.” The report stated the payments were described as consulting fees and reached “$4,790,375.25 in just over a year.”
But the new WhatsApp message is not the first correspondence revealing Hunter Biden’s discussions about the $10 million wire for his joint-venture, SinoHawk Holdings, and whether his father, President Joe Biden, was involved.
Fox News Digital, in December 2020, first reported on text messages between Hunter Biden business associates Tony Bobulinski and James Gilliar discussing the joint-venture with CEFC.
Gilliar, in a May 11, 2017 text message to Bobulinski, wrote: “Man U are right let’s get the company set up, then tell H and family the high stakes and get Joe involved.”
The White House says President Biden was “never in business” with his son.
As for the $10 million, Fox News Digital, in December 2020, first reported on an email Hunter sent on June 18, 2017 to Zhao Runlong at CEFC, asking that they please “translate my letter to Chairman Ye.”
“I hope my letter finds you well. I regret missing you on your last visit to the United States,” Hunter Biden wrote in the attached letter, dated June 17, 2017. “Please accept the best wishes from the entire Biden family as well as my partners.”
He added: “We are all hoping to see you here again soon, or in Shanghai.”
Biden went on to update Ye, saying that they have “concluded the establishment of SinoHawk Holdings,” the Biden joint venture with CEFC, and said he looked “forward” to introducing him to his business associate Tony Bobulinski, who he wrote would “act as the CEO.”
Biden went on to note that Bobulinski had “sent a request to Dong Gongwen [Gongwen Dong] and Director Zang for the funding of the $10 MM USD wire.”
“I would appreciate if you will send that quickly so we can properly fund and operate Sinohawk,” Biden wrote.
“I am sure you have been well briefed by our dear friend Director Zang on the political and economic connections we have established in countries where you are interested in expanding during the coming months and years,” he continued. “I look forward to our next meeting.”
Fox News Digital also, in 2020, obtained the response from Ye as part of an email, dated Sept. 6, 2017, from Biden business associate James Gilliar to Bobulinski. That email forwarded Ye’s letter responding to Biden. The letter is dated July 10, 2017.
Ye stated that he had arranged for Zang and Dong to “expedite the charter capital input to SinoHawk.”
“I am glad to hear from you! Time flies and it has been months since we met in the US. It seems that we were always on a rush when we were together,” Ye wrote to Biden, adding that “the consensus we made last time has been materialized in a timely manner.”
“I will continue to pay attention and give my support,” Ye stated. “I have arranged Director Zang and Gongwen Dong to expedite the charter capital input to SinoHawk.”
“I look forward to meeting you in the near future and discussing our joint undertaking. If there is anything I could do please do not hesitate to write to me,” Ye wrote. “Please accept my best regards to you and your family.”
Meanwhile, Fox News obtained and reviewed more than a dozen text messages between Bobulinski, a retired lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, and a number of Biden business associates, as well as Chinese representatives of CEFC regarding the $10 million transfer.
According to the messages reviewed by Fox News, which range from June 25, 2017, through mid-July 2017, the $10 million transfer was delayed for weeks. Several text messages suggest the delay was due to visa issues, including one email sent by President Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, who was involved in the joint-venture.
Meanwhile, on July 18, 2017, Bobulinski asked Zhao in a message whether the transfer would be “$10 MM or 2x $5MM,” claiming they “asked that $10 MM be sent in 2 $5 MM tranches but @ the same time, $5 MM to savings and $5 MM to checking. That is what we prefer.”
The transfer was never completed.
Meanwhile, Fox News obtained another email showing Hunter requesting keys for his new “office mates,” his father, Joe Biden, Jill Biden and Jim Biden, to the general manager, Cecilia Browning, at the House of Sweden – a building in Washington, D.C., which contains multiple office suites, as well as a number of embassies.
In the email, Hunter Biden also requested keys for Gongwen Dong, whom he describes as an “emissary” for Chairman Ye Jianming – the chairman of CEFC Chinese Energy Co. “I would like the office sign to reflect the following,” he continued, requesting “The Biden Foundation” and “Hudson West (CEFC US).”
“The lease will remain under my company’s name Rosemont Seneca,” he went on, providing details about Dong and Ye, whom he referred to as “my partner,” as well as their contact information.
House of Sweden confirmed to Fox News that Hunter Biden’s company, Rosemont Seneca, did, in fact, rent office space during that time period. However, they declined to share further information.
The Justice Department last week announced that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a deal that is expected to keep him out of prison. The president’s son also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement with regard to a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The plea agreement is expected to keep the president’s son out of prison.