Joe Biden ‘Was Aware’ of Son Hunter’s 'Potentially Criminal' Business Dealings, Whistleblowers Claim

As evidence grows of an “egregious abuse of power”, GOP lawmakers could move to impeach President Joe Biden next year following an inquiry into his family’s foreign consulting businesses, according to chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, Elise Stefanik.

New whistleblower allegations suggest that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has in its possession "significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden," according to Republican senator of Iowa, Chuck Grassley.

Furthermore, President Joe Biden "was aware of Hunter Biden’s business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them," wrote the Republican senator in a letter on Monday addressed to Attorney-General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss.

Grassley said the FBI had documents shedding light on the activities of Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings of which Hunter Biden was a board member. According to Grassley, it is "unclear whether the FBI followed normal investigative procedures to determine the truth and accuracy of the information or shut down investigative activity based on improper disinformation claims in advance of the 2020 election."

FBI possesses significant and voluminous evidence of potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden; what hv the FBI and Justice Department, to include U.S. Attorney Weiss, done to investigate??? Transparency brings accountability

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 17, 2022

The senator emphasized in his letter that it was unclear whether US Attorney Weiss has “performed his own due diligence on these and related allegations".

Grassley - who together with Republican senator for Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, led an inquiry into Hunter Biden beginning in 2019 - had discovered that officials in the administration of then-President Barack Obama "knew" that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma (which he joined in April 2014), was "problematic" and that it inhibited "efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine."

While Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice-president and in charge of US-Ukraine relations. In his letter, Grassley also cited the summary of an FBI interview with Hunter Biden’s ex-business partner Tony Bobulinski dated 23 October 2020, in which he revealed that Hunter and his uncle James Biden, set up a business arrangement with foreign nationals connected to the Chinese government while Joe Biden was vice-president. Although that work "remained intentionally uncompensated" during the time Joe Biden was VP, the summary indicated that once he left the vice-presidency, "Hunter Biden and James Biden worked with CEFC and affiliated individuals to compensate them for that past work and benefits they procured for CEFC".

At this point in the letter, Grassley was referring to the now-bankrupt Chinese conglomerate CEFC China Energy. To facilitate that compensation, Hunter Biden, James Biden and their business associates ostensibly created a joint venture known as SinoHawk Holdings - a partnership between the CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming and Hunter and James Biden. SinoHawk was 50 percent owned by Oneida Holdings LLC and 50 percent owned by Hudson West IV, according to the summary of the FBI interview with Tony Bobulinski. Oneida was split into five LLCs, according to the summary, "one for each business associate, including Hunter Biden and James Biden".

Bobulinski claimed that 10 percent of Hunter Biden’s interest was "to be held for Joe Biden".

Back in October 2020, Fox News first reported about an email including a discussion of "renumeration packages" for six people in a business deal with CEFC, which appeared to identify Biden as "Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC". A proposed equity split referenced "20" for "H" and "10 held by H for the big guy?"

Bobulinski at the time claimed that "Hunter Biden called his dad "the Big Guy", and frequently "referenced him for his sign-off on various potential deals that we were discussing."

Senator Grassley also underscored that the FBI "has a document within its possession noting that former vice-president Joe Biden met with Hunter Biden and his business associates at a conference in Los Angeles on 2 May 2017 and 3 May 2017."

Grassley asked in his letter why, if those meetings "have been publicly disclosed", the FBI "maintains that documents referencing these data points has not been made public before". The Republican stated that in line with allegations provided to his office, Bobulinski's interview offered a "sufficient basis to open a full field investigation on pay-to-play grounds."

However, it is unclear whether the FBI did so, or whether the information at the agency's disposal is part of the ongoing criminal investigation by Weiss. Accordingly, the Justice Department’s and FBI’s silence on these matters further erodes their credibility, Grassley wrote, as he urged them to come clean to Congress and the American people regarding the Hunter Biden investigation.

Grassley put a timeline on this demand, seeking information from the Justice Department on the Hunter Biden investigation by 27 October, thus allowing Congress to "perform an independent and objective review".

Ever since the Hunter Biden "laptop from Hell" scandal erupted, the Democtaric POTUS has repeatedly denied ever speaking to his son about his business dealings, or having any knowledge about or involvement in his foreign ventures.

The GOP has decried the way the story on Hunter Biden has been quashed and has vowed to investigate the FBI and the first son if they retake the majority in the House of Representatives after November’s mid-term elections.

Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, Elise Stefanik, was cited by the Post as saying GOP lawmakers could move to impeach President Biden next year after thoroughly investigating his family’s foreign consulting businesses and his “illegal” request that Saudi Arabia delay slashing oil production until after the 8 November mid-term elections.

“When there’s an egregious abuse of power and high crimes and misdemeanors, that means anything is on the table,” Stefanik said on 17 October.

“We need to get to the facts, and I’m particularly concerned about the Hunter Biden illegal acts and really profiting off of the fact that he’s the son of the sitting president of the United States. Also, when it comes to the Department of Justice and FBI refusing to prosecute Hunter Biden for clear crimes, there is a lot there for us to investigate and we will follow the facts wherever they lead,” Stefanik said.

President-elect Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden on stage Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Del

© AP Photo / Andrew Harnik

Hunter Biden remains under federal investigation into whether he violated US laws when he engaged in financial and business dealings in foreign countries during his father’s vice-presidency between 2009 and 2017. The probe in particular looks into the contents of the computer allegedly abandoned by Hunter at a repair shop in Delaware. The contents, including Hunter Biden’s naked photos and graphic videos that have been released since 2020, when the New York Post was the first to make several emails from the device public, were originally dismissed by most US news outlets and social media companies as part of a “Russian disinformation operation”.

Earlier this year, however, the New York Times and The Washington Post confirmed that the laptop was authentic and that the damning information contained within the device was genuine. The Washington Post finally developed an appetite for stories about the president’s son, and reporters at The New York Times also began sifting through the "laptop contents", acknowledging the authenticity of the documents as they focused upon the intensifying Justice Department investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes and dubious foreign consulting work.

In addition, in a probe led by US Attorney Weiss in Delaware, federal agents are said to have gathered “sufficient evidence” to charge the 52-year-old Hunter with tax crimes and lying about his drug abuse to buy a gun.