Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian oligarch in an “attempt to influence U.S. government agencies,” earning about $1 million for a job that was structured to avoid “political ramifications” for Joe Biden, who was then vice president.
The explosive claim was revealed in court documents filed Wednesday related to Biden’s son’s federal tax case. And it is the closest prosecutors have come to linking President Biden to his son’s overseas business dealings.
Real estate mogul Gabriel Popoviciu was facing bribery and corruption charges in his home country. In an attempt to avoid the charges, Popoviciu hired Hunter Biden and his business partners in late 2015 to assist him in his case.
However, Hunter was “concerned that lobbying work could cause political ramifications” for his father, so the deal was structured in a way that “concealed the true nature of the work he was doing.”
President Joe Biden with his sister Valerie Owens and son Hunter Biden
Prosecutors allege that to avoid the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Hunter and Popoviciu signed an agreement in which Hunter’s law firm would “offer real estate management services in Romania.”
But “that was not actually” what Popoviciu was paying for. He and Hunter had a “verbal” agreement on what Hunter Biden would actually do: influence US agencies on the tycoon’s behalf.
The deal was structured to avoid FARA because Hunter was concerned about “political ramifications” for his father, according to the documents. In 2016, Biden was vice president and was considering a run for president, but ultimately did not do so until the 2020 election.
Under FARA, the Department of Justice requires any American who lobbies for a foreign government to register as a foreign agent.
Hunter structured the deal in an effort to avoid having to register, although he and his business partners did communicate with government officials, specifically the U.S. State Department.
Hunter Biden’s law firm received $3.1 million from the settlement, with Hunter keeping about a third of that money, according to the documents.
Popoviciu was eventually convicted in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre government-owned plot at a discounted price.
Prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office have been investigating Hunter Biden’s work with foreign entities and whether Hunter should have registered his work abroad.
But he “performed virtually no work in exchange for the millions of dollars he received” from Popoviciu, a Chinese energy company, or Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company, according to the documents.
Gabriel Popoviciu, a real estate magnate from Romania, hired Hunter
Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings Ltd., a Ukrainian oil and gas company, from May 2014 until he retired in April 2019, from when his father served as vice president until he began running for president.
He and his business partners also worked for Chinese companies such as State Energy HK Ltd. and CEFC China Energy Co. Ltd.
A document filed with Hunter Biden’s rejected plea agreement said he earned “just under $1 million” in 2017 from a company he formed with a Chinese CEO, $664,000 from a Chinese infrastructure company and $500,000 in director’s fees from Burisma.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have repeatedly tried to link Joe Biden to Hunter’s work.
The president has repeatedly said that he had no involvement in his son’s business affairs.
Hunter Biden faces three tax felony charges and other misdemeanors for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2020
Hunter, who was convicted on weapons charges earlier this summer, faces a trial in September related to his taxes.
The president’s son faces three tax crime charges and additional misdemeanors for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2020. The back taxes and penalties were previously paid in full by a third party through Hunter Biden’s attorney, Kevin Morris.