House Republicans released more WhatsApp messages on Tuesday that they say were written by Hunter Biden while he was working on a trade deal with a Chinese energy company.
In messages from August 2017, the first son insisted that $10 million should be invested in the joint venture with CEFC China Energy every year, and called a $5 million proposal “new to me”. and “unacceptable, obviously”.
The House Oversight Committee’s Twitter account reported that Hunter was messaging Gongwen Dong, a CEFC China Energy associate who used the nickname “Kevin.”
“I’m tired of this Kevin,” Hunter said. “I can earn $5 million in salary at any law firm in America. If you think it’s about the money, it’s not. The Bidens (sic) are the best at doing exactly what the President expects from this partnership. Please don’t quibble over peanuts.
The next day, one of Hunter’s shell companies, OWASCO PC, received a $10,000 payment from CEFC, House Oversight Republicans said, sharing a receipt.
House Republicans on the Oversight Committee released new messages from Hunter Biden, pictured returning to DC from Camp David on Sunday, that show some of his demands as he tried to ink $10 million with a Chinese energy company in 2017
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Republicans posted new WhatsApp messages between Hunter Biden and a Chinese associate as they embarked on an energy deal in August 2017.
The “president,” Republicans said, was now missing Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming, who disappeared in February 2018 after being arrested by Chinese authorities.
Republicans on the Oversight Committee alleged that Ye was linked to an intelligence-gathering agency for the Chinese Communist Party.
“You said CEFC China’s vision ‘is to obtain overseas resources and serve the national strategy,'” the watchdog Republicans Twitter account said. “He wanted to expand the reach and influence of China in the world.”
“As new facts come to light, it becomes even more apparent that the Bidens are putting China and their interests first and America last,” Republicans charged with House oversight.
Ye had previously been questioned by federal authorities in New York in November 2017 over a corruption scheme linked to CEFC’s operations in Chad and Uganda.
Ye’s lieutenant, Patrick Ho, was eventually convicted of seven counts of bribery and money laundering in connection with the bribery scheme.
Ho had called James Biden, Hunter’s uncle and the president’s brother, after his arrest, according to a 2018 New York Times profile on the fall of CEFC.
James Biden told The Times he believed the call was directed at Hunter.
“I have nothing more to say,” James Biden told the newspaper. “I don’t want to be dragged into this anymore.”
Since January, the House Oversight Committee, under Chairman James Comer, has been examining what it calls “influence peddling” by the Biden family.
The White House and President Joe Biden have repeatedly denied that the president was in business with Hunter.
But last week’s WhatsApp message from an IRS whistleblower showed Hunter used his father’s influence to pressure a Chinese associate.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the pledge made has not been kept,” Hunter wrote to Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017.
Hunter’s attorney, Chris Clark, responded by calling the whistleblower “biased” and claimed the account covered “a period of turmoil and addiction” for the president’s son.
“Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrific addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” Clark said.
Clark also pushed back against Republican complaints that the Justice Department’s investigation of the president’s son hadn’t gone far enough.
Last week, Hunter Biden accepted a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and entering probation for a firearms charge.
“An extensive five-year investigation by the United States Department of Justice concluded this week, resulting in my client being held responsible for two misdemeanor tax non-payment cases, as well as ‘a firearms charge, which will be subject to a pre-trial diversion agreement,’ Clark said. “As his attorney throughout this case, I can say that any suggestion that the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or took my client’s breath away, is absurd and deeply irresponsible.”
