WASHINGTON — A key Biden family ally revealed new details Friday about Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in foreign affairs — saying the president-elect met in 2017 with the head of a Chinese government-linked company that paid millions to his son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden.
Rob Walker signaled in a prepared opening statement that he intends to claim that Biden, 81, has done nothing wrong regarding his brother’s overseas ventures, only to present stunning new evidence, The Post has learned.
Walker testified in his deposition as part of the House impeachment inquiry against the president over corruption allegations that shortly after Joe Biden left the vice president’s post, he attended a meeting involving about 10 people involved with CEFC China Energy — including the firm’s chairman, Ye Jianming, a source familiar with Walker’s testimony said.
The meeting at the luxurious Four Seasons hotel in DC was previously described by Walker — without naming Ye as a participant — in an FBI interview released by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Walker described Joe Biden’s appearance to the FBI as a lunch visit between Hunter and his CEFC colleagues.
Rob Walker signaled in a prepared opening statement that he intends to allege that Joe Biden did nothing wrong in connection with the foreign ventures of Hunter Biden and first cousin James Biden. AFP via Getty Images
Joe Biden “greeted everybody” and then “really sat down. I don’t think he even drank water. I think Hunter said, um… ‘I might try’ to start a company,’ ah, or try to do something with this guy and can you … and [I] think he’s like ‘if I have’….and he’ll show up,” Walker told the bureau.
White House spokesman, Walker’s lawyer Edward McAndrew and the top Democratic representative of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) did not immediately dispute that Walker named Ye as a contestant during his Friday interview.
A second source familiar with Walker’s testimony said, however, that Joe Biden’s appearance was portrayed as innocent by Walker.
“Walker told the Committee that he believed Joe Biden stopped by because Joe Biden just wanted to keep an eye on his son who was calm,” the second person said.
Other business partners of the Biden family have outlined Joe Biden’s various links to his family affairs. AP
Walker distributed to Hunter, James and first daughter-in-law Hallie Biden millions of dollars from China and Romania during and immediately after Joe Biden’s vice presidency.
In a brief opening statement, Walker signaled that he would support the Biden family’s denial of influence peddling.
“President Biden — while in office or as a private citizen — has never been involved in any of our business activities. Any statement to the contrary is simply false,” Walker argued in his statement.
“In business, the opportunities we pursue together are diverse, legitimate, well-founded, and within the scope of legitimate business activities,” the statement added.
But Republicans came armed with questions for Walker about the services provided in exchange for the lucrative venture — following statements from other former Biden family associates that Joe Biden was indeed communicating with family friends and that his relatives were effectively selling access.
Walker’s best-known role in the Biden family enterprise was funneling more than $1 million to Hunter from Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu between November 2015 and May 2017. AP
Walker’s most notable role in the Biden family enterprise was handing over $1 million to Hunter from corrupt Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu between November 2015 and May 2017 — despite Vice President Biden’s criticism of corruption in the country — and handing over $1 million to Hunter, James and Hallie Biden of CEFC affiliate China Energy related to the country of China starting in March 2017.
In each case, Walker received about $3 million from foreigners and then appeared to keep a third of that for himself before giving one third to the Biden family and another third to partner James Gilliar.
One of the most potentially important lines of questioning relates to when exactly the CEFC relationship began — since money started flowing less than two months after Joe Biden left the vice presidency.
The first source familiar with Walker’s deposition said that he testified that the $3 million was compensation for work done while Biden was vice president — amounting to a “thank you” for the past work.
“In business, the opportunities we pursue together are diverse, legitimate, well-founded, and within the scope of legitimate business activity,” Walker’s statement added. AFP via Getty Images
Exactly when Joe Biden allegedly met Ye is unclear — though it would be his alleged third meeting with an associate involved with CEFC.
Former Biden family associate Tony Bobulinski previously claimed that he met the current president twice in connection with the enterprise.
Ahead of the second and final presidential debate of 2020, Bobulinski said at a press conference: “On May 2, 2017, the night before Joe Biden appeared at the Milken conference, I was introduced to Joe Biden by Jim Biden and Hunter Biden. In my hour-long meeting with Joe that night, we discussed the history of the Biden family [and] the Biden family’s business plans with the Chinese, which he clearly knows, at least at a high level.”
Later, Bobulinski told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he met again with Joe Biden the next day.
“We were backstage in a tight space and he asked me to walk with him to the car … He asked me to keep an eye on his son and brother,” Bobulinski told Carlson.
Later in May 2017, an email written by Biden family associate James Gilliar wrote in Joe Biden for a 10% cut, with Gilliar using the nickname “big man” for the older Biden.
Joe Biden’s potential vendetta was threatened in a July 2017 text message from Hunter to a China-based CEFC associate, in which Hunter wrote he was “sitting here with my dad,” according to messages released by an IRS whistleblower.
In the 10 days following the text message, $5.1 million was transferred to accounts linked to the Biden family, according to a 2020 report by the Senate Republican-led committee.
Pictures from Hunter’s abandoned laptop showed he was at his father’s home in Wilmington, Del., on the day he wrote the threatening message, but a tax-enforcement whistleblower said the Justice Department prevented them from obtaining cell phone location data to prove whether Joe Biden was real. -really be there. .
Later in 2017, an email referred to Joe Biden as a participant in a call about CEFC’s attempt to buy US natural gas.
Meanwhile, the Romanian venture is one of the least studied of the Biden family’s controversial foreign dealings and is a rare case where there is no existing evidence Joe Biden interacted directly with individuals who paid his relatives.
Critics of the Biden family have noted, however, that there is smoke hinting at Joe’s possible involvement.
Joe Biden allegedly met twice with his family’s partners in the CEFC joint venture, according to reports, and was cut 10% in a May 2017 email written by Gilliar. AP
For example, Hunter Biden referred Popoviciu to former FBI Director Louis Freeh to challenge the corruption case against him — and Freeh called Hunter in July 2015, just two hours before Hunter was scheduled to meet with his father, according to laptop records.
Hunter flew to Romania on November 15, 2016, for a two-day visit to represent Popoviciu before the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Two days after his return, Hunter had a “breakfast with dad” on his schedule.
A source familiar with Walker’s testimony said that, when asked what services Hunter Biden provided Popoviciu, the aide replied that Hunter flew to Romania to meet with then-US Ambassador Hans Klemm shortly after his Senate confirmation in 2015.
Lobbying US officials on behalf of a foreign employer can be considered a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act — even though the law has a five-year statute of limitations.
Other business partners of the Biden family have outlined Joe Biden’s various links to his family affairs.
Former Hunter Biden ally Devon Archer testified in July that Joe Biden used speakerphone for about 20 foreign business meetings and that the sitting VP dined twice in Georgetown with Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh clients.
Archer further testified that Joe Biden had coffee during a 2013 visit to Beijing with one of Hunter’s colleagues, CEO of Chinese government-backed BHR Partners Jonathan Li, before later greeting Li by phone during a subsequent meeting and writing a college recommendation letter for the young Li – children.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
