James Biden (c) appears before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on February 21, 2024.. (Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
James Biden altered his story during a closed-door interview with lawmakers on Wednesday after congressional investigators presented him with evidence directly contradicting his claims, according to a source familiar with the interview.
Joe Biden’s younger brother, in closed-door testimony to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, initially told his interviewers that he was not part of a business deal involving Hunter Biden and several of his associates, according to a source familiar with the interview. However, after investigators showed him an agreement that featured his signature alongside those of Hunter Biden and his business partners ,James Biden then told legislators that he did not remember signing the agreement.
The deal in question was a proposed joint venture involving an entity known as SinoHawk and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-tied CEFC China Energy Limited energy firm, according to a source familiar with the interview.
Fifty percent of SinoHawk was to be owned by Hudson West IV — an entity nominally managed by CEFC “emissary” and Joe Biden “office mate” Gongwen Dong — with the other 50% to be owned by Oneida Holdings LLC, an entity composed of LLCs controlled by Hunter Biden, James Biden, Rob Walker, James Gilliar and Tony Bobulinski, according to Bobulinski’s Feb. 13 testimony to congressional investigators and documents obtained by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The president’s younger brother also stated that he threw out a diamond that Hunter Biden had given him to appraise, according to a source familiar with James Biden’s interview. That diamond had initially been given to Hunter Biden by CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming, presumably to woo Hunter Biden to engage in business with CEFC, according to the source.
A May 2017 email from Gilliar to Hunter Biden, Bobulinski and Walker detailed the potential equity split for Oneida’s piece of SinoHawk, with 20% for “H,” 20% for “RW,” 20% for “JG,” 20% for “TB,” 10% for “Jim” and “10 held by H for the big guy,” according to the archive of Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Bobulinski told the FBI in 2020 that Oneida was supposed to receive a $5 million unsecured loan from CEFC or a related entity, and that the loan was supposed to be forgivable, according to an October 2022 letter signed by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. As of July 2017, the funds had not yet been sent to Oneida, apparently to the chagrin of Hunter and James Biden.
Then, on July 30, 2017, Hunter Biden sent a threatening WhatsApp text message to a Chinese business associate affiliated with CEFC, according to information disclosed to lawmakers by Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father,” the text reads.
Bank records obtained by congressional investigators do not indicate that SinoHawk ever received the cash infusion from CEFC or related entities that may have been expected, according to Grassley’s October 2022 letter.
However, records and other information obtained by Republican lawmakers demonstrated that Hunter Biden and James Biden profited from a $5 million wire from a CEFC-linked firm in August 2017.
Those funds do not appear to have been transmitted to SinoHawk, but instead to Hudson West III, a joint venture established by the Bidens and CEFC in August 2017, according to Grassley’s letter. Subsequently, wire transfers were conducted from Hudson West III to Owasco — Hunter Biden’s firm — and Lion Hall Group, James Biden’s company, a move that appears to have effectively cut SinoHawk out of the deal altogether.
Bobulinski told investigators on Feb. 13 that “the Biden family — Joe’s son Hunter and his brother Jim — knowingly and aggressively defrauded me as the CEO of SinoHawk Holdings and as a member of Oneida Holdings, LLC, at the end of July 2017” and that “the Biden family violated their fiduciary duties to SinoHawk and Oneida as they enriched themselves at the CEFC trough.” (Daily Caller, 2/21/2024) (Archive)
Jim Biden told investigators today that Hunter got TWO diamonds to entice him to work with Chinese firm CEFC, one when his dad was VP, and one in Feb 2017. Jim said Hunter gave the first diamond to him, and Jim “threw it away”, according to sources familiar with his testimony 1/2
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) February 22, 2024