Media ignores Hunter Biden scandal until after election
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine weighs in on ‘Fox and Friends.’
Hunter Biden requested in 2017 that keys be made for his new "office mates," listing his father, President-elect Joe Biden, Jill Biden and his uncle, Jim Biden, for space he planned to share with an "emissary" for a chairman of a Chinese energy company, according to an email obtained by Fox News.
The Sept. 20, 2017 email, obtained by Fox News, shows Hunter requesting keys for Joe and Jill Biden, along with his uncle, Jim Biden, to the general manager, Cecilia Browning, at the House of Sweden -- a building in Washington, D.C., which contains multiple office suites, as well as a number of embassies.
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“[P]lease have keys made available for new office mates: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Jim Biden,” said the email, with the subject “507.”
The email was first reported on by The Daily Caller.
In the email, Hunter Biden also requests keys for Gongwen Dong, whom he describes as an “emissary” for Chairman Ye Jianming -- the chairman of CEFC Chinese Energy Co.
“I would like the office sign to reflect the following,” he continued, requesting “The Biden Foundation” and “Hudson West (CEFC US).”
“The lease will remain under my company’s name Rosemont Seneca,” he continued, providing details about Dong and Ye, whom he referred to as "my partner," as well as their contact information.
Hunter Biden also provides Joe and Jim Biden’s personal cell phone numbers, according to the email, and urges one of the building staff to “call them at her convenience if she insists.”
In another email, obtained by Fox News, the manager responds, saying that “[w]e are very excited and honored to welcome your new colleagues.” The manager then asks to confirm that Hunter Biden wants four more keys and a “[c]hange of names on the doors and in the north entrance.”
House of Sweden confirmed to Fox News that Hunter Biden’s company, Rosemont Seneca, did, in fact, rent office space during that time period. However, they declined to share further information.
“House of Sweden is owned and managed by National Property Board Sweden,” general manager Cecilia Browning said in a statement to Fox News. “We have tenants who rent office space, and it is correct that Rosemont Seneca LLC rented an office at House of Sweden between February 2017 – February 2018.”
Browning added: “However, please note that we do not share information about current and previous tenants.”
A source familiar with the Biden Foundation told Fox News that they used office space, at the time, in a WeWork space near the White House, and in an office within law firm Perkins Coie, saying there was no relation to the office space at Rosemont Seneca within the House of Sweden.
Joe Biden has repeatedly denied being involved with his son’s business dealings.
Hunter Biden’s business associations with Chairman Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong, and other Chinese nationals, according to the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees, “resulted in millions of dollars in questionable transactions.”
The committees also found, as part of their investigation into the younger Biden’s foreign business dealings, that he opened a bank account with Dong which financed a $100,000 global spending spree with his uncle, Jim Biden, and Jim Biden's wife, Sara.
The new email comes after Hunter Biden, in a statement this week, revealed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware is investigating his “tax affairs,” and said that he is taking the matter “very seriously” and is “confident” he handled his affairs “legally and appropriately.”
“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” Hunter Biden said in a statement. “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.”
A well-placed government source told Fox News that Hunter Biden is a subject/target of the grand jury investigation. According to the source, a "target" means that there is a "high probability that person committed a crime," while a "subject" is someone you "don't know for sure" has committed a crime.
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The source said President-elect Biden is not a subject of any grand jury investigation at this time.
The source also told Fox News that this investigation was predicated, in part, by Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.
Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News that the SARs were regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations.”
A Treasury Department official, who did not comment on the investigation, spoke broadly about SARs, telling Fox News that SARs are filed by financial institutions "if there is something out of the ordinary about a particular transaction."
The official told Fox News that the mere filing of a SAR does not mean there has been a criminal act, or violation of regulations, but instead, flags that a transaction is "out of the ordinary" for the customer. The official noted, though, that a SAR could be part of a money laundering or tax investigation.
The investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter, began in 2018.
Two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News that the investigation includes looking at the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.
In October, Fox News first reported that the FBI subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019.
HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE'S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN
Meanwhile, the date of the email requesting additional “keys” for his father, who did not hold public office at the time of the request—Sept. 21, 2017—comes just months after a May 2, 2017 meeting about a partnership between the CEFC Chairman Ye and Hunter, Jim Biden and Joe Biden. Fox News first reported the meeting.
Fox News obtained text messages from Tony Bobulinski, a retired lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and the former CEO of SinoHawk Holdings, which he said was the partnership between the CEFC/Chairman Ye and Hunter Biden and Jim Biden.
The messages seem to indicate that a meeting took place, though it's unclear what the substance of the meeting may have been.
“Mrng plse let me knw if we will do early dinner w your Uncle & dad and where, also for document translation do you want it simple Chinese or traditional?” Bobulinski texted Hunter Biden on May 2, 2017.
“Not sure on dinner yet and whatever is the most common for a Chinese legal DOC,” Hunter Biden replied.
“Chinese legal docs can be both, i’ll make it traditional,” Bobulinski said.
Hunter replied: “Dad not in now until 11- let’s me I and Jim meet at 10 at Beverly Hilton where he’s staying.”
Later, Bobulinski sent a text to Jim Biden on the same day, May 2, 2017, saying: “Great to meet u and spend some time together, please thank Joe for his time, was great to talk thx Tony b.”
The following day, May 3, 2017, Bobulinski sent another text to Jim Biden, saying: "Morning, please let me know all set for things this mrng. I don't have credentials to get into Milken so just want to make sure not an issue to get me in, where should we meet this mrng?"
"Milken" was in reference to the 2017 Global Conference, which, in part, was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, according to the program directory.
Joe Biden, on May 3, 2017, spoke at the conference, hosting "A Conversation with the 47th Vice President of the United States Joe Biden."
That meeting on May 2, 2017 would have taken place just 11 days before the May 13, 2017 email, also obtained by Fox News, which included a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,” in an apparent reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co.
The email includes a note that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.” A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details. That deal never went through.
The Biden campaign previously said it released the former vice president’s tax documents and returns, which do not reflect any involvement with Chinese investments.
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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