Jake Sullivan served on a national security board with Hunter Biden for 2 years, raising questions from GOP

Hunter Biden and President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, served together on the board of the Truman National Security Project, a liberal foreign policy think tank, for roughly two years before Sullivan joined the president’s campaign in 2020.

Hunter, who started serving on the board in 2012, and Sullivan both served on the Washington-based nonprofit’s board between 2017 and early 2019, according to internet archives captured by the Wayback Machine. 

During that time, Hunter was also serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings and the Chinese private equity fund BHR Partners. The federal investigation into Hunter's foreign business dealings, which is still ongoing, also launched during the same time frame in 2018. 

Prior to joining the Truman National Security Project, Sullivan served as then-Vice President Biden’s national security adviser in the Obama administration, where he traveled to multiple countries with the elder Biden, including China. 

A video from the Obama administration's archived website shows Sullivan was on the same infamous Asia trip where Hunter Biden and his daughter accompanied then-Vice President Biden on Air Force Two. During the China portion of the trip, Hunter arranged a brief handshake in the U.S. delegation's hotel lobby between his father and Jonathan Li, Hunter's Chinese business partner who ran the Chinese private-equity fund Bohai Capital. Less than two weeks after Biden arrived in China, BHR Partners was registered.

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Sullivan also had multiple roles with Hillary Clinton, including chief foreign policy adviser during her failed 2016 presidential campaign and deputy chief of staff when she was secretary of state, where he traveled to 112 countries with her.

During the Clinton campaign, Sullivan notoriously pushed the Trump-Russia collusion narrative to reporters. He told members of the House Intelligence committee in a December 2017 interview that prior to the 2016 election he briefed reporters on his suspicions. 

"[B]asically we sat with them and walked through what we understood to be the case from — in terms of the DNC hack and leak, what we believed to be the case with respect to Russian involvement," Sullivan said, "and then what we thought the upshot of this was, which is you now have the start of a much more aggressive phase of an intelligence-led operation by foreign power, and there's likely to be more as we go forward, and people should really pay attention to this."

Sullivan went on to say he questioned why Russia would want to get involved. He first recognized that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Clinton "didn't have the greatest of relationships" but then outlined for reporters his reasons for suspecting Trump's campaign.

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Thursday accused Sullivan of repeatedly lying to the American people and called for his immediate resignation.

"Jake Sullivan has a lot to answer for," Hawley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital. "He has repeatedly lied for perceived political gain – whether that be about the Russia Collusion hoax or the Hunter Biden laptop. And now he’s Biden’s national security adviser? He should resign immediately."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., another Judiciary Committee member, accused Sullivan of leading the effort to "push the Trump-Russia collusion hoax."

"Jake Sullivan led the effort to push the Trump-Russia collusion hoax as a top advisor to the Clinton campaign, and encouraged the mainstream media to smear Hillary’s political opponent," she told Fox News Digital. "Given his history serving with Hunter Biden and working for the Biden campaign, it would not be surprising if Jake Sullivan was also involved in attempts to discredit Hunter Biden’s laptop."  

"This is yet another troubling data point that affirms why an independent counsel needs to be appointed to ensure a fair and thorough investigation," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also a Judiciary Committee member, told Fox News Digital.

"It’s obvious that there is a connection between Hunter Biden and Jake Sullivan when they previously served on the board of the Truman National Security Project," added Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who sits on the Committee of Oversight and Accountability.

"As we are continuing to investigate the Biden family, it comes as no shock that Hunter Biden keeps colluding with foreign countries and asks for help trying to cover up his mess, using his dad’s appointees to help him in the process," she said. "The Durham Report was right – the FBI should have never investigated the Trump campaign. Although, it’s obvious who they should investigate instead: the Biden crime family."

Fox News Digital asked the White House if Sullivan ever discussed Burisma, BHR Partners, or any other business matters with Hunter, or whether Sullivan played any role in orchestrating the public statement signed by intelligence officials during the 2020 election claiming Hunter’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's inquiry.

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Sullivan served as a foreign policy adviser on Biden’s 2020 campaign alongside now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been accused of playing a role in orchestrating the since-debunked letter that critics say helped shape the outcome of the election.

Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell testified to the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees last month that Blinken, as President Biden’s then-campaign senior adviser, "played a role in the inception" of the statement, which Blinken has denied.

Fox News Digital recently reported Blinken and his wife, Evan Ryan, were in communication with Hunter several times throughout the Obama-Biden administration. In July 2015, Hunter met with Blinken at his State Department office. 

Sullivan was recently accused by former White House official Mike McCormick of being a "conspirator" in the Biden family's "kickback scheme" in Ukraine when Biden was vice president.

McCormick, who worked as a stenographer for the White House for 15 years, accused Biden funneling money overseas to "enrich" himself and his family and using his own influence to aid his son's rookie energy career. 

Sullivan denied the allegations, telling reporters that he had nothing to do with such an operation. 

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Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Thomas Barrabi and Bailee Hill contributed to this report.