WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday issued subpoenas for records on “several” credit cards that the Chinese state-owned company CEFC China Energy allegedly provided members of President Biden’s family for personal expenses – including a card loaded with $100,000 for a “global spending spree.”
“We are subpoenaing several credit card companies,” Comer (R-Ky.) said in a morning interview on Fox Business.
“Through the interviews and depositions we have conducted so far, we have learned that several credit cards were used by members of the Biden family – we believe for personal expenses – and we believe those credit cards were paid by CEFC or through CEFC-funded affiliates.
An Oversight Committee staffer told the Post that the subpoenas cast a wide net for records in the investigation. impeachment inquiry into corruption allegations during Joe Biden’s vice-presidency.
The CEFC, a now-defunct cog in Beijing’s Belt and Road foreign influence campaign, was one of the largest and most mysterious sources of overseas income for the first family.
Former Biden family associate Rob Walker told impeachment investigators on January 26 that Joe Biden personally met with CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming in Washington around March 2017 – less than two months after leaving office as vice president.
First brother James Biden and first son Hunter Biden allegedly made more than $7 million in 2017 and 2018 from CEFC for what critics call influence peddling.
The first tranche of more than $1 million was paid shortly after Joe Biden met Ye and was a “thank you” for services during his vice-presidencyWalker said.
Comer’s latest legally binding demands do not only concern the Biden family and include their associates and business entities close to the CEFC business.
CEFC allegedly provided James Biden and his wife, Sara Biden, with a credit card to go on a $100,000 “global spending spree.” according to a September 2020 report by Republican-led Senate committees.
The Oversight Committee representative said the panel had recently received corroborating information from witnesses.
“The American people deserve transparency, and these subpoenas will be further evidence of the Biden family’s influence peddling around the world,” the committee aide said.
“Subpoenas issued include financial records of Hunter Biden, James Biden and Sara Biden; Biden family associates Eric Schwerin, Gongwen Dong and Mervyn Yan; and several of the Bidens’ companies, including Rosemont Seneca Partners, Rosemont Seneca Advisors, Rosemont Seneca Bohai, Owasco, PC and Hudson West III.
The committee member said that “these subpoenas will provide us with more evidence about the Biden family’s credit card business involving a joint venture with the CCP-linked CEFC.”
“Based on recent testimony, we believe Sara Biden and Jim Biden used a company credit card linked to CEFC and we want to look into these suspicious transactions,” the Republican source said.
“Additionally, we are receiving records related to Rosemont Seneca Partners, a consulting firm operated by Hunter Biden and Eric Schwerin – Joe Biden’s accountant – as well as Hunter Biden’s credit card transactions involving some of his companies such as Rosemont Seneca Bohai, Rosemont Seneca Advisors and Owasco, PC »
White House spokespeople and lawyers for James and Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The CEFC company has been the subject of explosive reports linking the president to his family’s foreign income since the 2020 presidential campaign.
The Post’s second exclusive report on documents from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop in October 2020 revealed that Joe Biden, nicknamed the “big guy,” had at one point been nominated for a 10% participation in a joint venture with CEFC, according to a May 2017 email written by James Gilliar, a former Biden family associate.
Former Biden family associate Tony Bobulinskiwho testified Tuesday during the impeachment inquiry, alleges that he and Joe Biden discussed dealings with the CEFC on two occasions in May 2017.
Joe Biden was later named in an October 2017 email regarding CEFC’s attempts to purchase American natural gas.
The future president was also quoted in a threatening WhatsApp message from July 2017 in which Hunter Biden wrote that he was ‘sitting here with my dad’ and warned of retaliation if an agreed agreement was not respected. Within 10 days of the message, $5.1 million was transferred to bank accounts associated with the Biden family, according to information in the Senate report.
Change their story
Hunter Biden with care claimed Wednesday that his father was not “financially involved” in its peddling of foreign influence – a change from previous denials. Joe Biden has previously said he knows “nothing” about his son’s affairs. It changed from being “involved” to being “financially involved”.
- “I have never discussed anything related to their business with my son, my brother or anyone else.” — Joe Biden, August 28, 2019
- “He was not given tens of millions of dollars (from foreign entities). This has been totally discredited. — Joe Biden, September 29, 2020
- “The president has never done business with his son.” — Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, July 24, 2023
- “My father was not financially involved in my business.” — Hunter Biden, December 13, 2023
Comer alleged in November that Joe Biden received $40,000 in CEFC funds who were “whitewashed” by James Biden, citing subpoenaed bank records. The White House and congressional Democrats say James was repaying his older brother for a personal loan, but Republicans note that the alleged transfer of the original loan to James appeared to come weeks earlier from a law firm associated with several members from the Biden family, rather than from Joe Biden’s personal account.
President Biden has repeatedly asserted that he “never” discussed business with Hunter or James Biden and in December demanded he “did not” interact with any of their foreign business associates – despite evidence that he did so repeatedly.
Joe Biden, as vice president, interacted with clients of Hunter and James Biden from Russia, Mexico, Kazakhstan And Ukraine And I had coffee in 2013 with former Chinese state-backed company CEO Hunter Biden, according to laptop evidence, photos and witness statements.
