A close associate of Hunter Biden and his uncle James, Mervyn Yan, told House investigators that while he never had contact with President Biden during his years working with the Biden family and his foreign business partners, he had knowledge of the identity of the first son. lucrative overseas contracts, won even though family members had no experience in infrastructure or energy markets.
Mr. Yan appeared before the House Oversight Committee, which is leading the impeachment inquiry into the president, to detail his business dealings with members of the Biden family. In a letter sent to House Republicans before his testimony began, his lawyer said he had never spoken with the elder Mr. Biden.
“Throughout his interactions with Hunter and James Biden, Mr. Yan never met, spoke to, did business with, or had any personal or professional communications with President Biden, who was then the former Vice President of the States “United,” the lawyer said. Soumya Dayananda, wrote.
Mr. Yan told investigators he first met the younger Mr. Biden in 2017 and they began their working relationship in 2018 at a consulting firm — Hudson West — which the first son began with other lobbying partners.
MM. Yan and Biden were introduced by a mutual friend, Kevin Dong, a Chinese national who helped connect the Biden family to communist China’s capital and business associates. Mr. Dong had a working relationship with the chairman of a Chinese energy company, CEFC, Ye Jianming. The president’s son and brother began earning millions of dollars from CEFC – including a one-time payment of $5 million to the first son – even though neither man had ever worked in the finance industry. energy.
Mr Ye – who worked closely with the People’s Liberation Army – reportedly tried to contact the younger Mr Biden in order to create better relations between the US government and the Chinese energy market.
The meeting, which never took place, was organized by a Serbian official, Vuk Jeremic, himself accused of corruption in his native country. MM. Biden and Ye established a partnership in Washington after Mr. Biden’s term as vice president ended in 2017. Mr. Ye was later recalled to Beijing, apparently by President Xi, and it is unclear where he is located.
Last year, the Oversight Committee disclosed the existence of text messages in which Hunter Biden threatened a CEFC executive, Henry Zhao, and demanded that he either send a payment or face the Biden family’s “grudge.” Mr. Biden even said that his father was sitting next to him when he sent these messages.
“I am sitting here with my father and would like to understand why the commitment made was not kept,” Mr. Biden wrote in a message to Mr. Zhao in July 2017. “Tell the director that I would like to resolve this issue now before it gets out of hand, and that is now tonight,” Mr. Biden wrote, referring to CEFC Chairman Mr. Ye.
“I will make sure that between the man sitting next to me and everyone he knows and my ability to hold grudges, you will regret not following my instructions,” he continued. “I’m sitting here waiting for the call with my dad.” Mr. Zhao then sent the payment.
Mr. Biden’s supporters said he was drugged or drunk when he sent the text messages and that they should not be taken seriously.
On February 13, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer will take the deposition of another former Biden family associate, Tony Bobulinski, who was involved in Mr. Biden’s dealings with CEFC around the same time. moment that Mr. Yan.
Mr. Bobulinski, a US Navy veteran and consultant, claims to have been approached by a Biden family associate in 2015 about the prospect of entering into a joint venture that would include himself, Hunter and James Biden, as well as a partner linked to the Chinese Communist Party. energy company, CEFC.
Mr. Comer tells the committee he wants to ask Mr. Bobulinski about how this infrastructure, real estate and technology investment program that the Bidens and CEFC worked on together has increased the influence and wealth of the Bidens.
Mr. Bobulinski made national headlines just before the 2020 election, when he held a news conference before a presidential debate between the elder Mr. Biden and President Trump. He said claims that the current president knew nothing about these foreign business dealings were categorically false.
“I am making this statement to set the record straight on the involvement of the Biden family – Vice President Biden, his brother Jim Biden and his son Hunter Biden – in dealings with the Chinese,” Mr. Bobulinsky. said at the time. “I heard Joe Biden say he never discussed business with Hunter. It’s wrong. I have direct knowledge of this because I have dealt directly with the Biden family, including Joe Biden.
