Senate probe finds Hunter Biden’s foreign transactions repeatedly flagged as potential criminal activity
Hunter Biden, the son of President-elect Joe Biden, has confirmed there is an ongoing investigation into his taxes. His complex foreign financial transactions have always been considered potentially suspicious in the past.
Hunter has a history of international affairs and business dealings in quite a number of countries, but his involvement with Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014 is currently under intense scrutiny, in addition to his involvement with nationals from China and Russia during his father’s tenure as vice president.
He was paid a whopping sum of $50,000 per month to serve on the board of Burisma, sparking concerns about the perceptions of a conflict of interest given the fact that his father was deeply involved in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
A Republican-led Senate investigation released in September did not identify any policies that were directly affected by Hunter Biden’s work, but did indicate Treasury records obtained showed “potential criminal activity” among his transactions.
“In particular, these documents show that Hunter Biden received millions of dollars from foreign sources as a result of business relationships that he built during the period when his father was vice president of the United States and after,” the report stated. “In addition to providing new and descriptive details about the nature, origin and extent of payments from Burisma Holdings to Hunter Biden, the documents acquired by the Committees also shed light on a much broader array of questionable financial transactions involving Hunter Biden, other members of the Biden family, and their associations with foreign nationals.”
Those foreign nationals, according to senators, were identified as being consistently involved in a range of criminal activities ranging from money laundering to human trafficking.In one instance, for example, a $100,000 payment sent to Biden’s law firm by CEFC China Energy which was owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Jianming was identified for potential criminal activity. The group that paid Biden had ties to corruption allegations and the Chinese government.
Biden also allegedly opened up a line of credit with Ye’s business associate.Other questionable financial transactions involved the wife of the former Moscow mayor.However, at the time, a Biden campaign spokesperson called the investigation a “conspiracy theory.”
The disclosure of the federal investigation , led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware, comes at an unlikely moment for the incoming president, who is putting together his Cabinet. His choice for attorney general could have oversight of the investigation into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.In an interview last week,the President-elect, Joe Biden, addressed the business dealings of his son Hunter and his brothers, pledging that they would avoid any perceived conflicts of interest during his time in office.
“My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, where there’s appropriate distance from the presidency and government,” Biden said.
