CRIME Hunter Biden Business Associate Flips From Prison, Releases Emails Detailing China Influence-Peddling Operation [main Hunter Biden]

marsh

On TB every waking moment

‘Breaking the News’ Reveals: Secret Service Records Show Hunter Biden Took at Least 23 flights Through Joint Base Andrews, Home of Air Force One and Two
94
FI:LE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013 file photo, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, waves as he walks out of Air Force Two with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden and son Hunter Biden at the airport in Beijing, China. On Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, The Associated Press reported on …
AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
ALEXANDER MARLOW22 May 2021223

According to Secret Service travel records obtained by Judicial Watch, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter took 411 trips across 29 countries between 2009 and the middle of 2014. That includes 23 flights into or out of Joint Base Andrews—home to Air Force One and Air Force Two.

These trips, which shed light on Hunter’s involvement with his father, are revealed in Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Hidden Deals and Secret Corruption, my new book exploring the corruption that drove the establish media to cover up the Hunter Biden scandal.

Despite this evidence that there was not an “absolute wall” between Hunter and Joe when it comes to business endeavors, the establishment press has shown little interest in exploring whether Hunter was actually leveraging his father’s power to enrich himself. In fact, quite the contrary. The New York Times, for example, published a story in 2020 portraying Hunter as a skilled artist who was mastering painting. The article, headlined “There’s a New Artist in Town.

The Name Is Biden,” un-ironically featured glossy photographs of a relaxed and polished Hunter Biden working away in his studio.

The American public has been told consistently that Hunter Biden is as pure as the driven snow.

Joe Biden called his son “the smartest guy I know.” Dr. Jill Biden (Ed.D.) and Joe both expressed confidence that Hunter had done nothing wrong. And, of course, Joe said he thought it was all Russian disinformation. And of course, Facebook and Twitter famously censored bombshell reporting by the New York Post on Hunter Biden that has not been proven to be “Russian” or “disinfo.”

Did any of those in the media who supported the suppression of the Hunter Biden email story investigate exactly where Hunter was going on these trips and with whom? Not as far as I can tell. NBC News, the Washington Post, the Washington Post again, Politico, the New York Times, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, CBS News, CNN, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, Newsweek, USA Today, Mother Jones, Vox, and more all indulged the Democrat disinformation campaign that protected the Bidens and the dishonest tech elite.

That there was hard evidence to the contrary didn’t seem to matter to the people who had an election to win and a public to misinform.

Why was Hunter Biden flying to and from an American military base? Where was he going and what did he do when he got there? Americans may never know, and perhaps we have our pro-Biden establishment media to thank for that.

You can the rest of the shocking details revealed in my year-long investigation into the corporate media in Breaking the News, out now.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Exclusive — Devin Nunes on Revelations of Hunter Biden Trips Through Joint Base Andrews: ‘Proof of Corporate Media’s Utter Corruption’
United States vice-president Joe Biden (L) and his son Hunter Biden (R) attend a women's ice hockey preliminary game between United States and China at UBC Thunderbird Arena on February 14, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
MATTHEW BOYLE23 May 2021Washington, DC2

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), told Breitbart News that revelations in a new book that President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden took more than 20 trips through Joint Base Andrews are more proof of “utter corruption” of establishment media.

“The revelation of Hunter Biden’s trips through Joint Base Andrews is further proof of the corporate media’s utter corruption and blinding partisanship,” Nunes told Breitbart News exclusively on Sunday. “They dismissed, ridiculed, and censored reporting on Hunter’s obvious conflicts of interest for the sole purpose of helping Joe Biden’s election prospects. The corporate media has fully merged with the Democratic Party, and their reporting is indistinguishable from crude Democrat talking points.”

Nunes’s comments on this matter come after revelations about Hunter Biden’s travel practices, when his father was vice president to former President Barack Obama, were published Saturday from the new book Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Secret Deals and Hidden Corruption. In particular, the book—from Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow—revealed Secret Service travel records that showed Hunter Biden took 411 trips, including to 29 foreign countries and 23 trips through Joint Base Andrews, from 2009 to 2014. During that time, his father—now the president of the United States—was vice president of the United States.

The reason why the Joint Base Andrews trips are important is because that is the home of Air Force One and Air Force Two. On Saturday, Breitbart News published a piece from Marlow adapted from the book that further explained the significance of the revelations:
Despite this evidence that there was not an “absolute wall” between Hunter and Joe when it comes to business endeavors, the establishment press has shown little interest in exploring whether Hunter was actually leveraging his father’s power to enrich himself. In fact, quite the contrary. The New York Times, for example, published a story in 2020 portraying Hunter as a skilled artist who was mastering painting. The article, headlined “There’s a New Artist in Town. The Name Is Biden,” un-ironically featured glossy photographs of a relaxed and polished Hunter Biden working away in his studio.
The American public has been told consistently that Hunter Biden is as pure as the driven snow. Joe Biden called his son “the smartest guy I know.” Dr. Jill Biden (Ed.D.) and Joe both expressed confidence that Hunter had done nothing wrong. And, of course, Joe said he thought it was all Russian disinformation. And of course, Facebook and Twitter famously censored bombshell reporting by the New York Post on Hunter Biden that has not been proven to be “Russian” or “disinfo.”
The fact that Hunter Biden flew through Joint Base Andrews during the Obama administration more than twenty times–and to nearly 30 countries on 411 total trips, per Secret Service records–seems to contradict claims that Joe Biden made when he was running for president in 2019. “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said on the campaign trail in Iowa in the summer of 2019. “Here’s what I know. Trump should be investigated.”

Biden then added specific instructions for the establishment media–which dutifully obliged his not-so-subtle demand that the media instead investigate his opponent then-President Donald Trump instead of his son Hunter.

“You should be looking at Trump,” Biden told the media in Des Moines when he arrived at the annual Democrat fundraiser the Polk County Steak Fry. “He’s doing this because he knows I’ll beat him like a drum. And he’s using an abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to smear me … Ask the right questions.”

After that, most of the establishment media followed Biden’s orders and completely ignored the hard evidence that proves the Biden narrative about Hunter Biden is untrue. Many questions remain unanswered about exactly where Hunter Biden was going, with whom he was meeting, why he was using an American military base for trips, what he was doing on these trips, and more. Those questions remain unanswered in large part because of the fact the establishment media have ignored, by and large, the Hunter Biden matter for years.

Nunes weighing in on the matter, though, is a sign that top Republicans have begun wising up to these facts about establishment media outlets. He was a critical figure in Congress during the Trump administration when it came to fighting back against fake narratives such as the Russia collusion hoax claims, and later the push to impeach Trump the first time over his call with Ukraine’s president—which was, of course, a central point in the whole Hunter Biden narrative given that it was all about corruption concerns with the now-president’s son and shady business dealings in the eastern European nation.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Hunter Biden’s Burisma Salary Was Cut Two Months After Joe Biden, AKA “The Big Guy,” Left Office

By Cristina Laila
Published May 26, 2021 at 5:00pm
IMG_7230.jpg

Hunter Biden’s Burisma gravy train came to a halt after his daddy Joe, AKA, “The Big Guy” left office.

Hunter’s $1 million a year Ukraine salary was cut in half two months after Biden left office in early 2017.

But Hunter’s gig with Burisma had nothing to do with the fact that he was the son of a US Vice President – just ask Joe Biden.

The New York Post reported:
From May 2014, Burisma Holdings Ltd. was paying Hunter $83,333 a month to sit on its board, invoices on his abandoned laptop show.

But in an email on March 19, 2017, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi asked Hunter to sign a new director’s agreement and informed him “the only thing that was amended is the compensation rate.”

“We are very much interested in working closely together, and the remuneration is still the highest in the company and higher than the standard director’s monthly fees. I am sure you will find it both fair and reasonable.”

After the email, the amount listed on Hunter’s monthly Burisma invoices was reduced to $41,500, effective from May 2017. The amount was paid in Euros, at the rate of between 35,000 Euros and 36,100 Euros per month, based on currency fluctuations at the time.

No reason is given for the decrease in salary. The only change in circumstance appears to be that Hunter’s father was no longer in office.

In 2016, Hunter’s total income from Burisma was $999,996. In 2017 it dropped to $665,000, and then $498,000 in 2018.
Hunter Biden ultimately resigned from the Burisma board in April of 2019.

Hunter Biden’s former associated Tony Bobulinski said Joe Biden was heavily involved in his son’s international business dealings.

“Hunter Biden called his dad “the Big Guy” or “my Chairman” and frequently referenced asking him for the sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing,” Bobulinski said. “I’ve seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I’ve seen first hand that that’s not true, because it wasn’t just Hunter’s business, they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line.”

A May 2017 text message previously released revealed Tony Bobulinski was warned by his business partner James Gilliar not to mention Joe Biden was involved.

Tony Bobulinski was brought into Sinohawk Holdings to be CEO by James Gilliar and Hunter Biden — James Gilliar made sure to warn Bobulinski never to mention Joe Biden being involved because they were paranoid.

“Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they are paranoid.”

Joe Biden continues to claim his son Hunter did nothing wrong while at the same time asserting he had no idea what Hunter was up to with his overseas business deals.
Joe Biden is a liar and a national security threat.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Hunter Biden Brought VP Dad Joe to Dinner with Shady Ukrainian, Russian and Kazakhstani Business Partners

By Cristina Laila
Published May 26, 2021 at 7:00pm
hunter-and-joe-biden.jpg

Remember when Joe Biden said he never spoke to his son Hunter about his international business dealings?

Hunter Biden brought daddy Vice President Joe Biden, AKA, “The Big Guy,” to dinner with shady Ukrainian, Russian and Kazakhstani business partners, according to records uncovered on Hunter’s laptop.

The dinner took place on April 16, 2015 in the private “Garden Room” at Cafe Milano while Joe Biden was still US Vice President, The New York Post reported.

According to The Post, the guest list prepared by Hunter included Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina and her husband, the crooked former mayor of Moscow. In 2014, Baturina wired $3.5 million to one of Hunter’s Delaware investment firms.

The day after dinner, Hunter Biden received an email from Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive at Burisma Holdings, thanking him for introducing him to his father.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together,” Pozharskyi wrote on April 17, 2015.

“It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure.”

Hunter was also doing business with Kazakhstani businessmen and oligarchs.

Kazakhstan banker Holtzman emailed: “Deer [sic] Hunter, Thank you for an amazing evening, wonderful company and great conversation. I look forward to seeing you soon and to many opportunities to work closely together.”

Hunter’s associated Devon Archer was also invited to a private breakfast with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov: “There are several matters the Prime Minister is eager to discuss with you and he will be grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time together.”

Hunter Biden had business dealings with an associate of Massimov’s, oligarch Kenes Rakishev.

More from The New York Post reported:
The guest list prepared by Hunter three weeks before the Café Milano dinner included Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina and her husband, corrupt former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, who since has died. Baturina wired $3.5 million on Feb. 14, 2014, to Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, a Delaware-based investment firm co-founded by Hunter and Devon Archer, a former adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry.

The wires were flagged in suspicious activity reports provided by the Treasury to a Senate Republican inquiry into Hunter last year by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Hunter told guests before the dinner that his father would be attending. In one email, he appears to use his role on the board of World Food Program USA as a cover story for the evening’s true purpose of introducing his father to his business associates.

“Ok – the reason for the dinner is ostensibly to discuss food security,” writes Hunter on March 26 to Michael Karloutsos, son of the then-head of the Greek Orthodox Church.

“Dad will be there but keep that between us for now. Thanks.”

Karloutsos replies: “Everything is between us. All good‎! … I know you mentioned your dad would probably join the dinner as well.”

It is unclear if everyone on Hunter’s list attended. Archer emailed Hunter before the event to say that Baturina did not want to come but her husband would attend.

“Yelena doesn’t want to steal Yuri’s Thunder, so she’ll be in town to meet with us but doesn’t want to come to dinner,” Archer wrote on March 20. “That was just her thoughts. We could insist.”

He finished the email: “Obviously save a seat for your guy (and mine if he’s in town.)”
Hunter replied: “I think your guy being there is more trouble than it’s worth- unless you have some other idea.”
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Joe Biden Received Campaign Cash From Top Russia Lobbyist Before Waiving Sanctions on Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

By Cristina Laila
Published May 29, 2021 at 2:30pm
Biden-Today.jpg

Joe Biden and his Democrat allies received money from a top Russia lobbyist in 2020 before waiving sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Recall, Biden’s first order of business was to shut down the Keystone Pipeline which killed more than 55,000 American jobs.

But Joe Biden supports a pipeline from Russia to Germany that will expand Vladimir Putin’s political power and influence in the region.

In 2019, the Trump Administration put economic sanctions on companies and executives involved in the building of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine and Poland and deliver gas to Germany.

The Trump Administration didn’t want to give Vladimir Putin too much of a hold over Europe by controlling energy supplies, but Joe Biden sold out to the highest bidder (as usual).

The New York Post reported:
President Biden and his allies raked in campaign cash from a top Russia lobbyist in 2020, just months before his administration’s decision to scrap sanctions on a controversial firm building a Russian oil pipeline to Germany.

Richard Burt, a managing partner at McLarty Associates and a former U.S. ambassador to Germany during the Reagan administration, ponied up $4,000 for Joe Biden in October 2020 and dropped another $10,000 in the lefty-aligned political action committee Unite The County in March 2020, FEC records show.

In addition to violating Biden’s own campaign pledge not to take lobbyist cash, the money from Burt is particularly noteworthy as he is currently directly engaged in lobbying activities for Nord Stream 2 AG.

“When Richard Burt donated to Biden Victory Fund, he failed to acknowledge that he was a registered foreign agent and was therefore ineligible to contribute,” a Democratic National Committee spokesman told The Post. “Because Burt also listed a different employer than on his [Foreign Agents Registration Act] registration, he was not flagged during our vetting process.”

The Switzerland-based Nord Stream 2 — controlled by an ex-East German stasi officer and close ally of Vladimir Putin — is currently engaging in sanctionable activity, according to the State Department. Team Biden raised eyebrows, however, after declining to enforce sanctions, citing U.S. national interests, Axios reported.
The DNC claims it gave the cash back to the Russian lobbyist after the New York Post’s inquiry.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Joe Biden Hired One of Hunter’s Investment Firm Employees to His Private VP Office Staff

By Cristina Laila
Published May 30, 2021 at 4:40pm
IMG_7230.jpg

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden hired one of Hunter Biden’s investment firm employees as a personal assistant, according to emails found on Hunter’s abandoned laptop.

Joe Biden hired Rosemont Seneca employee Anne Marie Person, 34, to be one of his private VP staffers.

Recall, Hunter Biden founded Rosemont Seneca with convicted felon Devon Archer and John Kerry’s step-son Christopher Heinz.

Hunter Biden worked as his father’s bagman and used Rosemont Seneca and other affiliates to collect money from foreign countries.

Anne Marie Person continued to communicate with Hunter Biden on a regular basis after his daddy VP Joe hired her.

The New York Post reported:
Joe Biden as vice president hired one of his son Hunter’s investment-firm staffers as a personal assistant, emails from his son’s discarded laptop show.

The revelation of Person’s hiring, and close ties to Hunter Biden and Rosemont Seneca, come from emails contained in the hard drive of a laptop Hunter abandoned at a Delaware repair shop, the existence of which was first revealed by The Post. Previously reported emails from the laptop have shed light on Hunter Biden’s shady dealings in China and the Ukraine.

“I am very excited to have Anne Marie Person working here with me in the West Wing!! I think all of you know her from her work with Rosemont Seneca,” wrote then-Vice President Biden’s assistant, Kathy Chung, in a May 27, 2014 email to Beau, Hunter and Jim Biden and other members of the Biden clan.

Person, who served as a general assistant at Rosemont, appeared on emails with Hunter Biden and other Rosemont execs from at least 2009 until February 2014.
She regularly stayed in touch with Hunter after taking her new role in the White House in May 2014, even helping organize activities for Hunter’s daughter, Finnegan, when the girl tagged along on foreign trips.

Ann Marie Person also married Michael Muldoon, a former Rosemont Seneca executive shortly after leaving the investment firm to work for Joe Biden.

Read the full report from the New York Post here.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Mark Meadows says 'more to come with Hunter Biden'

by Daniel Chaitin, Deputy News Editor |
| May 31, 2021 12:38 PM

Where is Hunter? A top Trump White House official suggested the public will be hearing more about President Joe Biden's son in the future.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows teased what he may know about the Biden family's business dealings during an interview Wednesday on Newsmax.

"I can tell you, there is more to come with Hunter Biden," Meadows told host Grant Stinchfield.
"It's amazing how Joe Biden and Hunter Biden actually had a quid pro quo, and to accuse President Trump of using his influence to enrich his family was just not accurate," Meadows added. "And now, what we're seeing is perhaps the real influence-peddling that took place was by then-Vice President Joe Biden."

Meadows was responding to a New York Post report on more materials from the laptop believed to have belonged to Hunter Biden indicating that his father may have met with his Ukrainian, Russian, and Kazakhstani business associates at a dinner in Washington, D.C., in 2015 when Joe Biden was vice president.

Biden, who is now more than four months into his presidency, said during the 2020 campaign that he never discussed his son's international business deals and denied taking any money from a foreign country.

Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings, among other matters, became prime targets for former President Donald Trump and his allies to sling at the elder Biden before and during the election cycle. In fact, Hunter Biden's role with a Ukrainian gas company played a significant role in the 2019 controversy that amounted to Trump's first impeachment.

During the 2020 election campaign, a laptop and hard drive that purportedly belonged to the younger Biden snagged headlines. Its contents included materials about his personal life and business dealings.

Biden, 51, has never denied the authenticity of the laptop, and he even conceded in an interview earlier this year that it "certainly" could be his. Biden also has never directly addressed what appears to be a computer repair invoice signed by him on April 12, 2019.

The laptop was seized by the FBI, and in December, Biden revealed that federal investigators were combing through his tax affairs.

Biden said in April he was "cooperating completely" with the investigation and insisted that he is "100% certain" he will be cleared of wrongdoing. "All I can do is cooperate and trust in the process," the president's son added.
 

The Snack Artist

Membership Revoked
All these stories of corruption and influence peddling! I'll bet someone will go to jail over this stuff! Um, no. This thread started in Oct of 2020. Nothing and no one has been punished for anything listed in this 100 plus post thread. I don't understand why it's still up.

Biden: Biden said in April he was "cooperating completely" with the investigation and insisted that he is "100% certain" he will be cleared of wrongdoing. "All I can do is cooperate and trust in the process," the president's son added.

No indictments forthcoming. Not one. pedojo stated this in April of 2021. So the "process" has been in motion for 6 months or more so far. Crickets.
 

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB

Hunter Biden Claimed He Didn’t Know His Baby’s Mama – Turns Out She Was On His Company’s Health Insurance Plan

By Joe Hoft
Published June 2, 2021 at 3:05pm
463 Comments
Hunter-Biden-3.jpg

Hunter Biden claimed he didn’t remember his baby’s mama – now it turns out she was on his company’s health insurance plan and he sent a text ordering she be taken off of insurance.
The Daily Mail released another Hunter Biden story today. It turns out Hunter did know his baby’s mama and he had her kicked off of his company’s insurance plan after she got pregnant.
Hunter Biden claimed he had ‘no recollection’ of the Arkansas woman who bore his child – but texts reveal that she worked for him, and that she told him about the pregnancy in 2018.
The bombshell messages also show that just three months after Lunden Roberts gave birth to their baby girl, Navy Joan Roberts, Hunter asked his assistant to make sure that the new mother had been kicked off his company’s health insurance plan.
TRENDING: HAPPENING NOW: Pennsylvania Legislative Delegation Sits Down with Arizona Lawmakers to Discuss Election Integrity And Replicating the Audit
The texts are on Hunter’s abandoned laptop, obtained and exclusively verified by DailyMail.com.
What a creep. In the first text at The Daily Mail, the baby’s momma, Lunden Roberts tried to reach Hunter multiple times but Hunter would not respond:
Hunter-Text-from-Baby-Moma.jpg

Then in the second set of texts from Hunter’s laptop, Hunter text his assistant Katie Dodge and requested that Dodge ensure the baby’s mama, Roberts, was no longer on his company’s payroll.
Hunter-Text-from-Baby-Moma2.jpg

The Daily Mail went on to note that in his memoir, Beautiful Things, Hunter referred to Lunden as ‘the woman from Arkansas’ and claimed he had ‘no recollection of our encounter’. This appears to be another Biden lie as he obviously knew her which is why he wanted her kicked off his company’s payroll.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
All these stories of corruption and influence peddling! I'll bet someone will go to jail over this stuff! Um, no. This thread started in Oct of 2020. Nothing and no one has been punished for anything listed in this 100 plus post thread. I don't understand why it's still up.

Biden: Biden said in April he was "cooperating completely" with the investigation and insisted that he is "100% certain" he will be cleared of wrongdoing. "All I can do is cooperate and trust in the process," the president's son added.

No indictments forthcoming. Not one. pedojo stated this in April of 2021. So the "process" has been in motion for 6 months or more so far. Crickets.

Any place else and a lot of loose ends would be tied up is a slew of heart attacks and auto accidents. Epstein et al are only one tip of that iceberg.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

REPORT: Justice Department Probing Lobbying Firm Linked to Hunter Biden

By Cassandra Fairbanks
Published June 3, 2021 at 5:05pm
Hunter-Biden-2-1.jpg

A lobbying firm linked to Joe Biden’s scandalous son Hunter is under investigation by the Justice Department, according to a new report.


The firm, Blue Star Strategies, did work for Burisma, the company who paid Hunter $83,000 a month to sit on his board — despite having no experience in the industry.

The investigation into Blue Star Strategies, according to a report from Politico, is looking into potential illegal lobbying after it took on Burisma as a client, and while Hunter was on its board.

“The Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office is involved in the probe, and is coordinating with lawyers in the National Security Division at DOJ’s Washington headquarters, the sources said. The Delaware office is also investigating Hunter Biden for potential tax violations,” Politico reports. “The existence of the federal probe into Blue Star Strategies has not been previously reported. There has been grand jury activity in connection to the probe, two of the people said.”

The report explains that four sources close to the investigation told them that it is partly focused on whether the firm failed to comply with disclosure requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that requires Americans to disclose lobbying and public affairs work for foreign officials and political parties.

“There is no indication that Hunter Biden is a target of the investigation into Blue Star. Karen Tramontano, one of Blue Star’s co-founders, testified that Hunter Biden did not direct any of the firm’s work for Burisma,” the report continues.

Blue Star did not disclose its work for Burisma in any federal lobbying database.

Read the full report here.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Burisma/Hunter Biden-Linked Firm Sought To Sell Ukraine ‘Access’ to Hillary Clinton

The Hunter Biden-Democratic Party Ukraine Scandal Grows More Complicated
by Jeff Dunetz | Jun 4, 2021 | Crime/Corruption
Blue Star Holdings

ParlerFacebookTwitterFlipboard

In 1832 British author Sir Walter Scott wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive.” It’s a quote that still rings true today. Blue Star Holdings

In American politics, the never-ending quests for power and wealth often lead to a tangled web resulting in corruption and crony capitalism. This latest case reported by Fox News involves the lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko, Burisma holdings, the American embassy in Ukraine, Hillary Clinton, and the 2016 Election.

Lutsenko, the Ukrainian prosecutor, told George Kent, who worked at the U.S. embassy, that Blue Star Holdings (who also worked for Burisma, the energy firm where Hunter Biden was a board member had pitched him access” to “high levels” of the Clinton campaign.

Kent wrote an email that said in part:
“Blue Star CEO [Karen] Tramantano’s pitch was that she could gain him access to high levels of the Clinton campaign (GPK note: she was Podesta’s deputy as deputy COS the last year of Bill Clinton’s tenure), and that was appealing—to meet the possible next Presidential Chief of Staff,” Kent wrote.
“But I pointed out that wasn’t too likely 6 weeks before the election, and that the embassies could arrange meetings at DOJ and State, and the Ukr embassy on the Hill,” he continued. “As for the Hill, not many members would be around 6 weeks before an election when Congress would be in recess, and the attention of the chattering think tank class would be on UNGA. Not the best timing, apart from DOJ and State.”
Things get even more complicated when you know the players:

Although he had no prosecutorial experience, Yuriy Lutsenko was appointed on 12 May 2016 to replace the man that then-VP Biden demanded fired. Coincidentally (if one believes in coincidences), two and a half weeks later, on 29 May 2016, Ukrainians from Lutsenko’s organization “leaked” information about Paul Manafort, which Nellie Ohr emailed to her husband from a news article, and which the U.S. media busied themselves turning into an anti-Trump theme along with everything else they wrote. According to Politico, Hillary Clinton was behind the release of Manafort information.

The Politico report identified Ukrainian-American political operative Alexandra Chalupa, who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee, as the contact to the Ukrainian officials.

This is when the Ukrainian government was controlled by Moscow. Ukrainian government personnel “tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office” and “disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election.” They also helped with the traditional Clinton opposition slanders by aiding friends of Hillary to research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.

Just like Lutsenko’s appointment as a prosecutor, Hunter Biden had inexplicably received a position on the board of directors at Burisma, despite having precisely zero relevant experience in the field of natural gas whatsoever, leading to an unspoken belief that his gas gig was all just a ruse to keep a line open between Kiev and the VP’s office in the West Wing. It was interesting that while he was on the board, Burisma hired Blue Star.

Blue Star Strategies is a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm with many Democratic Party connections founded by members of the Bubba Clinton administration. The firm was employed by Burisma to help fight allegations of public corruption and to announce that Hunter Biden was on its board. Now it is under investigation:
Sources told Politico that the DOJ is looking into Blue Star Strategies, a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm founded by former Clinton administration members that accepted Burisma as a client while Hunter Biden was sitting on the company’s board. This investigation reportedly involves the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is also investigating Hunter Biden for possible tax violations, and the DOJ’s National Security Division. Two of Politico’s sources said that the investigation into Blue Star Strategies has involved some grand jury activity, but the sources did not specify what that meant.
George Kent, of whom I’ve been told is not related to Clark Kent, worked for U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Yovanovitch was a star witness in the first of President Trump’s bogus impeachments. Yovanovitch was accused by a Ukrainian prosecutor of preventing criminal evidence from being given to then AG Barr and was exposed as lying under oath during her testimony to Adam Schiff’s double Secret hearings in the congressional basement.

Kent was also a witness in Adam Schiff’s first impeach-a-thon. Not discussed during his testimony was his anti-Trump work in Ukraine.

Officials at the U.S. embassy in Kiev monitored 13 prominent pro-Trump Americans’ social media accounts during the early days of the Ukraine scandal in spring 2019 and later were informed their activities potentially violated the Privacy Act. The list included Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rudy Guiliani, Dan Bongino, Sebastian Gorka, John Solomon, Jack Posobiec, Ryan Saavedra, Sara A. Carter, Donald Trump Jr., Michael McFaul, Lou Dobbs, and Pamela Geller.

According to emails discovered by the State Department, Marie Yovanovitch and George Kent (one of her top deputies) knew about the social media monitoring.

Little by little, the tangled web is being discovered, but it won’t be prosecuted or covered by the MSM with Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

Blue Star Holdings
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Published 1 day ago

Burisma-linked firm 'pitched' Ukrainian prosecutor 'access' to 2016 Clinton camp, Obama officials' emails show

Blue Star Strategies, the lobbying firm linked to Hunter Biden and Burisma, reportedly under federal investigation for potential illegal lobbying.
Brooke Singman

By Brooke Singman | Fox News

Senate report: Obama officials knew Hunter Biden's Burisma tie was 'problematic'
Jim Hanson, president of security studies, on concerns about the business dealings of Joe Biden's son.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told former Obama State Department official George Kent he had been "pitched" by a Hunter Biden and Burisma-linked lobbying firm to give him "access" to "high levels" of the Clinton campaign in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, according to emails between former Obama State Department officials obtained by Fox News.

The lobbying firm, Blue Star Strategies, is reportedly under federal investigation for potential illegal lobbying. Politico first reported the investigation, which allegedly comes as the Justice Department is ramping up enforcement of foreign governments’ efforts to influence U.S. politics. Those efforts have been linked to work by Republicans, but the probe into Blue Star also puts firms and operatives connected to the Democratic Party under the microscope.

In an email released to Citizens United on Thursday as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing, and obtained by Fox News, former deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eastern Europe George Kent wrote to a number of Obama administration officials about a meeting he had with Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko in September 2016 about Blue Star Strategies.

EMAILS TO HUNTER BIDEN SHOW PLANS TO MEET WITH STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS ABOUT BURISMA PROBE

The email, with the subject line "Lutsenko now likely not to go to DC with Blue Star, other Ukr issue comments," was sent by Kent to the former assistant secretary for fossil energy Christopher Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Alan Purcell, the chief political officer at the Kiev embassy from 2014 to 2017.

Prosecutor-general of Ukraine Yuri Lutsenko attends a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, May 30, 2016.  REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - D1BETHAMTIAA

Prosecutor-general of Ukraine Yuri Lutsenko attends a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - D1BETHAMTIAA

In the email, dated Sept. 4, 2016, Kent writes that he met with Lutsenko "one on one after I’d SMSed him regarding stories that he was using a third party lobbyist to pull together a planned trip to DC turned into a chat over Thai food at the DCR."

Kent, a key witness in the first impeachment proceedings against former President Trump in 2019, said the two discussed options of a trip Lutsenko had been planning to the U.S., and "confirmed he has been pitched by Blue Star, not sought them out."

"He said he honestly didn’t know how Blue Star was to get paid — he didn’t have funds — and that some BPP MP that we probably didn’t know ‘and that’s good’ (Truhubenko??) had introduced them to him," Kent wrote. It is unclear who "Truhubenko" is.

"Blue Star CEO [Karen] Tramantano’s pitch was that she could gain him access to high levels of the Clinton campaign (GPK note: she was Podesta’s deputy as deputy COS the last year of Bill Clinton’s tenure), and that was appealing—to meet the possible next Presidential Chief of Staff," Kent wrote.

George Kent: US, Ukrainian national interests undermined by attacks from Americans Video unkwn

"But I pointed out that wasn’t too likely 6 weeks before the election, and that the embassies could arrange meetings at DOJ and State, and the Ukr embassy on the Hill," he continued. "As for the Hill, not many members would be around 6 weeks before an election when Congress would be in recess, and the attention of the chattering think tank class would be on UNGA. Not the best timing, apart from DOJ and State."

Kent went on to write further about Blue Star Strategies which helped to represent Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

"In connection to Blue Star, I noted their representation of Burisma/Zlochevsky," Kent wrote.
Hunter Biden joined Burisma in 2014, and, at the time, reportedly connected Burisma with Blue Star to help the firm fight corruption charges. The founder of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, the former minister of ecologies, had been under investigation in Ukraine.

The Obama administration pushed for the prosecutor investigating Zlochevsky, Viktor Shokin, to be removed from his post. Shokin was fired in April 2016 and the case was closed by the prosecutor who replaced him, Lutsenko. Joe Biden once boasted on camera that when he was vice president he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin.

Biden allies, though, maintain that his intervention had nothing to do with his son, but was rather tied to the administration’s concerns of corruption in Ukraine. At the time, as vice president to former President Obama, Biden was running U.S.-Ukraine policy and anti-corruption campaigns.

Burisma Holdings was at the center of the first impeachment proceedings against former President Trump in 2019, after he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call to look into the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine.

In the email, Kent went on to describe news reports surrounding the 2016 election related to Ukrainian lobbying—including work of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who had a lucrative political consulting business which included Ukraine and later pleaded guilty for financial crimes arising from that work; as well as work of Tony Podesta, the brother of former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who also did lobbying work with Ukraine; money from Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk to the Clinton Foundation; and others.

New details about what Amb. Marie Yovanovitch knew about Hunter Biden and Burisma
Video
4:55 min

Kent said in his conversation with Lutsenko, he "mentioned the various money flows from Ukraine to lobbyists that had been prominently in the news this past month, whether Manafort/Klueyev via Brussels to Podesta Group and Weber/Mercury, Yanu’s Justice Minister Lavrynovych to Skaden/arps-and Greg Caid—and Pinchuk to Clinton Foundation, and the media attention being paid at present to the Kyiv/ Washington lobbyist gravy train… And he got the drift. Not ideal timing, little receptive audience, and wrong facilitator," Kent wrote.
Kent added: "He said he’d figure out a better time when there would be more traction/ better audience."

Both Kent and Yovanovitch testified as part of the 2019 Trump impeachment.

Kent, during his testimony, said that he raised concerns with Biden's office in 2015 that Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma could present "the possibility of the perception of a conflict of interest."

Kent also testified that he would "love" to see Ukraine look into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the probe tied to Burisma.

STATE DEPARTMENT EMAILS INDICATE YOVANOVITCH MET WITH BURISMA REP, DESPITE TESTIMONY

Yovanovitch testified that she didn't have much knowledge about Burisma Holdings, and noted that she only learned of its connection to Biden through "press reports" she read while preparing for her Senate confirmation hearing.

Fox News, however, first reported last year after obtaining a memo released through a Citizens United FOIA that Yovanovitch met with Blue Star Strategies CEO Karen Tramontano, as a representative of Burisma, inside the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine on Dec. 8, 2016.

Meanwhile, last year, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, led, at the time by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., approved subpoenas for Blue Star Strategies as part of its investigation into Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma, and whether individuals at the firm improperly used the relationship with the then-vice president’s son to "influence" U.S. government agencies.

At the time, Tramontano said the firm would cooperate with the committee.
George Kent concedes ‘conflict of interest’ with Hunter Biden and Burisma
Video
1:12 min

Meanwhile, the investigation into Blue Star Strategies is reportedly being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware — the same office leading the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s "tax affairs."

The Justice Department declined to comment on the existence of an investigation.
Biden announced he was under federal investigation for his tax affairs in December 2020, after the presidential election.

At the time, a well-placed government source told Fox News that Hunter Biden is a subject/target of a 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.

The source also told Fox News the investigation was predicated, in part, by Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regarding foreign transactions. Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News the SARs were regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations."

The investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter, began in 2018.
Hunter Biden has maintained he did nothing wrong. In his December statement making the investigation public, Hunter Biden said he took "this matter very seriously" and was "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."
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment


EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian real estate tycoon to overturn his bribery conviction through a massive propaganda campaign with help from VP Joe's government connections and former FBI director Louis Freeh
  • Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribery
  • He bribed a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price
  • Popoviciu hired Hunter Biden that year as part of an influence campaign to persuade anti-corruption prosecutors to cut a deal or drop the case
  • DailyMail.com can now reveal the extensive propaganda and persuasion campaign planned for the Romanian criminal
  • Hunter brought in political heavyweight Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his US law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage
  • Hunter's involvement included meeting with U.S. officials and plotting a media blitz in favor of the foreign tycoon, all while his father was Vice President
  • Despite the planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed and Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2016

By JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:08 EDT, 7 June 2021 | UPDATED: 14:01 EDT, 7 June 2021

Hunter Biden and a former FBI director were hired by a Romanian tycoon later convicted of bribery - and represented him in meetings with top U.S. officials - emails from Hunter's laptop show.

Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price.

Popoviciu hired Hunter earlier that year as part of an influence campaign to persuade anti-corruption prosecutors to cut a deal or drop the case.


The hiring was revealed in 2019, but DailyMail.com can now reveal the extensive propaganda and persuasion campaign planned by Hunter for the Romanian criminal, all while Hunter's father was Vice President.

Emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop reveal how Joe Biden's son and his colleagues leveraged their US government connections and plotted a propaganda campaign for the grafting Romanian tycoon.

The arrangement raises more questions about Hunter's dodgy business deals that threatened to compromised his father - the vice president.

Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian tycoon later convicted of bribery - and represented him in meetings with top U.S. officials – emails from Hunter's laptop show

Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian tycoon later convicted of bribery - and represented him in meetings with top U.S. officials – emails from Hunter's laptop show

Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price


Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price

Emails show Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his U.S. law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result


Emails show Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his U.S. law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), anyone advocating for foreign entities to US government officials, or acting as a publicist for a foreign entity in the US, must add themselves to a Department of Justice public register.

Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI and close family friend of the Bidens


Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI and close family friend of the Bidens
However, an exception applies for attorneys representing a client in a foreign court case, who are not required to register under FARA.

Emails show Hunter's colleagues, partners in law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, Christopher Boies and Michael Gottlieb, seeking to set up meetings with the US Ambassador to Romania, after discussing among themselves whether he would intervene in Popoviciu's case.

Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his US law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result.

Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major U.S. publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client who was later found guilty of bribery.

None of them were required to register for this work under FARA, due to various exemptions including those for lawyers of foreign defendants.

Popoviciu was first mentioned in Hunter's emails in September 2015. At the time Hunter worked at law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.

Firm partner Chris Boies wrote to Hunter and his business partner Devon Archer with the subject line 'Popoviciu', and the message: 'Let's discuss when convenient… One of my partners is best friends with the newly appointed Ambassador to Romania.'

The property tycoon didn't appear again in Hunter's inbox until May 2016, when he was on the brink of a bribery conviction in a Romanian court.

Hunter and his colleagues scrambled into action, with then-Boies Schiller attorney Michael Gottlieb even seeking the help of then-US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm in a last-ditch effort to stop the corruption conviction.

'I have reached out to Klemm and asked him to help us broker the meeting [with Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors],' Gottlieb wrote to Hunter on May 17, 2016.

'We should put together a persuasive deck with all the procedural and substantive defects in the indictment / case against Gabs, and we should also probably put together the start of what would be a press strategy. And we'll want to line up the big names to bring over.'

A legal source involved in the discussions told DailyMail.com that they never went through with the planned action.

'All of the ideas discussed in this email, including the preparation of a deck and press plan, were never implemented or executed,' the source, who was a member of Popoviciu's legal team, said.

'All of this was being discussed as part of a potential strategy, which depended entirely on scheduling a meeting with the Romanian Government on the case. But that meeting was never scheduled, and never happened, because the Romanian Government declined.'

Hunter and his colleagues scrambled into action, with then-Boies Schiller attorney Michael Gottlieb even seeking the help of then-US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm in a last-ditch effort to stop the corruption conviction. 'I have reached out to Klemm and asked him to help us broker the meeting [with Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors],' Gottlieb wrote to Hunter on May 17, 2016


Hunter and his colleagues scrambled into action, with then-Boies Schiller attorney Michael Gottlieb even seeking the help of then-US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm in a last-ditch effort to stop the corruption conviction. 'I have reached out to Klemm and asked him to help us broker the meeting [with Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors],' Gottlieb wrote to Hunter on May 17, 2016

Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major US publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client, who was later convicted of bribery


Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major US publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client, who was later convicted of bribery

The following week Gottlieb wrote an email to Hunter saying that he had spoken to the US ambassador – but was reluctant to describe his conversation in an email. 'Hans called me to discuss a development that is best relayed over phone. Can we connect either tonight or first thing tomorrow? Bottom line is that we should proceed with requesting the meeting,' he wrote


The following week Gottlieb wrote an email to Hunter saying that he had spoken to the US ambassador – but was reluctant to describe his conversation in an email. 'Hans called me to discuss a development that is best relayed over phone. Can we connect either tonight or first thing tomorrow? Bottom line is that we should proceed with requesting the meeting,' he wrote
Gottlieb complained to his colleagues about a Politico article praising Romanian prosecutors for cracking down on corruption.

'This kind of article is likely to make our efforts with the USEMB [the US embassy] an uphill battle, and why I expect HK [Klemm] has had little interest in taking any kind of public position,' Gottlieb wrote.

Hunter weighed in, suggesting they enlist the help of Biden family friend and former FBI director Louis Freeh.

'Agreed Michael. Is now the time to begin to assemble a more high profile team that can speak to the injustice here,' Hunter wrote. 'Who do we have at the firm that can speak with authority about anti-corruption. Mike I was going to reach out to Judge Freeh and if you can think of others of that stature I think now is the time to read them into the situation and see if they are willing to help. Ambassador Gittenstein mentioned names like former US Atty Patrick Fitzgerald.'

The following week Gottlieb wrote an email to Hunter saying that he had spoken to the US ambassador – but was reluctant to describe his conversation in an email.

'Hans called me to discuss a development that is best relayed over phone. Can we connect either tonight or first thing tomorrow? Bottom line is that we should proceed with requesting the meeting,' he wrote.

In a March 24, 2016 email titled 'Re Meet with H. Klemm', Hunter wrote to Gottlieb: 'Where are we meeting?'

A source involved in the meeting told DailyMail.com that Hunter did join Gottlieb and the U.S. ambassador in at least one meeting.

The source on Popoviciu's legal team told DailyMail.com that 'at no point did we ever ask the U.S. Ambassador (or anyone else at the Embassy) to make any statement about the case, or to intervene in any way.'

The lawyer said the U.S. team explained to Popoviciu's foreign representatives 'the reality that the U.S. Embassy, and U.S. Ambassador, would not intervene with the Romanian Government regarding a pending anti-corruption prosecution.'

'The legal team was always attentive to limiting any ''ask'' to the U.S. Embassy to be the making of an introduction to the relevant Romanian Government officials, or the provision of advice about Romanian law or protocol,' the lawyer said.

Boies Schiller Flexner declined to comment. Gottlieb, who has since left the firm, also declined to comment.

The overtures to American diplomats ultimately failed to prevent Popoviciu's conviction. But on June 18 Hunter emailed Freeh for help, saying he had become 'very close to the client personally' and claiming the tycoon was 'being very badly treated by a suspect Romanian justice system.'

Days later the ex-FBI director had signed a retainer with Popoviciu and described in an email a plan to 'intervene with the special Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor' and even launch a propaganda campaign in the US.

'They were talking about us doing a report and then 'going to the WSJ.' I said this would most likely just inflame the prosecutor and make things worse for the client,' Freeh wrote.

'We suggested doing a 'report' (perhaps being retained by a business partner or investor (client owns a $.5B real estate development in Bucharest), and then using that report to establish a dialogue with the prosecutor-resulting in some possible deal or remediated outcome.'

Michael Gottlieb


Christopher Boies



Emails show Hunter's fellow partners in law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, Christopher Boies (right) and Michael Gottlieb (left), seeking to set up meetings with the U.S. Ambassador to Romania, after discussing among themselves whether he would intervene in Popoviciu's case
Freeh did not respond to requests for comment, and it is unclear whether anyone on his team spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the case. No favorable articles about Popoviciu appeared in the paper during that time.

But the former FBI director did quickly bring his extensive law enforcement contacts to bear to help the tycoon.

Flaunting his international connections, he wrote to Hunter on June 21: 'I will see my good friend, Ron Noble [the former secretary general of international police organization Interpol], in NY on Thursday and most likely he knows this DNA [Romanian anti-corruption office] chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kobesi, very well.

'Let me talk to him and see what the possibilities may be to meet with her and to initiate a dialogue which would remediate the situation. I want to make sure I can add some value to this equation before proceeding.'

Freeh then began to approach US government officials about the case.

He emailed Hunter on July 8 that he had spoken with the head of the FBI's criminal division about the case – and offered to pay Hunter a referral fee for involving him.

'I wanted to thank you again for referring Gabriel to us and we have finalized an attorney letter of engagement with him,' Freeh wrote to the then-Vice President's son on July 8, 2016, two weeks after Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison. 'I will meet him in Paris Sunday and then we'll deploy to Bucharest and get to work.

'FYI, I have had conversations with the head of the FBI's Criminal Division and there is a sincere Bureau interest in meeting and debriefing Gabriel on other matters he may be willing to discuss.

FBIHQ will relay its interest to the Legat [legal attaché] in Bucharest, with whom we'll meet next week.

'There is the 'timing' issue about when to make contact with DNA and SRI [Romanian intelligence service], which we'll strategize about with Gabriel next week. We have fortunately been able to enlist for our team a former FBI Legat in Bucharest--she's Romanian-American--who is a fluent speaker with excellent SRI contacts. We may also try to see the Ambassador.'

Part 1 of 2
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Part 2 of 2

In the email, Freeh also offered to give a referral payment to Hunter for getting him the job with Popoviciu.

'I would also like to make a small payment to you for this referral-and for your continuing work on this matter,' Freeh wrote. 'This is a standard practice. It's strictly your call as I don't know your relationship with the client. We would just need your bank information in order to make a remittance.'

Despite the extensive planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed. On June 23, 2016 Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison.
But when police showed up to his Romanian home, they reportedly found the real estate mogul had fled. He was later arrested in London in August 2017.

Flaunting his international connections two days before the conviction, Freeh wrote to Hunter on June 21: 'I will see my good friend, Ron Noble [the former secretary general of international police organization Interpol], in NY on Thursday and most likely he knows this DNA [Romanian anti-corruption office] chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kobesi, very well'


Flaunting his international connections two days before the conviction, Freeh wrote to Hunter on June 21: 'I will see my good friend, Ron Noble [the former secretary general of international police organization Interpol], in NY on Thursday and most likely he knows this DNA [Romanian anti-corruption office] chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kobesi, very well'

Freeh signed a retainer with Popoviciu and described in an email a plan to 'intervene with the special Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor' and even launch a propaganda campaign in the US


Freeh signed a retainer with Popoviciu and described in an email a plan to 'intervene with the special Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor' and even launch a propaganda campaign in the US

43791495-9646127-image-a-12_1622730881917.jpg


Despite the planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed and Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years prison on June 23, 2016


Despite the planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed and Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years prison on June 23, 2016

In a press release following the sentencing, Freeh claimed the verdict was 'not supported by either the facts or the law' and that there were 'numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case against Mr. Popoviciu.'

Freeh did not respond to requests for comment.

In a bizarre twist, the former FBI director then enlisted the help of Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani – who had criticized Hunter for his dealings with allegedly corrupt Eastern Europeans.

After his commission Giuliani wrote a letter to Romanian president Klaus Iohannis criticizing the anticorruption prosecutions and calling for an amnesty for recent convicts – including Popoviciu.

Federal agents raided Giuliani's New York City home and office in April, seizing his electronics, as part of their investigation into whether the former mayor broke FARA rules by lobbying the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs.

The attorney and former New York mayor denies wrongdoing and claimed to Fox News this week that 'they are trying to frame me'.

The Giuliani investigation grew out of a federal investigation of his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who worked on gathering information about the Bidens during the election.

The two Soviet-born men were charged with federal campaign finance violations.

The two, who pleaded not guilty, were arrested at an airport outside Washington carrying one-way tickets to Europe. That investigation is on-going and faced some delays due to the COVID pandemic.

Giuliani's lawyer Robert Costello blamed the investigation on 'Trump derangement syndrome' and claimed that even though his client had copies of Hunter's laptop hard drive in his apartment, agents ignored them during their search.

'Keep in mind that the agents could not read the physical hard drives without plugging them in, but they took Mr. Giuliani's word that the hard drives were copies of Hunter Biden's hard drive and did not contain anything pertaining to Mr. Giuliani,' Costello said in a statement.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Emails reveal plans by Hunter Biden, associates to conquer a turbulent world ... for money

Evidence in FBI hands shows Biden called Italian region president, lobbied French ambassador, and targeted sovereign wealth funds

Video on website 9:59 min

By John Solomon and Seamus Bruner
Updated: June 10, 2021 - 8:27am

The world was on fire in February 2014, and Joe Biden was President Obama's point man for many of the crises. Russia had shocked the West by invading the Crimean region of Ukraine. Syria was engulfed in a bloody civil war with ISIS. And Iraq was rocked by a wave of terrorist bombings that killed more than 100 civilians.

Hunter Biden, the vice president's son, and his colleagues at Rosemont Seneca Partners and related businesses found it the perfect time to conquer a turbulent world for more business, according to emails on a Hunter Biden laptop hard drive seized by the FBI in December 2019 from a Delaware repair shop.

One of their plans was to target the sovereign wealth funds of America's richest allies, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

"I've been researching sovereign wealth funds lately in hopes of coming up with a plan to add another large manager (multi-billion dollar fund) to RSPI's platform, without over-relying on the Taft Hartley channel," Daniel McHale, the RSP Investments managing director, wrote Hunter Biden and a colleague named Eric Schwerin in an email dated Feb. 3, 2014. RSP Investments was the broker arm of the Rosemont Seneca empire that Hunter Biden helped engineer.

"I think this would provide us additional near-term cash flow while increasing the odds of landing a large allocation," McHale added. "Also, similar to Taft Hartley funds, it's a segment of the market where we could have a definable edge."

The email attached a "list of the largest sovereign wealth funds" in the world with a combined wealth of more than $3 trillion, from China and Russia to Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar.

File
Sovereign Wealth Funds.pdf

Schwerin wrote back setting up a meeting to advance the plan, while cautioning that Hunter Biden did not have the sort of financial broker's license that could directly work with the sovereign wealth funds.

"Let's you and I set up a call to talk about outreach of sovereign wealth funds," Schwerin wrote. "As you know, since Hunter isn't licensed he can't do any direct marketing to any of these funds on behalf of RSPI. I'll call you later and we can discuss further."

The email is one of thousands that lay out the audacious ambition of Hunter Biden and his business colleagues to cash in on the Biden name by approaching foreign countries, governments and businesses even as the younger Biden's father was Obama's point man for a significant part of the nation's foreign policy.

Hunter Biden's odyssey with the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma — a firm the Obama-Biden State Department deemed corrupt — is well-chronicled now. Hunter Biden and one of his partners scored more than $3 million in fees on that deal. So too is Hunter Biden's famous trip aboard his father's Air Force II to Beijing, China, where he landed a major investment deal.

But the emails on the laptop the FBI seized offer new and sweeping details about the ambitions of the Biden business empire, and efforts to contact, influence or appeal to world leaders or their representatives in Washington D.C., particularly in the early months of 2014.

The younger Biden's access to his father's official calendars and government events, like state dinners, factored into the hunt for business.

For instance, Hunter Biden directly corresponded with the United Arab Emirates' Ambassador to the United States, Yousef-Al-Otaibi, about one business deal for which he was seeking help.

"Mr. Ambassador, I have a meeting today at noon regarding InfoSpan and was wondering if there is any update," Hunter Biden wrote Jan. 30, 2014 to the Middle East ambassador. "Sorry to be a pain regarding this. Hope all is well. Best, Hunter."

"I never heard back but let me make one last ditch effort," the ambassador wrote back. Eventually the longtime diplomat for his country could not help out.

File
Checking in.pdf

A month later, Hunter Biden reached out to Francois Delattre, the new French ambassador to the United Nations, seeking help after the two met at an official Obama White House state dinner with French President Hollande.

"I was proud to be included in the dinner to have had the chance to meet President Hollande," the vice president's son wrote on Feb. 27, 2014. "I don't remember if I had the opportunity to mention that my business partner has a personal relationship with Ben Jenkins (info below) whom [sic] is in the midst of an attempted acquisition of TDF France.

"We are assisting Ben informally by helping him gain different perspectives ... I was hoping to get a few minutes of your time to introduce you to Ben."

The French diplomat politely directed Hunter Biden to two aides who would "Be more knowledgeable on French markets and the business environment than I."

File
Re TDF France.pdf

Hunter Biden's team also plotted to try to get the vice president's son a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to the United States in early 2014 after the Beijing trip aboard Air Force 2 in December 2013 had not materialized into enough immediate business.

"We're providing notes to the Embassy now on meeting purpose. Katie's submitted to Chinese Ambassador, awaiting feedback and confirm if timing is possible," a Jan. 27, 2014 email declared, copying Hunter Biden. There is no indication whether the meeting — one that would have created immediate alarm bells in the U.S.-China relationship — took place.

File
Fwd Meeting with Chinese Ambassador.pdf

As the hunt for foreign dollars expanded, Hunter Biden eventually graduated to contacts with world leaders. In a 2016 email, he forwards to colleagues at Burisma a letter he had written to Enrico Rossi, the President of the Tuscany region of Italy.

"Dear President Rossi, I hope this email finds you well," Hunter Biden wrote to the president's personal email address. "I wanted to follow up on a letter that I had sent to your office to make sure you had received it. Also, on behalf of Burisma, I wanted to invite you to the Monaco Energy Forum we are hosting in June. I've attached the invitation as I know it will be a great event focusing on promoting alternative energy sources in Europe. I am looking forward to a fruitful relationship between Burisma and Tuscany. I hope you will be able to join."
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
[COMMENT: Can anyone say new Biden Crime Family money laundering scheme?]

Hunter Biden Uses Shady Art Dealer with Strong Ties to China to Sell His Garbage Artwork For Up to $500,000 Per Painting - Buyers Will be Kept 'Confidential'

Hunter Biden Uses Shady Art Dealer with Strong Ties to China to Sell His Garbage Artwork For Up to $500,000 Per Painting – Buyers Will be Kept ‘Confidential’

By Cristina Laila
Published June 15, 2021 at 3:51pm
tb-2.jpg

Tell us you’re laundering money without telling us you’re laundering money.

Crackhead-turned international bagman-turned hipster artist Hunter Biden is working with a shady SoHo art deal with strong ties to China to hold an exhibition in New York this fall.

According to the New York Post, Soho art dealer Georges Bergès has strong ties to China and was once arrested for “terrorist threats.”

Bergès will host a “private viewing for Biden in Los Angeles this fall, followed by an exhibition in New York.” Bergès told Artnet.

Hunter’s artwork will “range from $75,000 for works on paper to $500,000 for large-scale paintings.”
Bergès says ‘sales are always confidential to protect the privacy of the collector.’

How convenient.

“I don’t paint from emotion or feeling, which I think are both very ephemeral,” Hunter Biden said of his artwork. “For me, painting is much more about kind of trying to bring forth what is, I think, the universal truth.”

Hunter Biden still has a stake in a billion-dollar Chinese investment firm.

A Chinese state-owned energy company also wired a $5 million “loan” to Hunter’s firm through an investment vehicle — to the bank account for Hudson West III –which then dispersed the money to Hunter’s firm (money laundering).

On August 8, 2017, $5 million was wired from a CEFC-affiliated investment vehicle to the bank account for Hudson West III, which spent the next year transferring $4,790,375 million directly to Hunter Biden’s firm, Owasco, according to Senate documents.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFyHKQYEUSU
9:36 min

Why Glenn thinks PAINTING may be Hunter Biden’s new money laundering scam

•Jun 15, 2021


Glenn Beck


A recently released article reveals Hunter Biden and Glenn share a passion for painting (the only difference is that Hunter holds his paintbrush like a five-year-old…). But Glenn thinks there’s more to this story. He explains his theory that Hunter Biden really is using this new painting 'hobby' as a money laundering scheme...buy a painting and gain access to the president, perhaps?
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Corruption Concerns Mount as Hunter Biden’s Artwork to Go on Sale for Up to Half a Million Dollars Per Painting
26,133
hunter-biden-painting
Hunter Biden
HANNAH BLEAU14 Jun 20218,523

President Joe Biden’s scandal-plagued son Hunter Biden is reportedly now engaged as a “full-time artist” and is working with Soho art dealer Georges Bergès to hold an exhibition in New York in the coming months, with prices for Hunter’s artwork ranging from $75,000 to $500,000, according to Artnet.

Amid years of scandal, the 51-year-old Hunter Biden is apparently now “laying low” in his Los Angeles home while working on his artwork. Bergès, his dealer, plans to host a “private viewing for Biden in Los Angeles this fall, followed by an exhibition in New York.” Bergès told Artnet that prices for Hunter’s work will “range from $75,000 for works on paper to $500,000 for large-scale paintings.”

“I don’t paint from emotion or feeling, which I think are both very ephemeral,” Biden said of his work. “For me, painting is much more about kind of trying to bring forth what is, I think, the universal truth.”

According to the New York Post, Bergès has some ties to China. The art dealer reportedly “regularly features works by Chinese artists and told a Chinese network that he was keen to open other art galleries in Beijing and Shanghai in 2015.”

Bergès has lavished praise on China’s role in the art world. In 2014, Bergès told the Chinese state-owned media outlet China Daily, “The questions that I always had was how’s China changing the world in terms of art and culture.”

Hunter Biden’s newfound venture does little to distract from the ongoing concerns that he could perhaps be trading on his family name, as he and other members of the Biden family have been accused of doing in the past.

Hunter’s entry into the art world follows years of his endeavors in the world of international finance where he has been criticized for engaging in business ventures with countries at a time when his then-vice president father was negotiating U.S. foreign policy with those countries. One of the most well-known examples of this centers around Hunter’s involvement on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian oligarch-owned oil and gas company, which paid him tens of thousands of dollars per month despite his lack of experience in the energy sector or Ukraine in general. At the time, Hunter’s then-vice president father was the point-person negotiating U.S. policy with Ukraine. After leaving office, Joe Biden later bragged about how he threatened to withhold U.S. assistance to Ukraine unless Ukrainian officials fired a prosecutor who had launched a corruption investigation into the company that had hired Hunter.

Hunter also came under criticism for his lucrative business dealings with state-owned entities in China, as Breitbart News senior contributor and Secret Empires author Peter Schweizer has reported in detail.

“In China, [Hunter] travels with his father in December [2013] aboard Air Force Two. While his father is meeting with Chinese officials, Hunter Biden is doing we don’t know what. But the evidence becomes clear because ten days after they return to Washington, his small boutique investment firm, Rosemont Seneca, gets a $1 billion deal,” the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) president explained during a 2019 appearance with Sean Hannity.

“That’s $1 billion with a ‘B,’ later expanded to $1.5 billion. And that deal is with the Chinese government,” he explained. “It’s a deal that nobody else has in China. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, nobody.”

Schweizer suspects Hunter’s latest venture could potentially be another form of pay-for-play for the Biden family.

“Hunter Biden was repeatedly hired and given deals by foreign entities that he was clearly not qualified for in the hopes of getting favors from his father,” Schweizer told Breitbart News. “It is not a stretch to believe that foreign entities will pay for or commission his works of art at inflated prices to do the same.”

Money laundering in the art world has been identified as an issue, as detailed by a bipartisan Senate investigation last year:
The Senate report details how a pair of Russian oligarchs with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly seized on the secrecy of the art industry to evade sanctions by making more than $18 million in high-value art purchases.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” investigators for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations told reporters on a call. The art world is considered to be the largest legal unregulated industry in the United States, according to the Senate investigation.

The Rotenberg example and many other investigation details highlight the fact that, unlike selling stock or making routine bank transfers, art sales through auction houses are not subject to anti-money laundering provisions in the Bank Secrecy Act. When art is sold, according to the report, sellers are not required to confirm the identity of the buyer nor to make sure the artwork isn’t being used to launder dirty money.
“Secrecy, anonymity, and a lack of regulation create an environment ripe for laundering money and evading sanctions,” the Senate report found.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden, explaining his art, told Artnet, “The universal truth is that everything is connected and that there’s something that goes far beyond what is our five senses and that connects us all.”

“The thing that really fascinates me is the connection between the macro and the micro, and how these patterns repeat themselves over and over,” he added, explaining that art is “not a tool that I use to be able to, in any way, cope.” Rather, Biden said it “comes from a much deeper place.”

Bergès has praised Hunter’s work, as it holds an “authenticity” that he “personally” loves.

“A lot of the issues that are thrown at Hunter is what makes him produce really great work,” the art dealer said.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

In the summer of 2015, Hunter Biden and his longtime business partner, the now-convicted felon Devon Archer, already had an ace connection to then-Secretary of State John Kerry: a third partner in many of their Rosemont Seneca ventures was Christopher Heinz, the secretary's stepson.

But when Archer and Hunter Biden jumped into business with a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma Holdings in 2014, Heinz wanted no part because of the firm's reputation for corruption.

So Archer, the younger Biden and their Burisma cohorts targeted another family member, Secretary Kerry's daughter Vanessa, as they tried to improve Burisma's reputation amidst corruption investigations in Ukraine that were being cheered on by the Obama-Biden administration's diplomats in Ukraine.

Emails turned over to the FBI on an abandoned Hunter Biden laptop detail an effort to court Dr. Vanessa Kerry by raising money for her global health charity and then asking the same group to provide help to the Ukrainian people through a partnership with Burisma that would almost certainly burnish the gas firm's reputation.

On July 22, 2015, Archer sent a fundraiser invitation to his wife and Hunter Biden, among other contacts. "I am writing to invite you to our upcoming event in the Hamptons for Seed Global Health, the organization founded by Vanessa Kerry," Archer wrote. "We are hosting a small cocktail party on Sunday, August 16th, at the Quogue Club at Hallock House to raise funds and awareness from my friends there," the email invite beckoned.

File
Invitation Seed Global Health Cocktail Party August 16th 2015.pdf

Archer's private fundraiser endeavored to raise $100,000 for Seed Global Health and offered three tiers for prospective donors: $10,000 for a "Chair" of the fundraiser, $5,000 to be a fundraiser "Host," and each "Guest" of the fundraiser would have to pony up $1,000.

Archer wrote he had "already lined up several chairs and hosts, and each will bring a few guests." Archer hoped that his friends would "consider supporting Vanessa's project by joining us" and a leaked copy of a separate invitation showed that Vanessa Kerry's name was in a larger font than that of Seed Global Health.

Burisma had been currying favor with individuals who had access to the highest levels of the Obama-Biden administration for more than a year. Shortly after President Obama named Vice President Joe Biden his point man on the crisis in Ukraine in May 2014, Burisma placed Hunter Biden and Archer on its board and paid them a monthly fee of $83,333 each.

The company also hired John Kerry's former chief of staff, David Leiter, to lobby Congress and the Kerry State Department, according to lobbying records.

While on Burisma's payroll, Biden and Archer met with Kerry's deputy at the State Department, Tony Blinken.

On July 22, 2015 — the same day Archer sent the fundraiser invitation — Hunter Biden was actually at the State Department meeting directly with Blinken, according to government documents obtained by Just the News under the Freedom of Information Act. Blinken testified he and Hunter Biden only talked about personal issues relating to the death of Hunter's brother Beau Biden.

At the time of the Burisma board appointments, Archer's longtime friend (and college roommate) Heinz immediately informed his stepfather's chief of staff and another State Department aide that he had no interest in the Burisma deal.

Through a spokesman, Heinz has maintained that he "strongly warned Mr. Archer that working with Burisma was unacceptable" and "the lack of judgment in this matter was a major catalyst for Mr. Heinz ending his business relationships with Mr. Archer and Mr. Biden."

Heinz's stepsister, Vanessa Kerry, apparently did not see the same red flags, and felt comfortable considering an appeal from the Burisma team to help, according to the emails provided to the FBI.

After the fundraiser hosted by Archer, Vanessa Kerry sent an email to Archer and Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi confirming her interest in partnering with Burisma.

"As you know, Ukraine would pose an expansion of activity for us in a number of ways and we discussed the prospect with our Board to get their backing," Dr. Kerry wrote in November 2015, mentioning that the Seed Global Health board had approved her to conduct an assessment before committing to a long-term partnership with Burisma. Dr. Kerry hoped to discuss this with Archer and Pozharskyi and wondered if "Burisma could help support this initial phase as well." Archer quickly forwarded the good news to Hunter Biden.

File
Fwd Looping back.pdf

The emails don't provide further insight into how much Burisma, its executives, and their associates donated to Dr. Kerry's nonprofit or whether Seed Global Health's relationship with Burisma ever developed further.

Vanessa Kerry and a spokesman for the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. State Department officials in Ukraine have complained in documents released under FOIA and Senate testimony that they believed Burisma was a corrupt firm and had even paid two bribes to Ukrainian officials while Hunter Biden served on the board. State officials even canceled a USAID arrangement with Burisma over the corruption concerns, Just the News has previously reported

In fact, just two months before Vanessa Kerry got her board's approval to explore a Burisma partnership, then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt gave a speech in Odessa demanding Ukrainian prosecutors do more to bring Burisma's founder Mykola Zlochevsky to justice in the long-dragging corruption probes in that country.

By December 2015, Pyatt was sending emails to superiors setting forth his corruption concerns about Burisma as Vice President Biden prepared to visit Ukraine.

"I assume all have the DoJ background on Zlochevsky," Pyatt wrote in an email to top Biden advisers in the White House. "The short unclas version (in non lawyer language) is that US and UK were cooperating on a case to seize his corrupt assets overseas (which had passed through the US)," according to emails obtained by Just the News.

PyattBedingfieldEmail12-6-2015.pdf

Pyatt added that the asset forfeiture case "fell apart" when individuals in the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office "acted to thwart the UK case."

The Ukrainians were not the only foreign business partners of President Biden's son that sought a closer relationship with the daughter of Secretary Kerry. The Chinese executives at BHR also became Seed Global Health benefactors after Archer's August 2015 fundraiser.

At the time, the Chinese state-backed BHR joint venture with Biden, Archer and Heinz was actively engaged in the takeover of a Michigan manufacturer called Henniges Automotive. The deal — codenamed "Project Hanson" by BHR executives — was sensitive and required approval from the Obama-Biden CFIUS panel.

Internal documents reveal how the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) state-owned military supplier Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) was able to cloak its ownership structure through shell companies and subsequently partner with the sons of the vice president and secretary of state on the takeover a U.S. manufacturer of sensitive technology. AVIC has been sanctioned at least five times since 1993 and was added to a federal "watch list" in 2014 — well before the Henniges transaction.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa was so alarmed by the politically connected Henniges takeover by entities linked to the CCP's People's Liberation Army (PLA) that he drafted a letter to the head of CFIUS (then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin) seeking answers.

"The direct involvement of Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Heinz in the acquisition of Henniges by the Chinese government creates a potential conflict of interest," Senator Grassley wrote in his August 2019 letter. "Both are directly related to high-ranking Obama administration officials. The Department of State, then under Mr. Kerry's leadership, is also a CFIUS member and played a direct role in the decision to approve the Henniges transaction. The appearance of potential conflicts in this case is particularly troubling given Mr. Biden's and Mr. Heinz's history of investing in and collaborating with Chinese companies, including at least one posing significant national security concerns."

Grassley's letter made no mention of Archer's 2015 fundraiser, but more internal BHR documents reveal that the fundraiser for Dr. Kerry's nonprofit may have posed an additional conflict for her father, the secretary of state.

According to a December 2015 internal document, BHR's Chinese executive gave a "special shout out to our director and shareholder, Devon Archer, for his involvement with the Seed Global Health non-profit foundation, which works to send medical staff and resources globally to countries in need." The document proclaimed that "BHR will continue to support this and other worthy causes."

Less than one month after Archer's fundraiser for Dr. Kerry, the Obama-Biden CFIUS department approved the CCP's military-linked takeover of an American manufacturer. Biden's associates celebrated the approval, calling the Henniges deal a "proof of concept" for future China-backed mergers and acquisitions.

"Congratulations!!!! Proof of concept again," read the subject line of an email sent by Devon Archer on Sept. 15, 2015.

File
2015 - BHR NEWSLETTER 2015 Christmas Edition.pdf

Dr. Kerry's nonprofit has previously drawn criticism for taking more than $9 million in non-competed State Department funds. In 2018, federal prosecutors charged a Seed Global Health executive with violating conflict of interest laws and illegal lobbying.

Seed Global Health, Vanessa Kerry, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer have not yet replied to Just the News' requests for comment.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

hunt2.jpg


Hunter Biden Invested In A Pandemic Firm Collaborating With Daszak’s EcoHealth And The Wuhan Lab

June 28, 2021
Natalie Winters

Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners – an investment firm led by Hunter Biden – was a lead financial backer of Metabiota, a pandemic tracking and response firm that has partnered with Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.


Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) was an offshoot of Rosemont Capital, an investment fund founded by Biden and John Kerry’s stepson in 2009, that counted Biden as a Managing Director.

Among the companies listed on archived versions of the firm’s portfolio is Metabiota, a San Francisco-based company that purports to detect, track, and analyze emerging infectious diseases, The National Pulse can reveal.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-11.31.08-AM-800x324.png

RSTP INVESTMENTS.

Financial reports reveal that RSTP led the company’s first round of funding, which amounted to $30 million. Former Managing Director and co-founder of RSTP Neil Callahan – a name that appears many times on Hunter Biden’s hard drive – also sits on Metabiota’s Board of Advisors.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-11.35.04-AM-800x463.png

RSTP’S INVESTMENTS IN METABIOTA.

Since 2014, Metabiota has been a partner of EcoHealth Alliance as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “PREDICT” project, which seeks to “predict and prevent global emerging disease threats.”

As part of this effort, researchers from Metabiota, EcoHealth Alliance, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology collaborated on a study relating to bat infectious diseases in China. “Sensitive and broadly reactive RT-PCR assays were performed at Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,” the paper notes.

The proximity between Hunter Biden and COVID-19’s origins are almost too convenient.

Among the researchers listed on the aforementioned 2014 paper are “bat lady” Shi Zhengli, the Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Chinese Communist Party’s Wuhan Lab. The disgraced Peter Daszak – recently recused from the Lancet COVID-19 commission due to several conflicts of interest as a “longtime collaborator” of the Wuhan Institute of Virology – is also listed as an author.

Daszak is also a figure central to the potential origins of COVID-19. His EcoHealth Alliance funneled taxpayer dollars from Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to collaborate on bat coronavirus research in Wuhan.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-12.35.54-PM-800x632.png

2014 STUDY.

Researchers from EcoHealth Alliance and Metabiota have also collaborated on presentations on how to “live safely with bats” and studies linking emerging infectious disease outbreaks to wildlife trade facilities including “wet markets.”

“Wildlife trade can facilitate zoonotic disease transmission and represents a threat to human health and economies in Asia, highlighted by the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, where a Chinese wildlife market facilitated pathogen transmission,” the 2016 paper notes.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-12.55.07-PM-800x615.png

END SLIDE OF PRESENTATION.

Researchers from Metabiota have also been listed alongside EcoHealth Alliance personnel on a 2014 study on henipavirus spillover, 2014 study on Ebola monitoring, 2015 study focusing on herpes, and 2015 study on viral diversity.

Beyond the ties to EcoHealth Alliance, Metabiota has also been embroiled in controversy for “bungling” America’s response to Ebola.

“An American company that bills itself as a pioneer in tracking emerging epidemics made a series of costly mistakes during the 2014 Ebola outbreak that swept across West Africa — with employees feuding with fellow responders, contributing to misdiagnosed Ebola cases and repeatedly misreading the trajectory of the virus,” an Associated Press (AP) investigation into the company found.

The company reportedly made the “already chaotic situation worse,” prompting World Health Organization officials to criticize the company:

Emails obtained by AP and interviews with aid workers on the ground show that some of the company’s actions made an already chaotic situation worse.

WHO outbreak expert Dr. Eric Bertherat wrote to colleagues in a July 17, 2014, email about misdiagnoses and “total confusion” at the Sierra Leone government lab Metabiota shared with Tulane University in the city of Kenema. He said there was “no tracking of the samples” and “absolutely no control on what is being done.”

“This is a situation that WHO can no longer endorse,” he wrote.


In April 2021, Joe Biden’s USAID announced a new initiative spearheaded by EcoHealth Alliance to track emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential. Also collaborating on the taxpayer-funded venture is Metabiota, whose researchers have been listed as authors on papers from June 2021 relating to coronavirus surveillance in Africa.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Report: Joe Biden Used VP’s Office To Entertain Hunter’s Business Associates

Even flew with his son to Mexico City on Air Force for meeting on deal

by Bob Unruh
June 30, 2021

A new report from the Daily Mail reveals that Joe Biden used the vice president’s office in Washington to entertain his son Hunter’s Mexican billionaire business associates, and “even flew with his son to Mexico City on Air Force 2 so Hunter could attend meetings over a ‘flippin gigantic’ deal.”

Hunter Biden, of course, has been the scandal that keeps on giving for Biden.

Recent reports have suggested that Joe Biden may have accidentally paid $25,000 for Hunter’s prostitute, and art critics have admitted that Hunter Biden’s artwork is only worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars he’s charging for it because of his name.

Also, Hunter Biden’s attempts to establish a vast global business empire were outlined in emails obtained from a computer he abandoned at a repair shop and eventually was turned over to investigators.

Now the Daily mail is reporting that Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Aleman Velasco – Hunter Biden’s business associates – in the vice president’s office in 2014.

And in 2016, when Hunter Biden had arranged to meet Aleman’s son over that “flippin gigantic” deal, Joe Biden flew his son and his partner Jeff Cooper, on Air Force 2 to Mexico City.

The revelations come in photographs and emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop, the report said, “and suggest Joe’s claim that he never spoke about business with Hunter was false.”

The White House, the report said, declined to respond to questions.

“In the light of shocking documents uncovered by DailyMail.com from the laptop, the president now faces serious questions – not just whether he knew about Hunter’s controversial business dealings, but also whether he was involved in facilitating them himself while vice president,” the report charged.

The report explained Hunter Biden and Cooper, a lawyer who had worked with Hunter’s late brother Beau Biden, were scheming to get involved in many businesses in Mexico and Latin America, using “their relationship with the Mexican billionaire Alemán family whose late patriarch, Miguel Alemán Valdes, served as president of Mexico.”

Cooper suggested the opportunities were “flippin gigantic.”

Hunter Biden “and Cooper sought the help of Valdés’ grandson, airline CEO Miguel Alemán Magnani, to forge a relationship with the richest man in Latin America, Carlos Slim, in an attempt to cash in on the privatization of the giant state-owned oil company Pemex for Burisma and themselves,” the report said.

At that time, they “managed to get the billionaires Slim, Velasco and Magnani a private ‘meeting’ with then-vice president Joe Biden in the VP’s office,” the report said.

The report charged that Hunter Biden and Cooper also were working “angles” beyond the oil industry, and at one point, “Joe Biden’s brother Jim also tried to cash in on the potential for bumper profits from Mexico’s huge privatization plans, but was apparently late to the party.”

The report confirmed, “In February 2016, Hunter wrote an email to Magnani revealing that in the midst of their Mexican oil deal, his father was flying him and his business partner on Air Force 2 to Mexico City, where he and Cooper would be sitting in on a meeting with the country’s president.”

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Pena Nieto.

“We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday – I’m attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,” Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016.

The DailyMail.com said it obtained a copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey

Previous reports have revealed the computer files show Hunter Biden used the n-word in his conversations, was hired once to help a tycoon escape a bribery case, and took multiple trips out of Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force Two.

Also, the Washington Examiner revealed how Hunter Biden got some pointed questions from a business associate when that associate was arrested in a fraud case. Hunter Biden’s name apparently was used in the alleged fraud, but he wasn’t charged.

Devon Archer was. He was convicted in 2018 and the case was reversed but in 2020 an appeals court reinstated the conviction.

The report explained Hunter Biden and Archer were business partners and worked for Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm.

That was before both were taking pay from Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that provided scandal fodder for Joe Biden by paying his son $83,000 a month to be on its board – at a time when Joe Biden was responsible for Ukraine policy for Barack Obama.

Archer was the former college roommate of Christopher Heinz, the stepson of current Biden climate czar John Kerry and the co-founder of the Rosemont Capital private equity firm with Archer, the report said.

After his arrest, Archer wrote Hunter Biden, “Why did your dad’s administration appointees arrest me and try to put me in jail? Just curious. Some of our partners asking out here.

“Why would they try to ruin my family and destroy my kids and no one from your family’s side step in and at least try to help me. I don’t get it. And I’m depressed. Bunch of these [Asian partners] getting in my head asking me the same so just curious what I should answer,” Archer wrote.

Hunter Biden responded, “We aren’t a banana republic buddy. The powerful are targets in this country the more powerful they become. But the truth prevails if you have the stamina and guts and enough love to stay the course.”

At the same time, a report from Just the News cited emails from the laptop as evidence of Hunter Biden’s plans to wrap up a lot of profitable business deals.

The report said the plans being discussed by Hunter Biden and his Rosemont Seneca Partners included targeting the sovereign wealth funds of America’s richest allies, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

“I’ve been researching sovereign wealth funds lately in hopes of coming up with a plan to add another large manager (multi-billion dollar fund) to RSPI’s platform, without over-relying on the Taft Hartley channel,” Daniel McHale, the RSP Investments managing director, wrote Hunter Biden and a colleague named Eric Schwerin in an email dated Feb. 3, 2014,” the report said.

RSP Investments was the broker arm of the Rosemont Seneca organization.

“I think this would provide us additional near-term cash flow while increasing the odds of landing a large allocation. Also, similar to Taft Hartley funds, it’s a segment of the market where we could have a definable edge,” he said.
Schwerin pointed out that Hunter Biden did not have the necessary financial broker’s license to work directly with those fund groups.

Rumble video on website 29:25 min

Just the News explained, “The email is one of thousands that lay out the audacious ambition of Hunter Biden and his business colleagues to cash in on the Biden name by approaching foreign countries, governments and businesses even as the younger Biden’s father was Obama’s point man for a significant part of the nation’s foreign policy.”

The report said the emails suggest Hunter Biden wanted a “business empire” and worked at contacting and influencing world leaders for that purpose.

One of the more stunning coups was Hunter Biden’s program of getting paychecks from Burisma while his father was vice president and in charge of Ukraine policy for Obama.

It came at a time when Burisma was trying to get rid of a corruption probe being done by Ukraine’s own prosecutor.

The company’s connections to the Biden family proved worthwhile.

In fact, Joe Biden openly boasted of threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if Ukraine’s president did not fire the country’s top prosecutor, Victor Shokin, who at the time was investigating Burisma for corruption.

View: https://youtu.be/HhrLWL7jzPY
1:35 min

A French website reported Shokin later filed a criminal complaint naming Joe Biden and accusing him of committing a “criminal offense” in his campaign to get Shokin fired.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Hunter Biden-Linked Law Firm Dodged Lobbying Disclosures for Burisma Work

Emails from Biden's laptop reveal relationship with Boies Schiller Flexner

Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden / Getty ImagesChuck Ross• June 29, 2021 12:50 pm

The prominent law firm for which Hunter Biden served as counsel took steps to avoid disclosing to Congress its work with Ukrainian energy giant Burisma Holdings, emails from Biden's laptop show.

Heather King, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, detailed the lobbying strategy in emails to Biden, his business partners, and an executive for Burisma Holdings in 2014. King wrote that she planned to provide legal and political services for Burisma "right up to the line" at which the law firm would have to disclose the work under federal lobbying laws. King also wrote of plans to meet with State Department officials in order to advocate for Burisma, which was seeking to expand its operations in the West as its owner was the subject of an international bribery investigation.

The emails highlight the gray area of federal lobbying laws, which provide some exemptions for lawyers. King's strategy to avoid registering under the Lobbying Disclosure Act or the more stringent Foreign Agents Registration Act was for Burisma to hire the firm ML Strategies as its lobbyist of record.

Boies Schiller Flexner has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but another Hunter Biden-linked firm, Blue Star Strategies, is under federal investigation for its undisclosed lobbying for Burisma. Biden also helped facilitate Blue Star's consulting deal with Burisma, emails show. Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer for former president Donald Trump, is also under federal investigation for his foreign lobbying activities.

Boies Schiller Flexner's arrangement with Burisma appeared to be an example of a firm trying to avoid having to publicly disclose its lobbying activities, one government ethics watchdog told the Washington Free Beacon.

"There is a lot of lobbying that takes place that's never reported," said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight. He said that lawyers and consultants often "play fast and loose" with lobbying laws by characterizing their lobbying as educational activity or by operating just under the threshold where lobbying is legally required to be disclosed.

A lawyer for Boies Schiller Flexner, who declined to speak on the record, insisted that the firm complied with lobbying laws.

Biden connected Burisma Holdings and Boies Schiller Flexner in April 2014, shortly after he joined the energy company's board of directors. Burisma paid Biden and a business partner, Devon Archer, more than $80,000 a month to help the company burnish its reputation in the West and scout out energy deals.

Biden's board position has come under scrutiny because of his father's role at the time leading the Obama administration's diplomatic talks with Ukraine.

King took the lead in developing Boies Schiller Flexner's strategy for Burisma, according to emails from Biden's laptop obtained by the Free Beacon. King was a member of the firm's Crisis Management and Government Response Team. Biden referred Burisma to the team. Other emails show that a recent Justice Department nominee, Hampton Dellinger, worked on the crisis management team at Boies Schiller Flexner.

King wrote in the May 2014 emails that she wanted to contact State Department officials to "‘update' them on Burisma's current situation." She also told Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi that she planned to attend meetings with government officials alongside David Leiter, the owner of ML Strategies.

"We at [Boies Schiller Flexner] will lead all this work and can execute the political and legal work right up to the line where we would need to register as lobbyists, but I don't want to register under the lobbying disclosure act or the foreign agents registration act," King wrote in a May 12, 2014, email to Biden and Archer.
In an email to Pozharskyi, King said she planned to accompany Leiter in his meetings with government officials. She said that she would be at the meeting "strictly as" a lawyer for Burisma because she was not registered to lobby.

Burisma wired $250,000 to Boies Schiller Flexner on May 7, 2014, according to documents on Biden's laptop. ML Strategies disclosed receiving $90,000 in 2014 to lobby for Burisma. The Boies Schiller Flexner connection is not disclosed in those filings.

Other emails show that Boies Schiller Flexner paid $13,000 a month for consulting work.

Boies Schiller Flexner has come under scrutiny in recent years for its behind-the-scenes influence activities. The company hired Black Cube, an Israeli private intelligence firm, to spy on victims of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. David Boies, the founder of the law firm, represented Theranos, a blood test maker whose owner was indicted for defrauding the government. A Wall Street Journal reporter who published a series of exposés on Theranos has said that Boies and King tried to pressure the paper to kill negative stories about Theranos.

King temporarily left Boies Schiller Flexner in 2015 to serve as general counsel for Theranos.
 
Last edited:

marsh

On TB every waking moment

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden entertained Hunter's Mexican billionaire business associates in the vice president's office in 2014 and even flew with his son to Mexico City on Air Force 2 so Hunter could attend meetings over a 'flippin gigantic' deal
  • Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco - his son Hunter's business associates - in the vice president's office in 2014
  • While Joe was Vice President, he also flew Hunter and his partner Jeff Cooper on Air Force 2 to Mexico City in 2016
  • Hunter had arranged to meet Alemán's son for meetings over a 'flippin gigantic' business deal, according to Hunter's emails
  • The revelations, laid bare in photos and emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop, suggest Joe's claim that he never spoke about business with Hunter was false
  • Hunter and Biden family friend Cooper hatched a plan in 2013 to invest in multiple businesses in Mexico and Latin America
  • The White House has failed to respond to DailyMail.com's requests for comment
By JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:20 EDT, 30 June 2021 | UPDATED: 04:16 EDT, 1 July 2021

Joe Biden entertained his son's business associates in the vice president's office, including Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco.

The then-vice president also flew Hunter and his partner Jeff Cooper on Air Force 2 to Mexico City in 2016 where Hunter arranged to meet Alemán's son for meetings over a 'flippin gigantic' business deal.

The revelations, laid bare in photographs and emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop, are the latest in a growing body of evidence calling into question the president’s claim that he never spoke about business with Hunter.


In the light of shocking documents uncovered by DailyMail.com from the laptop, the president now faces serious questions – not just whether he knew about Hunter's controversial business dealings, but also whether he was involved in facilitating them himself while vice president.

The White House continues to fail to respond to any of our questions.

Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco - his son Hunter's business associates - in the vice president's office in 2014


Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco - his son Hunter's business associates - in the vice president's office in 2014

While Hunter and Cooper were working on their business plans, they managed to get the billionaires Slim, Velasco and Magnani a private 'meeting' with then-vice president Joe Biden in the VP's office. Photos on Hunter's laptop dated November 19, 2015, show the six men smiling at a meeting in Joe Biden¿s DC residence. Emails show the men also met Joe at the White House


While Hunter and Cooper were working on their business plans, they managed to get the billionaires Slim, Velasco and Magnani a private 'meeting' with then-vice president Joe Biden in the VP's office. Photos on Hunter's laptop dated November 19, 2015, show the six men smiling at a meeting in Joe Biden’s DC residence. Emails show the men also met Joe at the White House

In the light of documents uncovered by DailyMail.com from the laptop, the president now faces serious questions ¿ not just whether he knew about Hunter's controversial business dealings, but also whether he was involved in facilitating them himself while vice president


In the light of documents uncovered by DailyMail.com from the laptop, the president now faces serious questions – not just whether he knew about Hunter's controversial business dealings, but also whether he was involved in facilitating them himself while vice president

Hunter and Biden family friend Jeff Cooper hatched a plan in 2013 to invest in multiple businesses in Mexico and Latin America, using their relationship with the Mexican billionaire Alemán family whose late patriarch, Miguel Alemán Valdes, served as president of Mexico.

Cooper, an attorney who worked with Hunter's late brother Beau Biden on asbestos claims cases and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Biden political campaigns, was particularly excited by the venture's prospects, writing to Hunter in February 2013: 'This is setting up to be flippin gigantic brother.'

The prospects for profit only grew when Hunter joined the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma the following year.

He and Cooper sought the help of Valdés' grandson, airline CEO Miguel Alemán Magnani, to forge a relationship with the richest man in Latin America, Carlos Slim, in an attempt to cash in on the privatization of the giant state-owned oil company Pemex for Burisma and themselves.

While Hunter and Cooper were working on their business plans, they managed to get the billionaires Slim, Velasco and Magnani a private 'meeting' with then-vice president Joe Biden.

Hunter and Cooper attended. Photos on Hunter's laptop dated November 19, 2015 show the six men smiling and hugging in the meeting in Joe Biden’s vice presidential residence at Number One Observatory Circle, Washington DC. Emails also show the billionaires met with Joe at the White House. It is unclear what, if anything, Joe Biden discussed with the Mexican billionaires at their meetings and phone call.

The White House has repeatedly failed to answer any of DailyMail.com's questions related to the president and his son.

It appears there may have been multiple White House meetings, as over a year earlier Hunter emailed White House photographer David Lienemann to ask for photographs of the Alemán family with his business partner and father.

'Do you have pictures from the lunch I had in dad's office (I think on 2/26) with Miguel Alleman Sr. And Jr. And Jeff Cooper? If so let me know and I can send someone to pick them up,' Hunter wrote in 2014.

In May that year Cooper even asked Hunter if he could get the pictures signed for the Mexican billionaires.

'Any luck on getting those other pics from the WH [White House]-Alemán visit? Or getting a few signed for Miguel and his dad?' the attorney wrote.

The same month, Hunter excitedly sent his business partner and fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer a Forbes article titled 'How Oil Reforms Could Trigger Mexico's Biggest Economic Boom In A Century'.

By the end of the year, their efforts were ramping up. Cooper wrote to Hunter and Archer in December 2014: 'I met with Miguel [Magnani] last night. He has set up mtgs with the Secty of Energy and the CEO of Pemex for Jan 12. Is there any chance that anyone from Burisma could attend?'

Then in January 2015, Hunter laid out Burisma's plans in detail in an email to Cooper, Archer and Magnani.

44122113-9678005-image-m-7_1625055725219.jpg


] In January 2015, Hunter laid out in detail Burisma's plans to take part in the privatization of Mexican state oil firm, in an email to his business partners Cooper, Archer and Magnani


In January 2015, Hunter laid out in detail Burisma's plans to take part in the privatization of Mexican state oil firm, in an email to his business partners Cooper, Archer and Magnani

Jeff Cooper, an attorney who worked with Hunter's late brother Beau Biden on asbestos claims cases and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Biden political campaigns, was particularly excited by the venture's prospects, writing to Hunter in February 2013: 'This is setting up to be flippin gigantic brother'


Jeff Cooper, an attorney who worked with Hunter's late brother Beau Biden on asbestos claims cases and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Biden political campaigns, was particularly excited by the venture's prospects, writing to Hunter in February 2013: 'This is setting up to be flippin gigantic brother'

Hunter worked with Joe Biden¿s vice presidential secretary Kathy Chung to arrange a phone call between Carlos Slim and the VP in October 2015


Hunter worked with Joe Biden’s vice presidential secretary Kathy Chung to arrange a phone call between Carlos Slim and the VP in October 2015

It appears there may have been multiple White House meetings, as in 2014 Hunter emailed White House photographer David Lienemann to ask for photographs of the Alemán family with his business partner and father


It appears there may have been multiple White House meetings, as in 2014 Hunter emailed White House photographer David Lienemann to ask for photographs of the Alemán family with his business partner and father
He proposed the Ukrainian firm pay about $350,000 to access an oil 'data room' run by the Mexican Department of Energy, and laid out the structure of the proposed oil venture.

'The first partnership will be the Alemán entity. This will consist of whomever Miguel determines is necessary to his family's team,' Hunter wrote. 'I believe the current idea is that the Aleman Group will include a U.S. entity that is currently controlled by Jeff and Hunter.

'I (in full disclosure) will most likely be granted equity (commensurate with Devon) from the Burisma side. I am also currently 50% of the equity of the U.S. Entity that conceivably would partner with the Alemán group.'

Cooper and Hunter were working business angles beyond oil. In one email from February 2015 Cooper describes a plan to pitch a payroll systems company they invested in, ePlata, to Pemex, Slim's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government.

'Don't forget Burisma and the non-Mexi folks too,' Cooper added in his email to Hunter.

'This shiznit is global, cabron.'

Joe Biden's brother Jim also tried to cash in on the potential for bumper profits from Mexico's huge privatization plans, but was apparently late to the party.
In May 2015, he emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline.

'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote.

'Have the seller (refinery /slims) and buyer major being delivered from pipeline in ( h/ USA) Nothing is simple but this comes very close. As always the devil is in the detail!

'Any interest on the long skirts part? Need to know if there is any interest asap. Love you, u Jim.'

Hunter and his associates had already been planning to snare Slim as a business partner for years.

In a 2010 email a staffer at Hunter's consultancy firm Rosemont Seneca suggested the then-richest man in the world as a potential client for a new 'Global Risk' advisory firm they were planning.

'I think once we get past the test/beta phase of say 4-5 $250k projects, we target getting 5-8 clients who will pay us $1m-5m annually,' the staffer, Neil Callahan, wrote in October 2010.

'I don't think any of those clients will be your typical Hedge Fund – it's going to be Private Investors (i.e., Carlos Slim), SWFs, Select Corporations (i.e., Chevron, AON) and maybe a mega Hedge Fund.'

44122153-9678005-image-m-12_1625056287276.jpg


In a 2010 email a staffer at Hunter's consultancy firm Rosemont Seneca suggested the then-richest man in the world, Carlos Slim, as a potential client for a new 'Global Risk' advisory firm they were planning


In a 2010 email a staffer at Hunter's consultancy firm Rosemont Seneca suggested the then-richest man in the world, Carlos Slim, as a potential client for a new 'Global Risk' advisory firm they were planning

In 2012 a friend of Hunter working for lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, reportedly now under a Justice Department investigation for its dealings with Burisma, suggested Slim as a potential buyer of a gambling company Hunter was partnered with.

'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012.

The article's headline was: 'Tycoon Slim taps online gaming market in Mexico'.
By February 2015 Hunter was plotting with Cooper to pitch their latest venture, payroll processing company ePlata, to Slim and his son, Carlos Slim Jr.

'Just wondering who is the best first major partner outside Interjet. Obviously Slims provide that if we could actually sell them on the idea and not have them just take it and create their own,' Hunter wrote to his business partner.

His dealings with the Mexican billionaire became more involved that year. In March, Hunter wrote to Magnani to arrange a meeting with Slim and his son.

'What dates for Carlos and Carlos were you thinking?' he wrote. When Magnani gave him some options, the then-vice president's son replied: 'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.'

'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded.
Hunter arranged a video conference with Slim in October – and it appears Joe Biden may have been involved in a second meeting or call.

'The meeting will be on Friday in Mexico City if you can do a video conference in,' Hunter's Rosemont Seneca partner Eric Schwerin, wrote on October 5 2015.

A White House assistant responsible for the vice president's diary, Kathy Chung, then emailed Hunter two days later with a list of dates from October 21 to November 6. Hunter replied: 'Can we confirm 10/30 for Slim.'

'Yes,' Chung responded.

It is unclear what Slim's ultimate involvement was in any dealings with Hunter, Burisma or Joe Biden, or what was discussed at the meetings.

In February 2016, Hunter wrote an email to Magnani revealing that in the midst of their Mexican oil deal, his father was flying him and his business partner on Air Force 2 to Mexico City, where he and Cooper would be sitting in on a meeting with the country's president.

Part 1 of 2
 
Last edited:

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Part 2 of 2

In 2012 a friend of Hunter working for lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, reportedly now under a Justice Department investigation for its dealings with Burisma, suggested Slim as a potential buyer of a gambling company Hunter was partnered with. 'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012


In 2012 a friend of Hunter working for lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, reportedly now under a Justice Department investigation for its dealings with Burisma, suggested Slim as a potential buyer of a gambling company Hunter was partnered with. 'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012

In May 2015, Joe Biden's brother Jim emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline. 'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote


In May 2015, Joe Biden's brother Jim emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline. 'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote

Cooper and Hunter were working business angles beyond oil. In one email from February 2015 Cooper describes a plan to pitch a payroll systems company they invested in, ePlata, to Pemex, Slim's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government


Cooper and Hunter were working business angles beyond oil. In one email from February 2015 Cooper describes a plan to pitch a payroll systems company they invested in, ePlata, to Pemex, Slim's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government

Magnani gave him some options, Hunter replied: 'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.' 'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded


Magnani gave him some options, Hunter replied: 'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.' 'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Pena Nieto.

'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016.

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey


DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey

The then-US vice president took Hunter and his business partner, who were setting up 'gigantic' business deals in Mexico, on the official trip despite recent concerns over Hunter's potential conflicts of interest in his commercial dealings.

Two months earlier, the New York Times published a prominent story about Joe Biden visiting Ukraine to push for a corruption crackdown while Hunter had been revealed as a board member of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, was under investigation for alleged corruption.

By February 2016, Hunter's Burisma colleagues had become disgruntled with Magnani, believing he had failed to deliver on greasing the wheels of their Mexican oil deal.

Hunter was reproachful to the Alemán heir in his email ahead of their Mexico city trip – and shockingly frank describing his disappointment that Magnani had failed to follow through on what Hunter understood to be a quid pro quo of favors, involving access to the vice president and stays in Magnani's villa.

'Would love to see but you never respond. I am really upset by it. You respond when it's something you need. You are the most generous person I know but WTF,' Hunter continued.

'We have so many great things to do together and I want you at the plane when the [sic] the VP lands with your Mom and Dad and you completely ignore me.

'I've looked at what your family has done and want to follow in that tradition and you always say you will help but I haven't heard from you since I got you a mtg for Carlos and your Dad.

'We have been talking about business deals and partnerships for 7 years. And I really appreciate you letting me stay at your resort villa...but I have brought every single person you have ever asked me to bring to the F'ing WHite House and the Vice President's house and the inauguration and then you go completely silent - I don't hear from you for months.

'I don't know what it is that I did but I'd like to know why I've delivered on every single thing you've ever asked - and you make me feel like I've done something to offend you.'

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. 'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016


Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. 'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016

Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden


Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden

Hallie's her two children Natalie and Hunter joined the vacation and were seen on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home


Hallie's her two children Natalie and Hunter joined the vacation and were seen on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home

One of Magnani's earlier asks to Hunter was to transfer the Mexican's stake in their real estate firm Rosemont Realty to Magnani's uncle.

On November 20 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata.'

The lawyer added: 'He wants us to try to bring a Burisma exec with us on our trip… He says the Pemex CEO was extremely excited about their potential involvement and has 'a perfect project' for them.'

The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle.

'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote.

The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle. 'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote


The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle. 'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote

On November 20, 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata'


On November 20, 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata'

At the time, Magnani had financial problems brewing that would culminate in a bankruptcy of his airline Interjet in 2019. By last year the firm had racked up $549.3 million in debt, according to a report by Mexican publication La Jornada.

Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden, and her two children Natalie and Hunter, on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home.

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey.

John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer store where Hunter abandoned his laptop, gave a copy of its hard drive to Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani in September last year.

Giuliani reportedly leaked documents and photos from the drive to the New York Post, and also gave a whole copy of the drive to Trump's former advisor Bannon and his podcast co-host Maxey.

https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/prev...0576810079/636x382_MP4_118345250576810079.mp4 .42 min
 

Publius

TB Fanatic

hunt2.jpg


Hunter Biden Invested In A Pandemic Firm Collaborating With Daszak’s EcoHealth And The Wuhan Lab

June 28, 2021
Natalie Winters

Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners – an investment firm led by Hunter Biden – was a lead financial backer of Metabiota, a pandemic tracking and response firm that has partnered with Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.


Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) was an offshoot of Rosemont Capital, an investment fund founded by Biden and John Kerry’s stepson in 2009, that counted Biden as a Managing Director.

Among the companies listed on archived versions of the firm’s portfolio is Metabiota, a San Francisco-based company that purports to detect, track, and analyze emerging infectious diseases, The National Pulse can reveal.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-11.31.08-AM-800x324.png

RSTP INVESTMENTS.

Financial reports reveal that RSTP led the company’s first round of funding, which amounted to $30 million. Former Managing Director and co-founder of RSTP Neil Callahan – a name that appears many times on Hunter Biden’s hard drive – also sits on Metabiota’s Board of Advisors.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-11.35.04-AM-800x463.png

RSTP’S INVESTMENTS IN METABIOTA.

Since 2014, Metabiota has been a partner of EcoHealth Alliance as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “PREDICT” project, which seeks to “predict and prevent global emerging disease threats.”

As part of this effort, researchers from Metabiota, EcoHealth Alliance, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology collaborated on a study relating to bat infectious diseases in China. “Sensitive and broadly reactive RT-PCR assays were performed at Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,” the paper notes.

The proximity between Hunter Biden and COVID-19’s origins are almost too convenient.

Among the researchers listed on the aforementioned 2014 paper are “bat lady” Shi Zhengli, the Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Chinese Communist Party’s Wuhan Lab. The disgraced Peter Daszak – recently recused from the Lancet COVID-19 commission due to several conflicts of interest as a “longtime collaborator” of the Wuhan Institute of Virology – is also listed as an author.

Daszak is also a figure central to the potential origins of COVID-19. His EcoHealth Alliance funneled taxpayer dollars from Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to collaborate on bat coronavirus research in Wuhan.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-12.35.54-PM-800x632.png

2014 STUDY.

Researchers from EcoHealth Alliance and Metabiota have also collaborated on presentations on how to “live safely with bats” and studies linking emerging infectious disease outbreaks to wildlife trade facilities including “wet markets.”

“Wildlife trade can facilitate zoonotic disease transmission and represents a threat to human health and economies in Asia, highlighted by the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, where a Chinese wildlife market facilitated pathogen transmission,” the 2016 paper notes.

Screen-Shot-2021-06-25-at-12.55.07-PM-800x615.png

END SLIDE OF PRESENTATION.

Researchers from Metabiota have also been listed alongside EcoHealth Alliance personnel on a 2014 study on henipavirus spillover, 2014 study on Ebola monitoring, 2015 study focusing on herpes, and 2015 study on viral diversity.

Beyond the ties to EcoHealth Alliance, Metabiota has also been embroiled in controversy for “bungling” America’s response to Ebola.

“An American company that bills itself as a pioneer in tracking emerging epidemics made a series of costly mistakes during the 2014 Ebola outbreak that swept across West Africa — with employees feuding with fellow responders, contributing to misdiagnosed Ebola cases and repeatedly misreading the trajectory of the virus,” an Associated Press (AP) investigation into the company found.

The company reportedly made the “already chaotic situation worse,” prompting World Health Organization officials to criticize the company:

Emails obtained by AP and interviews with aid workers on the ground show that some of the company’s actions made an already chaotic situation worse.

WHO outbreak expert Dr. Eric Bertherat wrote to colleagues in a July 17, 2014, email about misdiagnoses and “total confusion” at the Sierra Leone government lab Metabiota shared with Tulane University in the city of Kenema. He said there was “no tracking of the samples” and “absolutely no control on what is being done.”

“This is a situation that WHO can no longer endorse,” he wrote.


In April 2021, Joe Biden’s USAID announced a new initiative spearheaded by EcoHealth Alliance to track emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential. Also collaborating on the taxpayer-funded venture is Metabiota, whose researchers have been listed as authors on papers from June 2021 relating to coronavirus surveillance in Africa.



Some of the stuff I see on the internet about this does not look good for hunter and Joe they have their hand in it real deep.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Part 2 of 2

In 2012 a friend of Hunter working for lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, reportedly now under a Justice Department investigation for its dealings with Burisma, suggested Slim as a potential buyer of a gambling company Hunter was partnered with. 'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012


In 2012 a friend of Hunter working for lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies, reportedly now under a Justice Department investigation for its dealings with Burisma, suggested Slim as a potential buyer of a gambling company Hunter was partnered with. 'Below is an article from today's press about Slim getting into the business in Mexico. It sounds like a potential good exit strategy for your investment,' Blue Star staffer Gabriel Zinny wrote to Cooper in April 2012

In May 2015, Joe Biden's brother Jim emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline. 'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote's brother Jim emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline. 'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote


In May 2015, Joe Biden's brother Jim emailed Hunter breathlessly that he had a 'very real deal' involving Slim and a US oil pipeline. 'Have a very real deal with Pemex ( Carlos slim) need financing literally for a few days to a week,' he wrote

Cooper and Hunter were working business angles beyond oil. In one email from February 2015 Cooper describes a plan to pitch a payroll systems company they invested in, ePlata, to Pemex, Slim's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government


Cooper and Hunter were working business angles beyond oil. In one email from February 2015 Cooper describes a plan to pitch a payroll systems company they invested in, ePlata, to Pemex, Slim's massive Mexican telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even the Mexican government

Magnani gave him some options, Hunter replied: 'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.' 'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.' 'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded


Magnani gave him some options, Hunter replied: 'I'll get you some dates later today. How are you? Wish i was back in Acapulco. Showed my Dad pictures and he wants to visit.' 'He is welcome when ever he wants!!!!!!!!!' a jubilant Magnani responded

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Pena Nieto.

'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016.

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey


DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey

The then-US vice president took Hunter and his business partner, who were setting up 'gigantic' business deals in Mexico, on the official trip despite recent concerns over Hunter's potential conflicts of interest in his commercial dealings.

Two months earlier, the New York Times published a prominent story about Joe Biden visiting Ukraine to push for a corruption crackdown while Hunter had been revealed as a board member of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, was under investigation for alleged corruption.

By February 2016, Hunter's Burisma colleagues had become disgruntled with Magnani, believing he had failed to deliver on greasing the wheels of their Mexican oil deal.

Hunter was reproachful to the Alemán heir in his email ahead of their Mexico city trip – and shockingly frank describing his disappointment that Magnani had failed to follow through on what Hunter understood to be a quid pro quo of favors, involving access to the vice president and stays in Magnani's villa.

'Would love to see but you never respond. I am really upset by it. You respond when it's something you need. You are the most generous person I know but WTF,' Hunter continued.

'We have so many great things to do together and I want you at the plane when the [sic] the VP lands with your Mom and Dad and you completely ignore me.

'I've looked at what your family has done and want to follow in that tradition and you always say you will help but I haven't heard from you since I got you a mtg for Carlos and your Dad.

'We have been talking about business deals and partnerships for 7 years. And I really appreciate you letting me stay at your resort villa...but I have brought every single person you have ever asked me to bring to the F'ing WHite House and the Vice President's house and the inauguration and then you go completely silent - I don't hear from you for months.

'I don't know what it is that I did but I'd like to know why I've delivered on every single thing you've ever asked - and you make me feel like I've done something to offend you.'

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. 'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016


Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25 to 26, 2016 for trade talks with then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. 'We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday - I'm attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,' Hunter wrote to Magnani on February 24, 2016

Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden


Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden

Hallie's her two children Natalie and Hunter joined the vacation and were seen on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home's her two children Natalie and Hunter joined the vacation and were seen on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home


Hallie's her two children Natalie and Hunter joined the vacation and were seen on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home

One of Magnani's earlier asks to Hunter was to transfer the Mexican's stake in their real estate firm Rosemont Realty to Magnani's uncle.

On November 20 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata.'

The lawyer added: 'He wants us to try to bring a Burisma exec with us on our trip… He says the Pemex CEO was extremely excited about their potential involvement and has 'a perfect project' for them.'

The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle.

'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote.

The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle. 'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle. 'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote


The same day as Hunter's terse February 2016 email to Magnani, his partner in his consultancy firm, Eric Schwerin, wrote to a staffer at Rosemont Realty asking him to make the transfer to the Mexican heir's uncle. 'Miguel would like to transfer the ownership of his interest to his Uncle. I don't believe any money is changing hands - he just wants to assign them to his Uncle going forward,' Schwerin wrote

On November 20, 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata''Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata'


On November 20, 2014 Cooper wrote to Archer and Hunter: 'Miguel again reiterated that he would take a discounted buyout on his Rosemont investment as long as it could happen quickly. He will then turn that money directly over to ePlata'

At the time, Magnani had financial problems brewing that would culminate in a bankruptcy of his airline Interjet in 2019. By last year the firm had racked up $549.3 million in debt, according to a report by Mexican publication La Jornada.

Family photos on Hunter's laptop dated March 2017 show him, his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden, and her two children Natalie and Hunter, on a yacht and at a palatial villa in San José del Cabo, Mexico. It is unclear if the location was Magnani's holiday home.

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey.

John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer store where Hunter abandoned his laptop, gave a copy of its hard drive to Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani in September last year.

Giuliani reportedly leaked documents and photos from the drive to the New York Post, and also gave a whole copy of the drive to Trump's former advisor Bannon and his podcast co-host Maxey.

https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/prev...0576810079/636x382_MP4_118345250576810079.mp4 .42 min

When you consider how things work in Mexico, the tendrils of this are likely going to reach into all sorts of interesting places....
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
When you consider how things work in Mexico, the tendrils of this are likely going to reach into all sorts of interesting places....
Personally, I believe the "Big Guy" is getting a substantial cut of the cartel proceeds from drugs, coyoting and trafficking. It is being laundered through vehicles like the purchase of Hunter's art.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

‘Flippin’ gigantic’ deal! Hunter’s laptop reveals how Joe Biden met with son’s business partners

July 1, 2021 | Terresa Monroe-Hamilton | Print Article

Explosive new details are emerging from Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop that indicate President Joe Biden met with his son’s billionaire business partners over a “flippin gigantic” business deal.

According to the Daily Mail, in 2014, the then-vice president entertained Hunter Biden’s business associates in the vice president’s office at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco were both present at the meeting. Joe Biden also reportedly flew Hunter Biden and his then-business partner Jeff Cooper to Mexico City on Air Force 2 in 2016. They met with Aleman’s son regarding a “flippin gigantic” business deal.

Joe Biden flew to Mexico on February 25, 2016, for trade talks with then-president Enrique Pena Nieto.

“We are arriving late tonight on Air Force 2 to MX City. We will be there for Thursday – I’m attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad. Jeff is with me on lane [sic] and we will be with us all day,’ Hunter Biden wrote on February 24, 2016.

1625267521172.png

This is just the latest damning revelation from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop concerning his father being aware of and involved in his son’s corrupt business dealings. The president has previously claimed that he never spoke about business with his son, but the evidence that is piling up indicates otherwise. It’s beginning to look like the president not only knew about the younger Biden’s business ventures but helped to facilitate them as well.

Hunter Biden and Jeff Cooper evidently had a plan in place in 2013, according to information from the laptop, to heavily invest in a number of businesses in Mexico and Latin America. They planned on using the influence of Joe Biden’s office and their relationship with Mexican billionaires to pull it off.

Cooper has reportedly donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Biden’s political campaigns. He was especially excited about the deal and wrote to Hunter Biden in February of 2013: “This is setting up to be flippin gigantic brother.” The following year, Hunter Biden joined the board of the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.

According to emails, the plan included getting airline CEO Miguel Alemán Magnani to help them create a relationship with the richest man in Latin America, Carlos Slim. Biden and Cooper were looking to profit from the privatization of the giant state-owned oil company Pemex for Burisma as well as themselves. They reportedly set up a private meeting between Slim, Magnani, Velasco, and Joe Biden.

There are photos on the laptop from November 19, 2015, showing all six men hugging and smiling in Joe Biden’s vice presential residence. They also met with the vice president at the White House. There are no details on what was discussed.

Per reported evidence from the laptop, Hunter Biden requested pictures from the White House photographer David Lienemann a year earlier in 2014 for photographs of the Alemán family with his business partner and father: “Do you have pictures from the lunch I had in dad’s office (I think on 2/26) with Miguel Alleman Sr. And Jr. And Jeff Cooper? If so let me know and I can send someone to pick them up.”

Cooper even asked Hunter Biden if he could get the Mexican billionaires to sign the pictures: “Any luck on getting those other pics from the WH [White House]-Alemán visit? Or getting a few signed for Miguel and his dad?”

Hunter Biden’s business partner and fellow Burisma board member, Devon Archer, was also pulled into the deal. Cooper wrote to Hunter Biden and Archer in December 2014: “I met with Miguel [Magnani] last night. He has set up mtgs with the Secty of Energy and the CEO of Pemex for Jan 12. Is there any chance that anyone from Burisma could attend?”

In January of 2015, the plan ramped up. Hunter Biden emailed Cooper, Archer, and Magnani proposing that the Ukrainian firm pay approximately $350,000 to access an oil “data room” that was run by the Mexican Department of Energy and then went over the structure of the proposed oil venture.

“The first partnership will be the Alemán entity. This will consist of whomever Miguel determines is necessary to his family’s team,” Hunter posited. “I believe the current idea is that the Aleman Group will include a U.S. entity that is currently controlled by Jeff and Hunter. I (in full disclosure) will most likely be granted equity (commensurate with Devon) from the Burisma side. I am also currently 50% of the equity of the U.S. Entity that conceivably would partner with the Alemán group.”

This was not the only venture being cooked up by Cooper and Hunter Biden. In an email from February of 2015 obtained from the laptop, Cooper proposed a plan that involved a payroll systems company called ePlata. He pitched it to Pemex, Slim’s telecoms company Televisia, Walmart, Uber, and even to the Mexican government.

“Don’t forget Burisma and the non-Mexi folks too,” Cooper told Hunter Biden in another email. “This shiznit is global, cabron.”

It is unclear what, if any, involvement Carlos Slim eventually had with the Bidens or Burisma.

By February of 2016, Burisma had become disillusioned with Magnani because they believed he had failed to deliver on the Mexican oil deal.

Hunter Biden was also less than happy and expressed his disappointment to Magnani over it: “Would love to see but you never respond. I am really upset by it. You respond when it’s something you need. You are the most generous person I know but WTF,” Hunter wrote. “We have so many great things to do together and I want you at the plane when the [sic] the VP lands with your Mom and Dad and you completely ignore me. I’ve looked at what your family has done and want to follow in that tradition and you always say you will help but I haven’t heard from you since I got you a mtg for Carlos and your Dad”

“We have been talking about business deals and partnerships for 7 years. And I really appreciate you letting me stay at your resort villa…but I have brought every single person you have ever asked me to bring to the F’ing WHite House and the Vice President’s house and the inauguration and then you go completely silent – I don’t hear from you for months,” Hunter Biden complained according to the New York Post. “I don’t know what it is that I did but I’d like to know why I’ve delivered on every single thing you’ve ever asked – and you make me feel like I’ve done something to offend you.”

No one was surprised about the Biden business dealings:

1625267624799.png1625267668888.png1625267704092.png1625267738397.png
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

New Emails Raise New Allegations of Influence Peddling By Hunter Biden And Direct Knowledge Of President Biden
We have previously discussed the concerted and often embarrassing blackout in the media on stories involving Hunter Biden’s influence peddling during his father’s tenure as Vice President.

That includes the burying of the laptop story and the growing contradictions over his father’s denial of any knowledge or involvement in his shady business dealings. Even recent reports that Hunter may have paid prostitutes with his father’s account were blacked out by mainstream media which exhaustively pursued any story related to the Trump children and their dealings and life styles.

Now, however, there is a major allegation that Hunter used access to his father to seal previously unknown deals with Mexican businessmen, including Carlos Slim. A picture shows Hunter with the businessmen in the Vice President residence with his father.

As in the past, Americans interested in such stories have had to rely on the foreign press or a couple domestic sites for such information.

The new emails include references to the use of Air Force II by Hunter Biden to pursue the deals — a similar pattern revealed with regard to the China dealings.

The emails detail a number of visits to Mexico, including a February 2016 flight on Air Force II with his father. On the plane was his business partner Jeff Cooper, who ran Illinois-based SimmonsCooper. That is one of the largest asbestos litigation firms in the country and Hunter was given 3 percent of Cooper’s venture capital firm Eudora Global, according to emails. President Biden’s brother (who featured in past controversial deals) was also reportedly involved in some of these efforts.

These dealings continued into 2018 as Hunter pushed for deals with Slim. One text message from July 24, 2018 reads “Spoke to my dad about ‘Slim ask” and Cooper responds “Oh that sounds SO F’ING GOOD.”

It obviously does not sound quite so good if you are a reporter who has been repeatedly assured by President Biden that he had no knowledge or involvement in any dealings with Hunter. That was previously refuted by various sources.

Hunter himself contradicted his father’s repeated denial. Then there are the emails referring to the “Big Guy”, which witnesses say was Joe Biden. Then there is Tony Bobulinski who stated that he personally met with Joe Biden to discuss Hunter’s business dealings. Bobulinski is repeatedly praised by Hunter Biden in the emails and identified as the person in control of transactions for “the family.”

He has directly contradicted Joe Biden’s denial of any knowledge or involvement in his son’s dubious dealings.

The new emails contain additional information directly contradicting President Biden. In addition to earlier pictures from golf trips and references to his involvement or knowledge, new material refers to a notable dinner arranged in Washington, D.C.

Hunter arranged for then Vice President Biden to have dinner on April 16, 2015 with his Ukrainian, Russian and Kazakhstani business associates. They appropriately chose a private room at Café Milano, a Georgetown restaurant that brags that it is “Where the world’s most powerful people go.” After the dinner, Hunter received an email from Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, to thank him for introducing him to his father: “Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure.”

It is clear that Hunter Biden was selling access and influence. It appears that Joe Biden was aware of that effort. That is very serious. If these emails are false, this is a major story. If they are true, this is a major scandal. Presumably, however, this story will result in another run to the nearest ice cream shop for breathless coverage on the current frozen delights of the President.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden nominates UPenn president for ambassadorship following China disclosure complaint

The National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint against UPenn in 2020, alleging it failed to disclose millions of dollars in donations from China

By Michael Ruiz , Jon Street | Fox News

President Joe Biden has nominated the China-linked president of the University of Pennsylvania to be the next U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Amy Gutmann is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and was praised by Fortune in 2018 as one of the "World’s 50 Greatest Leaders," according to the university.

And she’s been president of UPenn since 2004.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 15 :  Vice President Joe Biden pictured alongside Dr. Amy Gutmann to launch a moonshot initiative to hasten a cure for cancer at the Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center  in Philadelphia, Pa., on Jan. 15, 2016 (Star Shooter/MediaPunch/IPX)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 15 : Vice President Joe Biden pictured alongside Dr. Amy Gutmann to launch a "moonshot" initiative to hasten a cure for cancer at the Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Jan. 15, 2016 (Star Shooter/MediaPunch/IPX)

But between 2013 and last year, the university allegedly received tens of millions in undisclosed donations from China, according to the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative-leaning public ethics group. And the dollar totals dramatically increased after the school opened its Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

The NLPC filed a complaint against UPenn last year, alleging $22 million in "anonymous" donations from the country for the Biden Center and $70 million from China in total.

"The University of Pennsylvania has stonewalled all inquiries into the identities of the Chinese donors who made $22 million anonymous donations to the university," NLPC Chairman Peter Flaherty told Fox News on Saturday. "We think it’s time for her (Dr. Gutmann) to answer the question and identify the donors."

The Biden Center opened in March 2017, about a year before Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign.

The complaint charges that in 2017, out of a total of $7.7 million in donations from China, $500,000 came from anonymous donors. After Biden launched his campaign in 2018, the total jumped to $27.1 million, with anonymous donors giving $15.8 million. And in 2019, Chinese donors gave $26.9 million to the center, $6 million anonymously.

"Academia is awash in Chinese cash," Flaherty said. "It’s time for administrators to start answering questions about it."

BIDEN SECRETARY OF STATE PICK UNDER FIRE FOR CHINESE BIDEN CENTER FUNDS
And Gutmann is not the first person linked to UPenn’s Biden Center and the Chinese donation controversy to be nominated for a Biden administration role, and NLPC member Tom Anderson predicted in November that "every person" there would be a potential Biden administration member.

"This center was an incubation for Biden’s foreign policy team and it’s a natural place for his choice of secretary of state," Tom Anderson, director of the public integrity project for the NLPC, told Fox News shortly after Biden announced Antony Blinken as his secretary of state pick.

Blinken had been the Biden Center’s managing director from 2017 until he left to join Biden’s presidential campaign in 2019. But he was never forced to answer questions about the Chinese donations during his confirmation hearings.

The university has denied the NLPC’s claims outright, calling them "total nonsense" at the time and denied having "solicited any gifts for the Penn Biden Center."

"Since its inception in 2017, there have been three unsolicited gifts, from two donors, which combined [for a total of] $1,100," UPenn’s vice president of communications Stephen MacCarthy told reporters last year. "Neither of the donors were from China."

But Anderson countered that putting Biden’s name on the center was an act of solicitation in and of itself.

"Every operator, spy, foreign agent in the world immediately set their sights and their wallets on the university the day they used Biden's name," he said. "Corruption isn’t always about money -- sometimes it’s about access."

The school did not immediately respond to Fox News requests for comment.
Fred Lucas contributed to this report.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
A reminder:


Tax filings reveal Biden cancer charity spent millions on salaries, zero on research

By Isabel Vincent
November 14, 2020 | 6:48pm | Updated
Joe Biden (right) and Greg Simon (left) during a meeting of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, DC in 2016.

Joe Biden (right) and Greg Simon during a meeting of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, DC, in 2016AP

A cancer charity started by Joe Biden gave out no money to research, and spent most of its contributions on staff salaries, federal filings show.

The Biden Cancer Initiative was founded in 2017 by the former vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, to “develop and drive implementation of solutions to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, research and care and to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes,” according to its IRS mission statement. But it gave out no grants in its first two years, and spent millions on the salaries of former Washington, DC, aides it hired.

The charity took in $4,809,619 in contributions in fiscal years 2017 and 2018, and spent $3,070,301 on payroll in those two years. The group’s president, Gregory Simon, raked in $429,850 in fiscal 2018 (July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019), according to the charity’s most recent federal tax filings.

Simon, a former Pfizer executive and longtime health care lobbyist who headed up the White House’s cancer task force in President Barack Obama’s administration, saw his salary nearly double from the $224,539 he made in fiscal 2017, tax filings show.

Danielle Carnival, former chief of staff for Obama’s cancer initiative, the Cancer Moonshot Task Force, took home $258,207 in 2018.

The charity spent $56,738 on conferences and $59,356 on travel that year. The following year, the travel expenditure swelled to $97,149, and the nonprofit spent $742,953 on conferences, tax filings show.

Biden2


Greg Simon, former executive director of the White House cancer task force
The Washington Post via Getty Images

But under grants distributed, it listed zero.

Simon had said the main point of the charity was not to give out grants, and that its goal was to find ways to accelerate treatment for all, regardless of their economic or cultural backgrounds.

Biden headed up the Cancer Moonshot Task Force when he was veep after his son Beau died of a brain tumor in 2015. After he left office, the Biden Cancer Initiative sought to continue such efforts to provide “urgent” solutions to treating cancer, according to a 2017 press statement announcing its launch.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Another reminder....


FEBRUARY 02, 2021|JUDICIAL WATCH

Judicial Watch and Daily Caller News Foundation Appeal Court Decision about Hidden Biden Senatorial Records

1625438176225.png

Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today it filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court of Delaware, asking for a reversal of the opinion of the Superior Court of Delaware, which is blocking a state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for access to records about President Joe Biden’s senatorial records held by the University of Delaware. Biden’s papers include more than 1,850 boxes of archival records from his senate career.

The appeal comes in Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation’s lawsuit filed after a Delaware Attorney General’s opinion denied access to the records (Daily Caller News Foundation v. University of Delaware (No. N20A-07-001)). The Delaware FOIA lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware on July 2, 2020.

The appeal is challenging the Superior Court of Delaware’s January 4, 2021, ruling upholding the Delaware state attorney general’s opinion that the records are not “public records” because, the opinion concludes without evidence, no public funds are used to support the Biden records project at the University of Delaware.

Judicial Watch responded in court that it is impossible for the housing of Biden’s senatorial records in the University of Delaware’s Library to not be supported by any public funds. Judicial Watch noted that the University admitted that “[t]he State of Delaware provides the University with approximately $120 million each year through an appropriation in the state budget,” but has yet to show how public funds are not used to support the papers.

Judicial Watch further pointed out that “archival storage space and professional staff members’ time are things of value that it can be inferred are paid for with public funds,” and notes that the requests even listed the “University personnel who maintain the Senatorial Papers whose salaries, it can be inferred, are paid with State funds.” Judicial Watch requested that the Superior Court order the University to search for and produce the requested records.

“We have no idea why the University of Delaware is hiding these materials that the public should have every right to see and we are grateful for Judicial Watch and our local counsel for pushing this case hard. When people ask why our institutions are no longer trusted they should look up this case,” said Daily Caller News Foundation President Neil Patel.

“There is significant public interest in the special deal between Joe Biden and the University of Delaware that is keeping Biden’s Senate records completely secret,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Delaware law is explicit in requiring state entities, including the University of Delaware, to provide public access to these records.”

Judicial Watch filed its FOIA lawsuit after the University denied its April 30, 2020, request for:
  • All records regarding the proposed release of the records pertaining to former Vice President Joe Biden’s tenure as a Senator that have been housed at the University of Delaware Library since 2012. This request includes all related records of communication between the University of Delaware and any other records created pertaining to any meeting of the Board of Trustees during which the proposed release of the records was discussed.
  • All records of communication between any representative of the University of Delaware and former Vice President Biden or any other individual acting on his behalf between January 1, 2018 and the present.
On April 30, the Daily Caller News Foundation submitted its FOIA request to the University for:
  • All agreements concerning the storage of more than 1,850 boxes of archival records and 415 gigabytes of electronic records from Joe Biden’s senate career from 1973 through 2009.
  • Communications between the staff of the University of Delaware Library and Joe Biden or his senatorial, vice-presidential or political campaign staff, or for anyone representing any of those entities between January 1, 2010, and April 30, 2020, about Joe Biden’s senate records.
  • Any logs or sign-in sheets recording any individuals who have visited the special-collections department where records from Joe Biden’s senate career are stored between 2010 to the date of this request.
  • All records from Joe Biden’s Senate career that have been submitted to the University of Delaware Library.
Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation are being represented by Delaware lawyers Ted Kittila and Bill Green of Halloran Farkas + Kittila LLP.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

China Upped Its Donations to the Biden Center 400% with $50M in Donations After Biden Announced his Campaign

By Joe Hoft
Published July 5, 2021 at 11:00am
china-joe-600x338.jpg


China upped its donations to the Biden Center 400% as soon as Biden announced his campaign for the Presidency. China inserted $50M to the Biden Center after Biden’s announcement that he was running.

WeLoveTrump.com reported:

What many may not know about is the Biden Center that operates out of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)…
… It turns out that Chinese donations for the Biden Center increased by nearly 400% the same year he announced his bid for President.

The Biden Center opened in March 2017, about a year before Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign.

The complaint [from the NLCP] charges that in 2017, out of a total of $7.7 million in donations from China, $500,000 came from anonymous donors. After Biden launched his campaign in 2018, the total jumped to $27.1 million, with anonymous donors giving $15.8 million. And in 2019, Chinese donors gave $26.9 million to the center, $6 million anonymously.

“Academia is awash in Chinese cash,” Flaherty said. “It’s time for administrators to start answering questions about it.”

When you pair the vast sums of money with the timing of Joe’s election campaign, it’s pretty clear that the Chinese money wasn’t just because China cares about educating the next generation. It seems that this was all about access to the Oval Office.

Biden is also seemingly rewarding the people responsible for helping him get away with this. Joe is recruiting all the people associated with the Biden Center and putting them in powerful roles within the government. Specifically in the areas of foreign policy.
We’ve reported that per Hunter Biden’s emails we could see that China was helping the Biden campaign during Biden’s campaign.

1625519351477.png

The entanglements between the Biden camp and China are many. There are enough known relationships to properly say China had infiltrated the Biden camp and was using this for China’s benefit.
Hat tip Kevin O
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

OPINION

Hunter Biden engaged in some daddy pay care: Devine
By Miranda Devine
July 4, 2021 | 10:21pm | Updated
Enlarge Image

Hunter Biden has proven to be the White House’s number one moocher, constantly piggybacking off of Joe’s political influence on his way to reaping millions.

Hunter Biden has proven to be the White House's number one moocher, constantly piggybacking off of Joe's political influence on his way to reaping millions.Eresa Kroeger/Getty Images )

While Joe Biden careens around the country eating ice cream and behaving like a kind, but slightly dotty grandpa, it’s worth remembering the cynical way he used his son, Hunter, to generate cash for the family.

Hunter, now 51, wanted to be an artist or a writer, but he was assigned by his father the role of family breadwinner through lucrative grace-and-favor jobs and sweetheart deals facilitated by Joe’s network of connections in Delaware and, later, throughout the world.

The irresistible temptations of gushing torrents of unaccountable cash would lead Hunter into a brutal addiction to crack cocaine, which he details in his memoir “Beautiful Things.”

Resentful of the expectations placed on him, Hunter complained that he was forced to give half his salary to his father.

“I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years,” Hunter wrote in a 2019 text message to his daughter, Naomi, that was found on his abandoned laptop.

“It’s really hard. But don’t worry, unlike Pop [Joe], I won’t make you give me half your salary.”

There’s no direct evidence of such a wealth transfer on Hunter’s laptop.

But what we do know is that, while Joe was vice president, Hunter routinely paid at least some of his father’s household expenses, including AT&T bills of around $190 a month.

We know from an e-mail on June 5, 2010, with the subject “JRB bills” to Hunter from Eric Schwerin, his business partner at Rosemont Seneca, that he was expected to foot hefty bills to Wilmington contractors for maintenance and upkeep of his father’s palatial lakefront property. Joe’s initials are JRB, for Joseph Robinette Biden.

The bills that June included $2,600 to contractor Earle Downing for a “stone retaining wall” at Joe’s Wilmington estate, $1,475 to painter Ronald Peacock to paint the “back wall and columns” of the house, and $1,239 to builder Mike Christopher for repairs to the air conditioning at the cottage of Joe’s late mother, Jean “Mom-Mom” Biden, which was on his property and which he would later rent to the Secret Service for $2,200 a month.

“This is from last summer I think and needs to be paid pretty soon,” wrote Schwerin of Christopher’s bill.

Another $475 “for shutters” was owed to RBI construction, of Bear, Del., about 15 minutes west of Wilmington.

Schwerin’s e-mail to Hunter begins: “FYI, there are a few outstanding bills that need to be paid and I am not sure which ones are a priority and which should get paid out of ‘my’ account and which should be put on hold or paid out of the ‘Wilmington Trust Social Security Check Account.’ ”

He goes on to explain “there is about $2,000 extra in ‘my’ account beyond what is used for monthly expenses.” It is unknown why Schwerin used quotation marks around “my.” But it appears the account is used, at least in part, to pay expenses for Joe.

Three days later Schwerin writes Hunter again: “Mike Christopher [builder] is hassling me so I am paying a couple of the smaller things since I haven’t heard from your Dad. Know he’s busy — so it’s OK. But if you think he has a moment or two to review the e-mail I sent you let me know.”

In another e-mail to Hunter on July 6, 2010, titled “JRB Future memo,” about a plan apparently devised for Joe’s future wealth management, Schwerin writes: “Does it make sense to see if your Dad has some time in the next couple of weeks while you are in DC to talk about it? Your Dad just called me about his mortgage . . . so it dawned on me to might be a good time [for] some positive news about his future earnings potential.”

At this point, Joe had been vice president for barely 18 months of his first term.

Other documents on the laptop suggest a mingling of Joe’s finances with Hunter’s.

In an e-mail on April 12, 2018, to his assistant Katie Dodge, Hunter complains that he has been “shut out” of one his Wells Fargo bank accounts.

“Too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many profile changes and such. Happened 10 days ago too . . . My dad has been using most lines on this account which I’ve through the gracious offerings of Eric have paid for past 11 years.”
“Eric” is presumably Eric Schwerin.

Further evidence that Joe expected to receive a slice of his son’s income was provided by Tony Bobulinksi, Hunter’s former business partner in a firm called Oneida, which was set up to enter a joint venture with the Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC. Bobulinski says that Joe was the “big guy” referred to in a 2017 e-mail who was to be allocated 10 percent equity in the firm: “10 [percent] held by H [Hunter] for the big guy.”

Schwerin had been a loyal factotum to Hunter since the days they worked together in the Department of Commerce during the Clinton administration.

As president of Rosemont Seneca, Schwerin would do everything from answer Hunter’s e-mails to facilitate his alimony payments and organize his trips to China.

Tony Bobulinski, who is a former business partner to Hunter Biden, says the “Big Guy” referred to in Hunter’s emails is President Joe Biden.REUTERS/Tom Brenner
His relationship with Hunter later soured, but not before he developed a close relationship with the Biden family, including Joe, who attended his birthday dinner at DC’s Graffiato restaurant for 20 minutes one year.

Schwerin also was rewarded with a plum Obama government appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

Perhaps it was black humor, but in 2014, when Hunter was enmeshed in dubious moneymaking schemes in at least five countries where Joe wielded power, Schwerin e-mailed him a quote from the then-VP, answering a question about “the professional choices made by his children” that aired on WLWT in Cincinnati.
 
Last edited:

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Penn president set for high-profile ambassador gig after paying Biden $900K for vaguely defined professor post

CHRISTIAN SCHNEIDER - SENIOR COLLEGE FIX REPORTERJULY 5, 2021

GutmannBidenYouTube-370x242.jpg


The president of the University of Pennsylvania is poised to become U.S. Ambassador to Germany after paying then-Vice President Joe Biden $900,000 for a job at the Ivy League school that required no regular classes and up to 12 appearances on campus.

Penn President Amy Gutmann will likely be announced as Biden’s pick for the prime ambassadorship, raising questions about whether the slot is payback for the lucrative position Biden held at Penn after leaving the vice president’s office in 2017, according to news reports.

Upon accepting the offer, Biden became the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor, the first person to hold the position.

Biden collected $371,159 in 2017 and $540,484 in 2018 and early 2019 for a job with largely undefined duties. The agreement also required around a dozen appearances on campus, most of which were attended by wealthy donors paying top-dollar for tickets.

Biden left his position at the school in April 2019 to run for president.

Biden’s lucrative job came at the same time Democrats continued a national push to “cancel” student loans, arguing the cost of college had gotten out of hand and students were saddled with enormous debt. In 2012, Biden himself blamed professor salaries, in part, for driving the “skyrocketing” cost of college.

“Salaries for college professors have escalated significantly,” then-Vice President Biden told a crowd gathered at Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. “They should be good, but they have escalated significantly.”

In April of this year, Biden asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to draft a memo explaining whether he had the authority to cancel $50,000 in loans through executive order.

According to LendEDU, students in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pay the third most in the nation in student loans. In 2017, professors at the University of Pennsylvania were the seventh-highest paid in the nation, averaging $217,300 per year — still well below Biden’s salary as an employee of the school.

While with the school, Penn created the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington D.C.-based policy center. Until 2019, the Biden Center was run by Antony Blinken, Biden’s eventual Secretary of State pick.

Both conservative groups and Republican lawmakers have accused the Biden Center of accepting foreign contributions without properly reporting them. Last year, Penn spokesman Stephen MacCarthy told The College Fix the allegations of improper Chinese donations were “total nonsense.”

A Penn spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by The College Fix for this story.

Gutmann, who has no professional experience in Germany, has been a controversial figure on the Penn campus since taking over as president in 2004.
During her tenure at Penn, Gutmann made news when she declared the school a sanctuary campus for illegal immigrants. She angered campus police when she participated in a “die-in” to protest the death of black Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown at the hands of a white officer.

During the pandemic, Gutmann, the highest-paid Ivy League president, refused to take a pay cut. The presidents of Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, and Cornell University all took pay cuts of 20 percent or more.

In 2017, Gutmann made $3.6 million in salary.

After Biden’s election in 2020, local media speculated Gutmann could be up for a role in the Biden Administration, with many believing she could be named Secretary of Education. That position instead went to Cardona.

If appointed, Gutmann is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Is Hunter Biden’s art worth $500,000? Here’s what a curator has to say

by Charles Hilu
| July 04, 2021 07:00 AM

When most professional artists begin their careers, they are often lucky not to starve. This general rule, like most rules, does not apply if you are the son of the president of the United States.

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, recently started painting and has agreed to put some of his art up for sale in a gallery, some of which may fetch as much as $500,000.

“How much of that value is due to the art itself? That's easy: None of it,” wrote Jeffry Cudlin, professor of art curatorial studies and practice at the Maryland Institute College of Art, in an email to the Washington Examiner. “They're fine decorative amateur work. Hey, everybody needs a hobby!”

Though Biden’s artwork might raise an eyebrow or two, none of his paintings were particularly memorable, Cudlin said. They might fetch between $850-$3,000 for a buyer “to hang over someone’s couch.”

“If Hunter Biden were applying to school to get a BFA in painting, I think a portfolio with these pieces in it would indicate some sense of the medium, some nascent talent, and encourage anyone reviewing it that with a little training and a little study, Biden might one day make some interesting paintings,” he said.

Cudlin distinguishes “avant-garde gallery culture,” which is filled with people advancing the medium and creating critically acclaimed pieces of art, from “traditional gallery culture,” which is filled with rich people who like to surround themselves with cool stuff.

Judging by their comments about the art in an interview with Artnet, Biden and his curator are in the latter category, Cudlin said.

“I don’t paint from emotion or feeling,” Biden said in the interview. “Which I think are both very ephemeral. For me, painting is much more about kind of trying to bring forth what is, I think, the universal truth.”

“The last time artists said things like this,” according to Cudlin, “was maybe circa 1955. It's a modernist trope, and modernism at this point is a period style, having effectively ended sometime by the end of the following decade, around 1968.”

The comments of Biden’s dealer Georges Berges are not much better, Cudlin said.

Berges’s gallery is located in SoHo, New York, which was once home to many avant-garde galleries. Beginning around 1980, it started to shift into a haven for traditional galleries, which is its present state.

Biden’s art “has that authenticity that I see in a lot of artists that I personally love, be it [Lucien] Freud or [Francis] Bacon,” Berges said in the interview with Artnet.

“Neither artist has a damn thing to do with Hunter Biden's work,” Cudlin said.

“I can tell you that Freud and Bacon are the favorite painters of every straight white fraternity guy who took a single art appreciation class in undergrad for giggles. This guy scoffs at most art post-Whistler or Degas, occasionally voicing the opinion ‘That's not art!’ about something created in, say, 1928.”

Berges hopes to expand from his normal base of New York into Beijing and Shanghai, the New York Post reported, and he said China was “changing the world in terms of art and culture” in 2014.

He was accused of defrauding an investor of $500,000 in a 2016 lawsuit. In 1998, he served 90 days in jail and 36 months probation for assault with a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats.

Cudlin deemed Biden and his gallerist’s comments part of “a traditional gallery pitch.”

“I don't say this to be snobbish,” Cudlin said, “or to make pronouncements on his ability to move a brush around. But he's just not in the game — and there's only one game in town, and you're either playing, or you're not.”

Cudlin likened Biden’s art to a sweater worn by Kurt Cobain or another collectible created or owned by a famous person.

“Things are worth whatever people will pay for things,” he said. “The value a critic, art historian, or curator might see in a work as successfully embodying powerful content, or showing an artist's sure-footed relationship to the history and possibilities of a medium, may have absolutely nothing to do with whatever investment potential someone sees in an object as a collectible or novelty outside of their importance within the field of contemporary art.”

Other celebrities who are not artists by trade have successfully created and sold paintings.

Sylvester Stallone has also displayed paintings in Berges’s galleries and fancies himself “a much better painter than an actor.” The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood create paintings that are “objectively terrible,” according to Cudlin.

“I don't begrudge Hunter or Sir Paul or Ronnie Wood [for] having an audience for their work, or whatever odd little shows or publications they've appeared in. Good for them, I guess! And good for Mr. Biden,” Cudlin said.

“Everyone should try pushing brushes around. And if someone wants to pay you a half-million for the results: Cash that check.”
 
Top