President Joe Biden appears to have agreed in 2019 to pay for his son’s legal fees relating to dealings with a Chinese firm that has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, according to newly reported emails.
An email dated Jan. 17, 2019, with the subject line “Hunter’s bills” and greeting “Hello VP team,” shows Hunter’s then-assistant Katie Dodge telling bookkeeper Linda Shapero that Joe Biden had agreed to pay Hunter Biden’s bills incurred in 2018 and 2019, including one relating to the restructuring of one of Hunter’s business ventures. The emails were obtained by The Daily Mail and reportedly from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“I spoke with Hunter today regarding his bills. It is my understanding that Hunt’s dad will cover these bills in the short-term as Hunter transitions in his career,” Dodge wrote.
Dodge’s email attached a spreadsheet detailing the bills Hunter Biden owed from 2018 to 2019. One of the last items on the spreadsheet was more than $28,000 in legal fees owed to law firm Faegre Baker Daniels for “BHR Restructuring.”
Joe Biden has agreed to pay for Hunter Biden’s bills from 2018 to 2019 (dailymail.co.uk)
BHR likely refers to Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management (BHR Partners), an investment firm backed by major Chinese state financial institutions, such as the Bank of China and the China Development Bank Capital.
Rosemont Seneca Partners, a U.S. investment and advisory firm Hunter Biden co-founded, became one of the shareholders of BHR, which was incorporated in Shanghai in 2013. Hunter gained an unpaid board seat on BHR as a result. He sat on the board until April 2020.
Hunter held a 10 percent stake in BHR, but divested as of November last year, according to his attorney.
The president has repeatedly denied ever discussing or being involved with Hunter’s business dealings.
“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Joe Biden said in 2019 during a Democratic Party fundraiser.
However, some Republican lawmakers are skeptical of the veracity of such claims.
By Gary Bai
