Senate Republicans believe Attorney General Merrick Garland is misleading them about whether the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was used against Hunter Biden’s convicted Chinese business associate Patrick Ho.
Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have repeatedly asked the Justice Department and intelligence community to hand over to Congress any and all intelligence records tied to Chinese government-connected foreign nationals who had business dealings with Hunter Biden, and they say the DOJ is giving them the run-around.
“Based on the extensive relationships between and among Hunter Biden and individuals connected to the communist Chinese regime, our letter requested ‘all intelligence records, including but not limited to, all Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-derived information’ relating to Patrick Ho and other individuals, including Gongwen Dong,” Johnson and Grassley told Garland in a Tuesday letter. “Our request was based, in part, on reporting and a federal court filing by the Department that said it had obtained at least one Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant relating to Patrick Ho, indicating his potential counterintelligence threat to the United States.”
Concerns about President Joe Biden’s son gained broader attention last year after multiple outlets reported that he is being federally investigated in connection with his taxes and potentially related to his overseas business with China and other countries. Grassley sent a March letter to Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines asking for answers about Hunter Biden’s financial ties to Chinese businessmen, and they say DOJ is not being forthcoming.
When Ho, one of Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming’s lieutenants, was charged by DOJ in 2017, the first call he reportedly made after his arrest was to Joe Biden’s brother, James, who has said he thought the call was meant for Hunter Biden. Ho was indicted and convicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his role in a global money laundering and bribery scheme aimed at government officials in Africa. The Justice Department also accused Ho of helping with Iranian sanctions evasion and working to use the Chinese company’s connections to sell weaponry to Chad, Libya, and Qatar. Ho was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2019 and was deported to Hong Kong in June.
Ho had tried reaching out to Biden’s son for help because Hunter agreed to represent him as part of his efforts to work out a liquefied natural gas deal worth tens of millions of dollars with CEFC China Energy leader Ye, who has since disappeared.
HUNTER BIDEN MAINTAINS 10% STAKE IN CHINESE FIRM
A February 2018 court filing in the Ho case filed by the Justice Department was labeled a “Notice Of Intent To Use Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Information,” and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said the U.S. “intends to offer into evidence … information obtained or derived from electronic surveillance and physical search conducted” via FISA.
But Grassley and Johnson told Garland on Tuesday that “despite this sworn acknowledgement by the Department you oversee, your July 12, 2021, response to our letter denied knowing whether the Department even possessed the information.”
That letter, written by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joe Gaeta, stated: “Unfortunately, under the circumstances described in your letter, we are not in a position to confirm the existence of the information that is sought (if it exists in the Department’s possession).”
The senators said that “both statements cannot be true.”
The Republican senators requested that Garland either amend the July letter or confirm the 2018 court filing was inaccurate.
A Senate Republican report from September 2020 concluded that “Ye raised concerns with Hunter Biden that one of his associates, Patrick Ho, was under investigation by U.S. law enforcement” in 2017 and “Hunter Biden subsequently agreed to represent Ho.” In August 2017, CEFC Infrastructure Investment “wired $5 million to the bank account for Hudson West III,” which was linked to Hunter Biden. In addition, in March 2018, a $1 million payment was sent from Hudson West III to Hunter Biden’s firm, Owasco, with a memo line for “Dr. Patrick Ho Chi Ping Representation.” It is not clear what legal work Hunter Biden provided. Grassley and Johnson said that “Hunter Biden was well aware of Patrick Ho’s links to the communist Chinese government, specifically its intelligence services.”
Grassley and Johnson previously said Ye “reportedly had links to the communist regime’s People’s Liberation Army” and that CEFC Energy was “a company with extensive links to the communist regime.”
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A Senate report concluded that Hunter Biden also “opened a bank account with” CEFC deputy Gongwen Dong to fund a $100,000 global spending spree with James Biden and James’s wife, Sara.
Hunter Biden still appears to hold a 10% equity stake in Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company, according to Chinese business records.
