A former Hunter Biden business associate is “cooperating” with the Republican-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee as it seeks answers on the overseas business dealings of the son of President Joe Biden.
Earlier this month, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who holds the committee gavel, fired off the letters to Hunter Biden, to Hunter’s uncle and Joe’s brother James Biden, and to Hunter’s former longtime business partner Eric Schwerin, arguing that the three men “are key witnesses in our investigation of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s international and domestic business schemes.”
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Comer revealed Thursday that Schwerin, who was a leader at the Rosemont Seneca consultancy, is cooperating with House Republican investigators, even as Hunter and James Biden have thus far rebuffed the committee and refused to hand over any records.
“Thus far, I have good news. He is cooperating with us. His attorneys and my counsel are communicating on a regular basis. Now, I feel confident that he’s going to work with us and provide us with the information that we have requested,” Comer told Just The News on Thursday. “That’s a very positive development; I believe that’s going to lead to a few others coming forward. … I believe that Schwerin is going to lead the way in helping more people come forward and work with us.”
Comer added: “I think that Schwerwin is going to be a very valuable witness for us in this investigation.”
White House visitors logs show that Schwerin made at least 27 visits to the White House during the Obama administration while Biden was vice president, including multiple 2016 visits with then-Vice President Biden’s chief of staff Steve Ricchetti, who is currently White House counselor under now-President Biden.
In an early February letter, Comer told Schwerin: “The Committee has identified you as a close personal and professional associate of Robert Hunter Biden — the President’s son — and then-Vice President Biden. Evidence shows you communicated with Hunter Biden and others regarding relevant companies, investments, and transactions.”
CEFC was a multibillion-dollar Chinese conglomerate founded by Ye Jianming, a Chinese Communist Party-linked business tycoon who has since disappeared in China but with whom Hunter Biden had attempted to work out numerous deals. Schwerin was involved in at least two apparent efforts by CEFC to approach Hunter Biden in late 2015.
Hunter was the chairman of the World Food Program USA at the time, and a consultant named Scott Oh emailed in October 2015 to claim that CEFC was interested in helping with humanitarian work. Schwerin met with Oh and soon emailed Hunter to say that CEFC was looking for a U.S.-based asset manager to invest tens of millions of dollars with.
Comer has also been pushing for testimony from Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s minister of foreign affairs from 2007 into 2012 and the president of the U.N. General Assembly from 2012 to 2013, who also worked for CEFC for years. Jeremic emailed Schwerin in November 2015 in an effort to set up a meeting between Hunter and Ye.
Hunter and his associated businesses received at least $5 million in payments from CEFC in 2017 and 2018, and CEFC deputy Patrick Ho also agreed to pay Hunter Biden a $1 million retainer. Hunter referred to Ho as “the f***ing spy chief of China” in a May 11, 2018, voice recording.
Ho was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2019 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He was deported to Hong Kong in June 2021 after serving his sentence.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware is currently running a criminal investigation into Hunter.
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Comer has also asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to turn over all bank-generated “suspicious activity reports” related to Hunter and Schwerin, which the Treasury Department has thus far declined to do.
“We know individuals, many are cooperating with us now, but others, not so much,” Comer said Thursday. “We’re going to start subpoenaing people in the private sector, we’re going to start subpoenaing financial institutions to get us the information. And then we’ll go from there.”
