House Republicans are demanding answers from a former top Serbian politician who went on to help lead the United Nations about Hunter Biden and his business dealings with a Chinese energy conglomerate and its corrupt convicted envoy.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, sent a letter on Tuesday to 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, about his financial interactions with President Joe Biden’s son and his work with CEFC China Energy.
JAMES COMER DEMANDS RECORDS FROM HUNTER BIDEN ON CHINESE BUSINESS DEALINGS
“The Committee’s review of testimony in a federal criminal prosecution — United States v. Patrick Ho — and other documents show that you have records and information related to the Biden family’s foreign business dealings,” Comer told Jeremic.
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.
Hunter Biden 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. 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.
Jeremic reported to Ho when he worked as a consultant for CEFC. The Serb worked for CEFC for years and also ran unsuccessfully for U.N. secretary-general in 2016 and unsuccessfully for Serbian president in 2017.
Comer told Jeremic that the Ho trial transcripts and records in the committee’s possession indicate that “you possess communications with CEFC officials, including Patrick Ho and Chairman Ye, discussing the Biden family” and that “you possess communications with Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Eric Schwerin discussing CEFC.”
The House Republican investigator said the evidence also suggests that “DOJ may have redacted Hunter Biden’s name from the Patrick Ho trial” in a court record labeled Exhibit 2739R and that “DOJ likely possesses additional evidence related to CEFC and Hunter Biden given the seizure of Patrick Ho’s iPad and email accounts in November 2017.”
Hunter Biden referred to Ho as “the f***ing spy chief of China” in a May 11, 2018, voice recording.
Comer told Jeremic to hand over a host of records by March 7, including all documents and communications from 2014 to the present with anyone from CEFC, such as Ye and Ho, as well as any records tied to Hunter Biden, his uncle and Joe Biden’s brother James Biden, and Hunter Biden business associates Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer, and James Gilliar.
The House Republican also asked Hunter Biden to answer the following: “To your knowledge, did DOJ redact Hunter Biden’s name from Exhibit 2739R in United States v. Patrick Ho?”
Jeremic had sent a November 2015 email to Schwerin telling him about an upcoming early December 2015 dinner in the U.S. capital with Ye, describing the CEFC chairman thusly: “He’s very young and dynamic (39), with the top-level connections in his country. They have recently started making big investments abroad (billions of dollars), and plan on doing much more.”
“I would like to invite Hunter to join me at this private dinner (small dinner — this is not an event of any kind). I am confident that many interesting projects may come out of that in the future,” Jeremic told Schwerin.
The Hunter Biden business associate responded to the Serbian politico that “we actually were approached by an acquaintance of Hunter’s about setting up a meeting for Hunter with the same gentleman for next week as well” and that “we weren’t sure if it was worthwhile but the fact that he is friends with you makes us feel better about this.”
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Comer also on Tuesday laid out the court testimony wherein Jeremic had discussed Ho’s role in the dinner with Ye as he tried to make the connection with Hunter Biden.
It was later revealed that the Justice Department had likely obtained Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant against Ho. Republicans have accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of not being forthcoming about the apparent FISA against Ho.
