A top House Republican investigator is demanding answers from the FBI about the possible national security implications posed by a former close business associate of Hunter Biden, focusing on her prior links to the Chinese government.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent a letter Wednesday to FBI Director Christopher Wray warning that Biden’s history with his Chinese business associate might be a “national security threat” that the bureau needs to be investigating.
The Republican specifically argued that Biden’s business assistant, JiaQi “Jackie” Bao, provided President Joe Biden’s son “insight into purchasing [liquefied] natural gas reserves in the United States to sell to China, had access to the Biden family’s financial information, and liaised with CCP-affiliated agents on the Bidens’ behalf.”
Comer’s newest letter, along with a September one to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, provided specific details about Hunter Biden’s efforts to work out deals with China’s CEFC Energy, and the Washington Examiner can confirm his laptop hard drive is full of evidence about these efforts.
The Washington Examiner’s laptop review shows dozens of communications between Bao and Hunter Biden related to CEFC. The Washington Examiner commissioned Konstantinos “Gus” Dimitrelos to conduct a full forensic examination of the laptop, and he concluded that “the data contained on the hard drive is authentic.”
DIRTY MONEY, DIRTY POLITICS, AND HUNTER BIDEN
CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming has since disappeared in China after state media linked him to a corruption case in 2018, which led CEFC to go bankrupt.
Ye’s top deputy, Patrick Ho, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ho was deported to Hong Kong in June 2021. Hunter Biden struck a $1 million legal retainer agreement with Ho following his arrest.
Comer pointed out that Hunter Biden referred to Ye as “my partner,” and he also called Ho the “f***ing spy chief of China” in a 47-minute audio recording dated May 2018, found on a copy of his laptop.
CEFC ended up funneling millions of dollars to Hunter Biden-linked businesses despite many of the business ventures with Hunter Biden falling apart.
Comer wrote that Bao “seemed determined to remain close to the Biden political orbit even after the initial relationship dissolved, a hallmark of foreign intelligence activity.” He pointed in particular to a March 20, 2018, email from Bao to Hunter Biden.
“I don’t think you should worry about any of the recent news at all (my personal opinion), because Chinese companies always deal very diplomatically with foreign business partners,” Bao wrote. “Even if the worst case with Ye, those in the U.S. would not be impacted at all and in fact it will present a great opportunity to gain, both in terms of doing something meaningful, rewarding, as well as for realize substantial tangible gains without make any noise, if done right.”
The Republican said Bao’s “efforts to remain close to the Biden family following the CEFC venture collapse raises serious concerns about Bao’s motives and plans with the Biden family” and said it might present “an alarming national security threat” if Bao was continuing to push the energy deals on China’s behalf.
Comer pointed out that Bao was awarded a Chinese government scholarship and received a degree at Tsinghua University, which the Australian Strategic Policy Institute assessed is “very high risk for its high level of defense research and alleged involvement in cyber attacks” against China’s rivals.
The Republican also noted that Bao went on to work for China’s National Development Reform Commission, which “implements the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee’s policies and decisions on development and reform.”
Comer wrote that committee Republicans “are investigating the national security implications of the Biden family’s international business schemes” and “are alarmed that someone who got her start working for the PRC and tied to Chinese espionage was able to successfully infiltrate the Biden family business.”
The New York Times wrote an article in December 2018 about Hunter Biden’s dealings with CEFC, and Joe Biden left his son a voicemail saying, “I thought the article released online — it’s going to be printed tomorrow in the Times — was good. I think you’re clear.”
Bao sent a Dec. 18, 2018, text message to Hunter Biden, saying, “Uncle Joe should run for President in 2020. You should not be distracted by that New York Times article from yesterday.”
“After infiltrating the Biden family, Bao urged Hunter to encourage Joe Biden to run for president months before he announced and then supplied the Biden family campaign advice related to China,” Comer wrote, saying this was her effort to “ingratiate herself” with the Biden family.
Joe Biden launched his successful presidential campaign about five months after he left the voicemail.
“Media reports and documents reviewed by Committee Republicans suggest that Bao and Hunter’s relationship extended beyond professional obligations — a common tactic employed by Chinese intelligence agents,” Comer wrote.
“Committee Republicans are concerned Hunter Biden may have been compromised by the People’s Republic of China and foreign intelligence services,” the Republican told Wray. “Due to the interconnected nature of the Biden family’s finances and business dealings, this type of access would jeopardize U.S. national security.”
Bao told Hunter Biden and CEFC associates in an Oct. 24, 2017, email that “my job is to make sure our interest is protected.”
“Bao appeared to be effectively running the joint venture under Hunter Biden’s name. She produced yearly reports and business plans for Hudson West III, the joint venture Hunter Biden created with the Chinese firm,” the Republican said.
“The FBI’s lack of interest in Biden family dealings is troubling,” Comer wrote. “The national security threat of an foreign intelligence services gaining access to a presidential family’s sensitive information is too great to ignore.”
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Comer asked the FBI to hand over “all documents and communications regarding JiaQi Bao, including but not limited to her relationship with Hunter Biden, other members of the Biden family, and the Biden family’s business dealings” and “all documents and communications regarding CEFC’s efforts to purchase American energy and infiltrate the Biden family.”
The Republican also told the bureau to provide “all documents and communications referring or relating to foreign intelligence service efforts to compromise the Biden family.”
An FBI spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that “we received the letter but don’t have any additional comment.”
Lawyers for Hunter Biden did not respond to a request for comment.
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