The FBI questioned former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski about a May 2017 email that discussed how to cut in Joseph R. Biden on a multimillion-dollar deal with a Communist Party-connected Chinese billionaire, Mr. Bobulinski tells The Washington Times.
The email from Hunter Biden business associate James Gilliar to Hunter Biden and Mr. Bobulinski could be evidence that former Vice President Biden was part of the equation when the Bidens discussed China deals. Joseph Biden, now the Democratic presidential nominee, had his own nickname: “The Big Guy.”
The message was one of thousands in Hunter Biden’s MacBook Pro laptop that he left at a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, in April 2019 and never retrieved.
The contents released by Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani prompted Mr. Bobulinski to go public as the scandal’s first whistleblower, he said, for two reasons: Rep. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, essentially said Mr. Bobulinski was part of a Kremlin disinformation operation, when in fact the emails were genuine; and Mr. Bobulinski suddenly realized that Hunter Biden had kept him in the dark about receiving millions of dollars in Chinese payments in 2017.
The Washington Times asked Mr. Bobulinski whether FBI agents bought up the May 2017 email when he met with them for five hours on Oct. 23.
“They were very thorough walking through every aspect of things, including e-mails, text, WhatsApp and documents for five hours,” he said.
He added, “We will have follow-up meetings.”
The May 2017 email, considered with a Sept. 23 Republican Senate report on Hunter Biden’s foreign financial dealings, provides a general picture of how the Biden family did business.
The Senate report said Hunter Biden began making Chinese business contacts in 2009 and by 2011 had formed a financial relationship with Ye Jianming, who headed the conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co. (Asian media reports say Beijing accused Mr. Ye of corruption in 2018 and he disappeared.)
The James Gilliar email conversation was about organizing a new investment partnership, Oneida Holdings LLC, with CEFC that would include Hunter Biden, his uncle James Biden and Mr. Bobulinski as CEO.
Mr. Gilliar said the group had agreed to “the following remuneration packages.” Four would receive 20% stakes, with 10% held by Hunter Biden for “the big guy.” James Biden would receive a 10% share, plus he wanted $180,000 monthly for travel.
What happened to this deal before Mr. Ye vanished?
Mr. Bobulinski said the money flow is linked to a narrative in the report from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican.
The report is based on suspicious activity reports (SARS), which financial institutions file with the Treasury Department when they suspect illegality, especially money laundering to escape detection.
Treasury records show that on Aug. 8, 2017, $5 million was wired from CEFC to Hudson West, a shell company controlled partly by Hunter Biden. On that same day, Hudson began sending large amounts of money to Hunter Biden’s K Street law firm, Owasco PC, for “consulting” services. Over a one-year period, Hudson West sent $4.78 million, the Senate report says. Another $1 million arrived at Owasco in March 2018.
The Washington Times asked Mr. Bobulinski whether there is a link between the Gilliar startup email and the subsequent CEFC payments to Hunter Biden.
“Yes, of course there is,” he said. “That’s the whole point and should be the focus. It’s all part of the same evolution of facts and discussions.”
Additional SARS reports show how the Biden family shared the proceeds. Beginning in August 2017, Hunter Biden began sending large wire transfers to Lion Hall Group, which lists James and Sara Biden on the bank account. After a year, Lion Hall had received $1.398 million from Hunter Biden.
“The transaction was identified for potential criminal financial activity,” the Senate report said.
The Bidens’ bank contacted Sara at one point. She explained that Lion Hall and Owasco provided international consulting. She refused to supply any documentation or any details about the consulting, the Senate report said. The bank “submitted the account for closure,” the report said.
At one point, Hunter Biden and Gongwen Dong, an associate of Mr. Ye, opened a joint bank account. With $100,000 from the account, Hunter, James and Sara Biden went on a “global spending spree,” the Senate report said.
Overall, Mr. Gongwen’s companies provided Hunter Biden with millions of dollars, according to the suspicious activity reports.
In 2017, Mr. Bobulinski was wondering when the Chinese investment money would arrive. The CEFC deal was for a $5 million infusion and a $5 million loan.
“I did reach out to Hunter Biden in October 2017 asking him, ’Hey, listen, they haven’t funded the $10 million. Have you done something that I’m not aware of? Have you gone around us? Have you started a parallel discussion with Chairman Ye that I should be conscious of?’” Mr. Bobulinski told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.
Hunter Biden’s answer, Mr. Bobulinski recalled, was that he had gone to work for Mr. Ye as his attorney.
Hudson West also sent money directly to James Biden. In 2018, Hudson provided $76,746 for “office expense and reimbursement,” the Senate report said.
There were several iterations of Hudson West, some controlled by Mr. Ye and his close associate, Mr. Gongwen.
“The records acquired by the Committees show consistent, significant and extensive financial connections among and between Hunter Biden, James Biden, Sara Biden, [Hunter’s business partner] Devon Archer, and Chinese nationals connected to the communist regime and PLA as well as other foreign nationals with questionable backgrounds,” the Senate report said.
Some of Hudson’s offspring worked as shell companies. In 2017 and 2018, $114 million arrived in Hudson’s coffers and about the same amount was sent out.
A Treasury analysis said the aim was to send large amounts of money from unidentified sources into the U.S. to purchase “luxury goods and properties.” The total flowing through Hudson: $902 million.
The laptop contents directly contradict Joseph Biden’s repeated statements that he had no knowledge or discussions about son Hunter’s business enterprises.
What’s more, Mr. Bobulinski met with Joseph Biden on May 2, 2017, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel so the former vice president could size up the man who would be running his son’s new investment firm with the Chinese.
Three days later, Mr. Bobulinski and the Bidens set up Oneida Holdings LLC in Delaware. The shareholders: Hunter and James Biden, Mr. Gilliar, Mr. Bobulinski and Rob Walker, a longtime Biden associate.
In another country, Ukraine, an executive of the energy firm Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden received millions of dollars for serving on its board, thanked the son in 2015 for setting up a meeting with the father, then vice president.
Mr. Johnson, the Senate homeland security committee chairman, has stressed that his report “asks more questions than it answers.” The committee obtained over 40,000 pages of documents related to Hunter Biden’s business activities.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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