Former President Donald Trump has claimed in a series of social media posts that China is secretly funding the pro-Biden think tank where classified materials from President Biden’s tenure as vice president were discovered.
“Wow! The Biden Thank Tank is funded by China!!” Mr. Trump wrote late Monday on Truth Social. “How much more information has China been given?”
“The amount was 54 million dollars that the Biden Think Tank received from China. That’s a lot of money. They saw the classified documents!” Mr. Trump wrote.
“Biden giving China highly classified documents would be a bridge too far. I certainly wouldn’t do that. Not a good situation for our country to be in!” he wrote.
The posts come after Mr. Biden’s lawyers confirmed Monday that they found the government materials, some of which were marked classified, at the offices of the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.
The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, where Mr. Biden served as an honorary professor from 2017 to 2019. As part of that relationship, Mr. Biden had an office there after his term as vice president ended until he was elected president in 2020.
A conservative government watchdog last year alleged that the Penn Biden Center raked in tens of millions of dollars in anonymous donations from China.
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) claimed the college received $54.6 million in donations from China between 2014 through June 2019, including $23.1 million in 2016.
The Ivy League university received $15.8 million in anonymous Chinese in 2018, after the center opened, and a single $14.5 million donation in May of that year, according to the conservative NLPC.
On Tuesday morning, the NLPC reiterated its call for the Penn Biden Center to open its books.
“This is a matter of transparency,” NLPC counsel Paul Kamenar said. “If the school doesn’t have anything to hide, why not disclose all of the donations, and contracts and gifts and let the students and the public see any conditions or strings attached to the use of that money?”
A university of Pennsylvania spokesman has denied that anonymous Chinese money had flowed to the center.
“The Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received any gifts from any Chinese or other foreign entity. In fact, the University has never solicited any gifts from the center,” spokesman Stephen MacCarthy said in May.
Mr. MacCarthy said the Penn Biden center received three unsolicited donations from two individuals totaling $1,100 since 2017, but insisted both donors were American.
Mr. Kamenar remained skeptical.
“MacCarthy was very careful to say Penn ’never solicited any gifts’ to Penn Biden Center,” Mr. Kamenar said. “It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to conclude that foreign funds are being directed to the Biden Center even if not solicited or earmarked for the Center.”
The NLPC had asked David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, who is investigating Hunter Biden for possible tax crimes, to probe the alleged donations from China. It is unclear if Mr. Weiss opened an inquiry.
A spokesperson for Mr. Weiss’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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