Hunter Biden played “the dad card” to help shield him in a securities fraud case when his father was vice president, say House investigators demanding answers from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Accusations have long swirled about Hunter Biden’s ties to a scheme that defrauded an American Indian tribe and public investors of tens of millions of dollars. Some of Hunter Biden’s business associates were convicted in the case and received hefty prison sentences and fines.
One of them, Jason Galanis, told House investigators that federal prosecutors rejected his offer to provide information about others involved in the criminal scheme, including Hunter Biden.
The president’s son escaped charges despite the involvement of his associates and one of his shell companies, Rosemont Seneca Bohai, in the scheme.
House lawmakers say his father’s powerful position as vice president may have shielded him from prosecution.
Lawmakers recently revealed a letter from Hunter Biden’s attorney to the SEC’s enforcement division, which was conducting a parallel civil investigation into the tribal bond scheme.
The letter responded to an SEC subpoena issued on March 16, 2016, demanding that Hunter Biden turn over documents and communications “regarding Rosemont Seneca Bohai,” a company the vice president’s son had set up with business associate Devon Archer. It was used to deposit millions of dollars from foreign business deals.
SEC officials say Rosemont Seneca Bohai was directly implicated in the tribal bond scheme because Archer falsely claimed he was using money generated from the venture to purchase $15 million in tribal bonds.
In response to the SEC subpoena, Hunter Biden provided more than 1,700 pages of documents, but they came with a stark warning from his attorney that the commission must stay quiet about Hunter Biden’s involvement in the investigation.
“As a threshold matter, we request that you treat this matter with the highest degree of confidentiality, consistent with Commission policy and applicable law,” Hunter Biden’s attorney wrote to the SEC on April 20, 2016. “The confidential nature of this investigation is very important to our client and it would be unfair, not just to our client, but also to his father, the Vice President of the United States, if his involvement in an SEC investigation and parallel criminal probe were to become the subject of any media attention.”
House lawmakers say the letter served to thwart SEC prosecution of Hunter Biden.
On May 11, 2016, the SEC announced charges against Archer, Galanis and five others in the case. Hunter Biden wasn’t on the list.
“Mr. Biden’s response gratuitously invoked his father’s position as the Vice President in what could be interpreted as an effort to discourage further SEC scrutiny,” House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, wrote to SEC Chair Gary Gensler last month.
In a statement, Mr. Comer accused the president’s son of “playing the dad card” to escape the SEC’s wrath. Lawmakers are seeking details about how the SEC excluded Hunter Biden from the charges.
The SEC charged seven others involved in the case with securities fraud violations and sentenced them to much stiffer penalties in separate criminal cases.
Galanis and Archer were among those sentenced to prison in the criminal case. Galanis, charged in the tribal fraud case and two additional fraud cases, was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. Archer received a much lighter sentence, one year in prison, which he has yet to serve. Both had to pay hefty fines.
Prosecutors say Galanis, Archer and the other defendants defrauded an American Indian community and multiple pension funds “to corruptly bankroll their own personal and business interests.”
Prosecutors say Galanis used proceeds from the first tribal bond issuance to buy a $10 million luxury apartment in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, which he purchased in Archer’s name and with Archer’s consent.
Galanis told House investigators that he offered information implicating Hunter Biden in the case but federal prosecutors weren’t interested.
In testimony from the federal prison near Pensacola, Florida, Galanis said he offered the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, which was prosecuting the case, additional information about the “fraudulent conduct of all parties.” Prosecutors rejected his offer, even though Galanis said he was not seeking a reduced sentence in exchange for the information.
Galanis said he sent additional information shortly after the 2020 election to the Justice Department’s office of the pardon attorney, which was advising President Trump on clemency and pardon decisions.
Galanis said the information he sent to the Justice Department “set forth facts about Hunter Biden’s and Devon Archer’s role that implicated them in illegal acts.”
Galanis said he sent the request for a pardon because he feared he could “face the wrath” of the incoming Biden administration.
“I believe the SDNY’s prosecution strategy was intended to protect Hunter Biden, and ultimately Vice President Biden,” Galanis told House investigators in March.
Galanis did not receive a pardon. He has sought release to home confinement but remains in prison.
His attorney did not respond to an inquiry about the claims involving Hunter Biden.
A second defendant, Bevan Cooney, who received a 30-month prison sentence, also implicated Hunter Biden in the case. In a trove of emails released, the fraudsters invoked Hunter Biden’s name as they plotted the tribal bond scheme.
In one 2013 message, Archer tells Cooney, “I want to leverage Hunter more and he’s a good guy for us to include,” to which Cooney responds, “Would be good to put some honey in Hunter’s pocket.”
Hunter Biden denies involvement in the scheme.
He told House investigators in a February deposition he had “no authority,” “no control” and “no inside view” of Rosemont Seneca Bohai.
Lawmakers conducting an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s involvement in his family’s business schemes said he lied.
Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan released documents in which Hunter Biden identified himself as “the duly elected, qualified and acting secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC.” Additional documents show Hunter Biden as the beneficial owner of a bank account in the name of Rosemont Seneca Bohai. The House committees sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department, accusing the president’s son of making false statements to Congress.
The president’s son was convicted in June of three felonies related to his purchase of a gun while addicted to drugs. Separately, He faces nine federal charges accusing him of failing to pay taxes. That trial is slated to begin in September.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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