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2021年5月22日，亨特-拜登（中）在白宫外的椭圆广场上走向海军陆战队一号。(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
【中国观察2022年4月2日讯】
这笔交易酝酿多年，是建立联系、举办晚宴、往返中国的航班的高潮。但在2017年8月2日，签名很快就被贴上了，一个是亨特-拜登，另一个是一位名叫董功文的中国高管。
几天之内，一个新的国泰银行账户被创建。一周内，数百万美元开始易手。
一年之内，这一切就开始崩溃。
虽然亨特-拜登与CEFC中国能源公司的财务安排的许多方面以前已经被报道过，并被列入2020年共和党领导的参议院报告中，但《华盛顿邮报》的审查证实了许多关键细节，并发现了显示拜登家族与中国高管互动的其他文件。
根据政府记录、法庭文件和新披露的银行对账单，以及据称曾属于亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑硬盘副本中的电子邮件，在14个月的时间里，这家中国能源集团及其高管向亨特-拜登及其叔叔控制的实体支付了480万美元。
《邮报》没有找到证据表明乔-拜登个人从与CEFC的交易中获益或知道这些交易的细节，这些交易发生在他离开副总统职位之后，在他宣布打算在2020年竞选白宫之前。
但新文件--其中包括一份签署的100万美元的法律委托书、与电汇有关的电子邮件，以及新的银行记录和亨特-拜登签署的协议中确认的380万美元的咨询费--说明了他的家人是如何从乔-拜登几十年的公共服务中建立的关系中获益的。
亨特-拜登签署了一份100万美元的聘金协议，代表帕特里克-何，这位CEFC官员后来在美国被指控与一项价值数百万美元的贿赂乍得和乌干达领导人的计划有关。经核实的电子邮件和新的银行记录显示，这笔钱被转到与亨特-拜登有关的一个账户。
亨特-拜登的海外工作一直是受到高度关注的对象。作为对他的税务调查的一部分，他一直在接受联邦调查，最近在上个月，大陪审团还传唤了证人。据《邮报》此前报道，联邦检察官一直试图确定他是否没有说明与中国有关的交易收入，尽管目前还不清楚这是否仍是一个焦点。同时，共和党人指出，拜登家族在中国的商业交易，以及亨特-拜登过去在乌克兰能源公司Burisma的董事会成员身份，都是潜在的利益冲突。
据了解，中欧石油公司的交易成为亨特-拜登所从事的最有利可图的外国投资项目之一，尽管时间不长。邮报》的评论部分借鉴了对一份据称是笔记本电脑硬盘的拷贝的分析，据称亨特-拜登把这台电脑放在特拉华州的一家维修店，但从未来取。根据《邮报》审查的文件，这台笔记本电脑在2019年12月被移交给联邦调查局，在2020年大选前几个月，鲁迪-朱利安尼和当时总统唐纳德-特朗普的其他顾问获得了该硬盘的副本。
在《纽约邮报》于2020年10月开始发表有关该笔记本电脑内容的报道后，《华盛顿邮报》多次向朱利安尼和共和党战略家斯蒂芬-K-班农索要一份数据副本，以便在选举前进行审查，但这些要求被拒绝或忽略。
2021年6月，杰克-马克西(Jack Maxey)向《邮报》提供了一份副本，他是一名活动人士，在2020年从朱利安尼那里得到了一份副本，当时马克西正与斯蒂芬-K-班农及其 "作战室 "播客一起工作。
《邮报》在另一篇报道中探讨了保管链，以及对数据进行法医分析的结果。
亨特-拜登的海外工作一直是受到高度关注的对象。作为对他的税务调查的一部分，他一直在接受联邦调查，最近在上个月，大陪审团还传唤了证人。据《邮报》此前报道，联邦检察官一直试图确定他是否没有说明与中国有关的交易收入，尽管目前还不清楚这是否仍是一个焦点。同时，共和党人指出，拜登家族在中国的商业交易，以及亨特-拜登过去在乌克兰能源公司Burisma的董事会成员身份，都是潜在的利益冲突。
据了解，中欧石油公司的交易成为亨特-拜登所从事的最有利可图的外国投资项目之一，尽管时间不长。《邮报》的评论部分借鉴了对一份据称是笔记本电脑硬盘的拷贝的分析，据称亨特-拜登把这台电脑放在特拉华州的一家维修店，但从未来取。根据《邮报》审查的文件，这台笔记本电脑在2019年12月被移交给联邦调查局，在2020年大选前几个月，鲁迪-朱利安尼和当时总统唐纳德-特朗普的其他顾问获得了该硬盘的副本。
在《纽约邮报》于2020年10月开始发表有关该笔记本电脑内容的报道后，《华盛顿邮报》多次向朱利安尼和共和党战略家斯蒂芬-K-班农索要一份数据副本，以便在选举前进行审查，但这些要求被拒绝或忽略。
2021年6月，杰克-马克西(Jack Maxey)向《邮报》提供了一份副本，他是一名活动人士，在2020年从朱利安尼那里得到了一份副本，当时马克西正与斯蒂芬-K-班农及其 "作战室 "播客一起工作。
《邮报》在另一篇报道中探讨了保管链，以及对数据进行法医分析的结果。
以下是《邮报》对亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑进行的分析
拜登的助手和一些前美国情报官员对该设备可能被俄罗斯操纵以干预竞选表示担忧。在国会山，民主党人驳斥了先前关于亨特-拜登在中国工作的报道，认为其缺乏可信度，或者是俄罗斯虚假信息活动的一部分。《邮报》的分析包括两名外部专家的取证工作，他们评估了与CEFC事项有关的许多电子邮件的真实性。此外，《邮报》发现，亨特-拜登所谓的笔记本电脑副本上的财务文件与其他记录中发现的文件和信息相符，包括参议院财政和司法委员会的资深共和党人、爱荷华州的查尔斯-E-格拉斯利（Charles E. Grassley）获得的新披露的银行文件。
2名专家利用电子邮件标题来确定真实性
亨特-拜登与CEFC讨论的潜在能源项目从未成行。
然而，根据《邮报》审查的银行记录和联合协议，与亨特-拜登有关的账户通过咨询合同从CEFC获得了至少379万美元的付款。
拜登还收到了100万美元的聘金，这是代表CEFC官员帕特里克-何（Patrick Ho）的协议的一部分，这位官员后来在美国被指控与贿赂乍得和乌干达领导人的百万美元计划有关。在一份新发现的文件中，该聘用协议包含亨特-拜登和何某的签名，何某后来被定罪并被判处三年监禁。
拥有法律学位的亨特-拜登没有被指控在该计划中犯有不法行为，而且似乎在联邦案件中代表何某的作用不大。何氏通过他在该案中的律师拒绝发表评论。
亨特-拜登和他的律师没有回应过去一周的多次留言。白宫拒绝公开回应，但指出乔-拜登以前的声明，即乔-拜登 "根本没有考虑过与他的家人做生意，也没有考虑过任何海外生意。"
2013年12月，副总统乔-拜登与他的儿子亨特-拜登（右）和他的孙女菲尼根-拜登一起乘坐空军二号飞机抵达北京。(Ng Han Guan/AP)
多年来在中国寻求业务
根据法庭文件和亨特-拜登的陈述，亨特-拜登与中欧金融公司的关系是在其家庭经济紧张和动荡的时期建立的。2015年5月，亨特的哥哥博的死亡让拜登夫妇心力交瘁，亨特也在为吸毒而挣扎。
"亨特在去年出版的回忆录中写道："我当时正处于毒瘾的折磨之中。
在与妻子凯瑟琳的离婚程序中，一份法庭文件描述了 "令人震惊和不堪重负的未偿债务"，这对夫妇的信用卡被刷爆，他们拥有的两处房产都有双重抵押贷款，税款高达313,970美元。根据2017年2月提交给华盛顿特区高级法院的文件，他们给管家的三张支票已经跳票，他们还欠医疗机构和治疗师的钱。
根据外部专家为《邮报》审查的一份据称是笔记本硬盘拷贝的经核实的电子邮件，CEFC的一名中间人最初在2015年12月联系了亨特-拜登，以安排当时的副总统的儿子和这家中国公司的创始人兼董事长叶简明会面。
最近担任联合国大会主席的塞尔维亚政治家武克-耶雷米奇(Vuk Jeremic)给年轻的拜登写了一封电子邮件，说他要在华盛顿与叶建明--他称之为 "最富有的10位中国商人之一"--举办一个小型私人晚宴，并希望亨特参加。
"他年轻而有活力，在他的国家拥有最高级别的关系，"杰里米在2015年12月1日的电子邮件中写道。
亨特-拜登未能参加晚宴，杰雷米在给《邮报》的电子邮件中说，虽然他认识这两个人，但他 "没有参与他们的相互介绍"，而是从媒体报道中发现两人最终有了联系。
据研究该公司的人说，中欧石油公司是一家成立于2002年的大型石油和天然气公司，有来自政府开发银行的融资，并与中国共产党和人民解放军有联系。叶檀的官方传记说，他曾经是中国国际友好联络会的副秘书长，2011年美国国会的一份报告称该组织是人民解放军的 "幌子"。
虽然CEFC表面上是私营企业，但中国经济专家说，它不太可能独立于政府运作。
中国大使馆拒绝就CEFC与中国政府的关系或亨特-拜登与该公司的关系发表评论。
在乔-拜登离开副总统职位后不久，亨特-拜登和叶檀在迈阿密共进晚餐时会面。
据《纽约客》2019年7月根据对亨特-拜登的广泛采访所做的报道，两人讨论了CEFC在美国的商业机会，包括一个价值4000万美元的合资企业，在路易斯安那州生产液化天然气。
那笔交易失败了。但据《纽约客》报道，叶简明对他与亨特-拜登的初次会面非常满意，晚餐后他将一颗2.8克拉的钻石送到亨特-拜登的酒店房间，并附上一张感谢他的谈话的卡片。
在离婚诉讼中，亨特的妻子会声称这颗钻石价值8万美元。亨特-拜登告诉《纽约客》，价值接近1万美元，他把钻石给了他的同事，他不知道他们用它做什么。
2017年夏天，亨特-拜登收到叶某的请求，这预示着CEFC后来的问题。叶某说，CEFC的一名高层人员何志强可能正在接受美国执法部门的调查，他向亨特-拜登寻求帮助。亨特-拜登告诉《纽约客》，他同意代理何某，并试图弄清他是否受到执法部门的审查。
亨特-拜登在2017年8月与中国一家能源集团的高管董功文签署了一份协议，共同寻求投资。该协议包括提供给参议员查尔斯-E-格拉斯利（R-Iowa）的银行记录，其中指出，亨特-拜登将一次性获得50万美元的聘金，然后每月获得10万美元的津贴，其叔叔詹姆斯-拜登每月获得6.5万美元。(Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
亨特-拜登和CEFC之间更大的咨询交易的执行迅速发生在2017年8月初。
2017年8月2日签署的合同规定，亨特-拜登将一次性获得50万美元的聘金，然后每月获得10万美元的津贴，他的叔叔詹姆斯-拜登每月获得6.5万美元。
在据称是亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑硬盘上发现了一份未签署的协议副本。一份签署的副本包括在提供给格拉斯利的银行记录中，并由《邮报》审查。根据这份26页的协议，他们同意在一家名为Hudson West III LLC的公司下共同进行投资。
根据在亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑副本上发现的文件，以及格拉斯利办公室从国泰银行获得的亨特-拜登和CEFC高管共同持有的账户的相同银行对账单所证实，资金几乎立即开始流动，第一笔500万美元的电汇于2017年8月8日到达。
文件显示，在扣除开支和人事费用后，大部分资金（约480万美元）在14个月内被转入与亨特-拜登有关的账户，通常以16.5万美元为单位递增。根据《邮报》查阅的其他政府记录，在此期间，约140万美元从亨特的账户转到詹姆斯-拜登经营的咨询公司Lion Hall Group。
"无可奉告，"詹姆斯-拜登在通过手机被问及CEFC的交易时说。
2018年，位于华盛顿特区乔治敦社区的瑞典之家。(Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)
更多红旗
在2017年秋季与CEFC高管进行交易的几周后，亨特-拜登要求改变他在瑞典之家租用的五楼办公空间，这栋位于乔治敦的建筑通风良好，是瑞典大使馆和其他办公室的所在地。
2017年9月21日，亨特-拜登写信给一位大楼经理，要求更换新的办公室标牌，以反映新的家族企业和新的商业关系。他在给物业经理的电子邮件中写道："拜登基金会和哈德逊西部（CEFC- US）"。
他还要求为他的新办公室伙伴提供钥匙：他的父亲乔，他的母亲吉尔，他的叔叔詹姆斯，以及中国高管董功文。
作为请求的一部分，他提供了他所说的他父亲的手机号码，说办公室代表可以用它来联系他的新办公室伙伴。
亨特-拜登称中欧金融公司董事长叶志强为 "我的伙伴"，并将董功文描述为 "叶董事长中欧金融公司的使者"。
讨论亨特-拜登开设拜登-CEFC办公室计划的电子邮件往来包括在他的硬盘副本中，并通过瑞典政府向《邮报》发布的公共记录得到证实。这些记录的内容首先由瑞典报纸《Dagens Nyheter》报道。
"我们非常兴奋和荣幸地欢迎你的新同事！"经理给亨特-拜登回信。
亨特-拜登在2017年秋天寻求改变他在瑞典之家租用的办公场所，该建筑位于乔治敦，是瑞典大使馆和其他办公室的所在地。根据他的笔记本电脑的所谓副本中包含的电子邮件，以及从瑞典政府获得的电子邮件，拜登要求为他的新办公室伙伴提供钥匙：他的父亲乔，他的母亲吉尔，他的叔叔詹姆斯，以及中国高管董功文。(华盛顿邮报》获得）。
拜登基金会董事会成员杰弗里-佩克(Jeffrey Peck)是参与设立办公室等细节问题最多的人，他说从来没有考虑过这个地点。
"我记得关于其他可能的空间的讨论，所谓的瑞典之家从未在任何名单上，"佩克说。"从来没有考虑过--比如说零考虑或考虑--那个建筑。"
负责监管该房产的瑞典当局的一位女发言人说，按照要求提供了四把钥匙，但亨特-拜登从未拿过。她说，门上的标志牌并没有改变。
在亨特-拜登要求改变其办公场所的前后，与物业经理的电子邮件交流越来越紧张--提醒亨特-拜登停止违反办公室政策，将访客从侧门带入，而不是在前台签到，因为他们要通过金属探测器。
亨特-拜登愤怒地回应说，其中一位是他可以担保的无家可归的妇女--并指责办公室管理人员有种族歧视，因为该妇女是黑人。他写道，另一位客人是伦登-罗伯茨，他把这个女人称为 "我小女儿的篮球导师"。
一年之内，罗伯茨将有一个孩子，亨特否认是他的，直到她提起亲子鉴定诉讼，DNA测试证实是他的。他们在2020年3月解决了这个案子，法庭文件显示他正在支付一笔未披露的儿童抚养费。
罗伯茨的律师克林特-兰卡斯特说，他的当事人在瑞典之家事件发生时曾为拜登工作。他说，2月中旬，罗伯茨被传唤到德克萨斯州威尔明顿市的一个大陪审团面前作证数小时，这表明对亨特-拜登的联邦调查仍在进行。兰卡斯特拒绝对她的证词的性质发表评论。司法部和特拉华州的美国检察官办公室也拒绝发表评论。
亨特-拜登证实他正在接受联邦调查
记录显示，在CEFC活动期间，亨特-拜登的资金被转移到他叔叔那里。根据格拉斯利和威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩-约翰逊(Ron Johnson)在2020年编制的报告，总共有近140万美元从亨特的公司转到詹姆斯-拜登控制的公司。根据《邮报》查阅的财政部金融犯罪执法网络的一份报告，这些交易被认定为潜在的犯罪活动，这一名称旨在标示潜在的洗钱、政治腐败或其他金融犯罪。
根据《邮报》查阅的记录，当詹姆斯-拜登和萨拉-拜登的银行就这些交易与他们联系时，他们不愿意提供证明文件来解释这些活动，并关闭了账户。
詹姆斯-拜登没有对有关金融交易的详细问题清单作出回应。
与此同时，CEFC的高管们担心司法部对与该公司有关联的官员进行调查。正如后来的法庭记录所显示的那样，联邦调查人员已经获得了对何的外国情报监视令，并正在监视他的通信。
2017年9月18日，亨特-拜登签署了一份两页的律师委托书，代表何炅，并支付了100万美元的聘金。该协议规定，亨特-拜登要提供 "与美国法律有关的事项的咨询，以及与任何美国律师事务所或律师的聘用和法律分析有关的建议"。四天后，即2017年9月22日，何某在该文件上签字。
这份两页的协议的签字副本包含在亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑驱动器的所谓副本中，作为电子邮件的附件存储，其中没有足够的数据供《邮报》的外部专家核实。但格拉斯利获得的银行记录显示，100万美元最终被存入与亨特-拜登有关的一个账户，并有一张说明，称这笔款项是对何的 "代理"。
11月18日，在亨特-拜登签署代理何某的协议几周后，他的客户在肯尼迪机场被两名联邦调查局特工逮捕。下午2点，他被宣读了米兰达权利；根据警方记录，9分钟后，他给詹姆斯-拜登打电话。
詹姆斯-拜登在2018年告诉《纽约时报》，他认为何炅是在找亨特-拜登，他传来了他侄子的联系方式。
根据经核实的电子邮件，几乎在何炅被捕后，Krieger Kim律师事务所的律师Edward Y. Kim被邀请代表何炅。金和何拒绝了发表评论的请求。
在审判期间，检察官称，何炅曾贿赂乍得和乌干达的领导人，目的是为CEFC获得石油许可证。他们还说，何氏曾提供CEFC作为资源，帮助伊朗逃避石油制裁。
崩溃
事情很快就败露了。何氏在监狱中等待审判。CEFC的负责人Ye于2018年2月中旬在中国被拘留，此后一直没有消息。逮捕的原因尚不清楚，尽管路透社报道说这与涉嫌经济犯罪有关。
无法联系到叶某进行评论，中国大使馆拒绝对叶某的被捕进行评论。
到2018年3月，亨特-拜登的叔叔正在寻求获得被拖欠的100万美元的何氏代理费。詹姆斯-拜登于2018年3月21日写信给CEFC官员，提供了 "汇款指示"，提供了如何转账到与亨特-拜登有关的账户的地址和路线号码。
"收到并将尽快处理此事，"CEFC官员之一的梅文燕在一封核实的电子邮件中回信。
第二天早上9点43分，电汇通过了，并按照詹姆斯-拜登的指示存入账户，根据银行记录，他电子邮件中的路由号码与银行收到的路由号码一致。
亨特-拜登开始与其余高管交换敌意信息，包括董明珠和梅文燕。两人曾对亨特-拜登的几笔商业开支提出质疑，要求提供收据以证明这些费用。严介和在一封经过核实的电子邮件中写道，他要求报销的一些费用似乎与中国能源公司的业务无关，他写道，包括 "在瑞典的房子"。
拜登威胁说要起诉严介和和董明珠，说他们无权质疑他的开支--并解释说，瑞典的房子是他在华盛顿的办公室。
"我将在特拉华州的大法官法庭提起诉讼--如你们所知，这是我的家乡，我有幸与大法官法庭的每一位法官共事过，并且认识他们，"他在2018年3月14日写道。
"你不能因为我们没有支付不正确的费用而起诉我们，"根据一封经过核实的电子邮件，董在回复中写道。
董明珠和严跃进没有对置评请求作出回应。
与亨特-拜登在CEFC业务上密切合作的助理JiaQi Bao在2018年3月26日的电子邮件中写道，该公司正在解散，她将失去工作--但亨特-拜登应该 "拿任何你能拿的钱，只要钱能领。"
"尽可能多地拿，或者想办法为自己的利益花掉，"她写道。
Bao没有回应许多电话和电子邮件信息。
根据银行记录，在接下来的六个月里，近140万美元被转入亨特-拜登的账户。
但麻烦也随之而来。亨特-拜登继续与毒瘾问题作斗争，这在他的家庭中造成了压力，他的父亲开始支付他的一些账单。小拜登的问题对他父亲竞选总统的决定产生了很大影响，乔-拜登将在2019年4月正式宣布这一竞选。
亨特-拜登的个人争斗将继续下去。但CEFC的商业传奇很快就会落下帷幕。
2018年11月2日，严跃进签署了一份文件，解散了将拜登夫妇与CEFC联系起来的哈德逊西部第三有限责任公司。严跃进在位于德克萨斯州多佛市的办公室提交了这份文件，该办公室距离拜登家不到一个小时的车程。
Josh Dawsey、Alice Crites和Devlin Barrett对本报告有贡献。
Inside Hunter Biden’s multimillion-dollar deals with a Chinese energy company
A Washington Post review confirms key details and offers new documentation of Biden family interactions with Chinese executives
By Matt Viser
The deal was years in the making, the culmination of forging contacts, hosting dinners, of flights to and from China. But on Aug. 2, 2017, signatures were quickly affixed, one from Hunter Biden, the other from a Chinese executive named Gongwen Dong.
Within days, a new Cathay Bank account was created. Within a week, millions of dollars started to change hands.
Within a year, it would all begin to collapse.
While many aspects of Hunter Biden’s financial arrangement with CEFC China Energy have been previously reported and were included in a Republican-led Senate report from 2020, a Washington Post review confirmed many of the key details and found additional documents showing Biden family interactions with Chinese executives.
Over the course of 14 months, the Chinese energy conglomerate and its executives paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and his uncle, according to government records, court documents and newly disclosed bank statements, as well as emails contained on a copy of a laptop hard drive that purportedly once belonged to Hunter Biden.
The Post did not find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited from or knew details about the transactions with CEFC, which took place after he had left the vice presidency and before he announced his intentions to run for the White House in 2020.
But the new documents — which include a signed copy of a $1 million legal retainer, emails related to the wire transfers, and $3.8 million in consulting fees that are confirmed in new bank records and agreements signed by Hunter Biden — illustrate the ways in which his family profited from relationships built over Joe Biden’s decades in public service.
Hunter Biden signed an agreement for a $1 million retainer to represent Patrick Ho, a CEFC official who would later be charged in the United States in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe leaders from Chad and Uganda. Verified emails, and new banking records, show that the money was transferred to an account linked to Hunter Biden. (Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
Hunter Biden’s overseas work has been the subject of heightened scrutiny. He has been under federal investigation as part of an inquiry into his taxes, with witnesses called before a grand jury as recently as last month. Federal prosecutors had been attempting to determine if he failed to account for income from China-related deals, The Post has previously reported, although it is unclear whether that is still a focus. Republicans, meanwhile, have pointed to the Biden family’s business deals in China, along with Hunter Biden’s past membership on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, as potential conflicts of interest.
The CEFC deal became one of the most lucrative, if short-lived, foreign ventures Hunter Biden is known to have pursued. The Post review draws in part on an analysis of a copy said to be of the hard drive of a laptop computer that Hunter Biden purportedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and never came to collect. The laptop was turned over to the FBI in December 2019, according to documents reviewed by The Post, and a copy of the drive was obtained by Rudy Giuliani and other advisers to then-President Donald Trump a few months before the 2020 election.
After the New York Post began publishing reports on the contents of the laptop in October 2020, The Washington Post repeatedly asked Giuliani and Republican strategist Stephen K. Bannon for a copy of the data to review before the election, but the requests were rebuffed or ignored.
In June 2021, a copy was provided to The Post by Jack Maxey, an activist who received a copy from Giuliani in 2020, at a time when Maxey was working with Stephen K. Bannon and his “War Room” podcast.
The Post has explored the chain of custody, as well as the findings of forensic analyses of the data, in a separate story.
Here’s how The Post analyzed Hunter Biden’s laptop
Biden aides and some former U.S. intelligence officials have voiced concern that the device may have been manipulated by Russia to interfere in the campaign. On Capitol Hill, Democrats have dismissed earlier reports about Hunter Biden’s work in China as lacking credibility or being part of a Russian disinformation campaign. The Post analysis included forensic work by two outside experts who assessed the authenticity of numerous emails related to the CEFC matter. In addition, The Post found that financial documents on the copy of Hunter Biden’s purported laptop match documents and information found in other records, including newly disclosed bank documents obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees.
2 experts used email headers to determine veracity
The potential energy projects Hunter Biden discussed with CEFC never came to fruition.
Nonetheless, accounts linked to Hunter Biden received at least $3.79 million in payments from CEFC through consulting contracts, according to bank records and joint agreements reviewed by The Post.
Biden received an additional $1 million retainer, issued as part of an agreement to represent Patrick Ho, a CEFC official who would later be charged in the United States in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe leaders from Chad and Uganda. That retainer agreement, in a newly uncovered document, contains the signatures of both Hunter Biden and Ho, who was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Hunter Biden, who has a law degree, was not accused of wrongdoing in that scheme and appeared to have little role representing Ho in the federal case. Ho, through his attorney in that case, declined to comment.
Hunter Biden and his attorney did not respond to numerous messages left over the past week. The White House declined to respond on the record but pointed to previous statements that Joe Biden “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”
Vice President Joe Biden arrives on Air Force Two in Beijing with his son Hunter Biden, right, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden in December 2013. (Ng Han Guan/AP)
Years of seeking business in China
Hunter Biden’s relationship with CEFC took root during a time of financial strain and turmoil for his family, according to court filings and Hunter Biden’s accounts. The Bidens were reeling from the May 2015 death of Hunter’s older brother, Beau, and Hunter was struggling with drug use.
“I was in the throes of addiction,” Hunter wrote in a memoir published last year.
During divorce proceedings with his wife Kathleen, a court filing in the case described “outstanding debts [that] are shocking and overwhelming,” with the couple carrying maxed-out credit cards, double mortgages on both properties they owned and a tax debt of $313,970. Three checks to their housekeeper had bounced, and they owed money to medical providers and therapists, according to a February 2017 filing in D.C. Superior Court.
An intermediary from CEFC initially reached out to Hunter Biden in December 2015 to set up a meeting between the then-vice president’s son and Ye Jianming, the founder and chairman of the Chinese firm, according to verified emails from a purported copy of the laptop hard drive reviewed by the outside experts for The Post.
Vuk Jeremic, a Serbian politician who had recently served as president of the United Nations General Assembly, wrote an email to the younger Biden that he was hosting a small private dinner in Washington with Ye — whom he called “one of the 10 wealthiest Chinese businessmen” — and wanted Hunter to attend.
“He’s young and dynamic, with the top-level connections in his country,” Jeremic wrote in the Dec. 1, 2015, email.
Hunter Biden was unable to attend the dinner and Jeremic said in an email to The Post that while he knew both men, he was “not involved in their mutual introduction” and found out from media reports that the two had eventually connected.
CEFC, a massive oil and gas company founded in 2002, had financing from government development banks and ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, according to people who studied the firm. Ye’s official biography said he was once deputy secretary of the China Association for International Friendly Contact, an organization that a 2011 U.S. congressional report called “a front” for the People’s Liberation Army.
While CEFC was ostensibly private, experts in the Chinese economy say it is unlikely that it operated independently of the government.
The Chinese Embassy declined to comment on CEFC ties to the Chinese government or Hunter Biden’s involvement with the firm.
Shortly after Joe Biden left the vice presidency, Hunter Biden and Ye met over dinner in Miami.
The two discussed business opportunities for CEFC in the United States, including a $40 million joint venture to produce liquefied natural gas in Louisiana, according to a July 2019 New Yorker report based on extensive interviews with Hunter Biden.
That deal failed. But Ye Jianming was so pleased with his initial meeting with Hunter Biden that after dinner he sent a 2.8-carat diamond to Hunter Biden's hotel room with a card thanking him for the conversation, according to the New Yorker.
In divorce proceedings, Hunter’s wife would claim the diamond was worth $80,000. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker the value was closer to $10,000, that he gave the diamond to his associates, and that he doesn’t know what they did with it.
In the summer of 2017, Hunter Biden received a request from Ye that would foreshadow subsequent problems for CEFC. Ye said that a top CEFC associate, Patrick Ho, might be under investigation by U.S. law enforcement and he asked Hunter Biden for help. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker that he agreed to represent Ho and to try to figure out if he was under scrutiny by law enforcement.
Hunter Biden in August 2017 signed an agreement with Gongwen Dong, an executive at a Chinese energy conglomerate, to jointly pursue investments. The agreement, included with bank records provided to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), stated that Hunter Biden would get a one-time retainer of $500,000 and would then receive a monthly stipend of $100,000, with his uncle James Biden getting $65,000 a month. (Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
The execution of the bigger consulting deal between Hunter Biden and CEFC occurred rapidly in early August 2017.
The contract, signed on Aug. 2, 2017, stated that Hunter Biden would get a one-time retainer of $500,000 and would then receive a monthly stipend of $100,000, with his uncle James Biden getting $65,000 a month.
An unsigned copy of the agreement was found on the purported copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive. A signed copy was included with bank records provided to Grassley and reviewed by The Post. Under the 26-page agreement, they agreed to jointly pursue investments under a company named Hudson West III LLC.
The money began flowing almost immediately, with the first incoming wire of $5 million arriving on Aug. 8, 2017, according to documents found on the copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop and corroborated by identical bank statements that Grassley’s office obtained from Cathay Bank for an account jointly held by Hunter Biden and CEFC executives.
After expenses and personnel costs, the bulk of the money, about $4.8 million, was directed over a 14-month period, usually in increments of $165,000, to an account linked to Hunter Biden, the documents show. During that time period, about $1.4 million was transferred from Hunter’s account to Lion Hall Group, the consulting firm that James Biden ran, according to other government records reviewed by The Post.
“No comment,” James Biden said when reached on his cellphone and asked about the CEFC deal.
The House of Sweden in D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, in 2018. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)
More red flags
A few weeks after he went into business with the CEFC executives in the fall of 2017, Hunter Biden requested changes to the fifth-floor office space he was renting at the House of Sweden, an airy building in Georgetown that is home to the Swedish Embassy and other offices.
On Sept. 21, 2017, Hunter Biden wrote to a building manager requesting new office signage to reflect a new family enterprise and a new business relationship: “The Biden Foundation and Hudson West (CEFC- US),” he wrote in emails to the property manager.
He also requested keys for his new office mates: his father, Joe; his mother, Jill; his uncle James; and the Chinese executive, Gongwen Dong.
As part of the request, he provided what he said was his father’s cellphone number, saying an office representative could use it to contact his new office mates.
Hunter Biden referred to Ye, the chairman of CEFC, as “my partner” and described Gongwen Dong as the “Chairman Ye CEFC emissary.”
The email exchanges that discuss Hunter Biden’s plan to open a Biden-CEFC office were included on the copy of his hard drive and were confirmed through public records released by the Swedish government to The Post. The contents of the records were first reported by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
“We are very excited and honored to welcome your new colleagues!” the manager wrote back to Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden in the fall of 2017 sought changes to office space he was renting at the House of Sweden, a building in Georgetown that is home to the Swedish Embassy and other offices. According to emails included in a purported copy of his laptop, and in emails obtained from the Swedish government, Biden requested keys for his new officemates: his father, Joe; his mother, Jill; his uncle James; and the Chinese executive, Gongwen Dong. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
Jeffrey Peck, the Biden Foundation board member most involved in details like setting up the office, said there was never any consideration of that location.
“I recall discussions about other possible spaces and the so-called House of Sweden was never on any lists,” Peck said. “There was never any thought — like zero thought or consideration — given to that building.”
A spokeswoman for the Swedish authority that oversees the property said that the four keys were made available, as requested, but that Hunter Biden never picked them up. The signboard on the door wasn’t changed, she said.
Around the time Hunter Biden was asking for changes to his office space, email exchanges with the property manager grew tense — with a reminder to Hunter Biden to stop violating office policies by bringing visitors in through a side entrance rather than signing them in at the front desk, where they go through metal detectors.
Hunter Biden responded angrily, saying that one was a homeless woman he could vouch for — and accused the office managers of racism because that woman is Black. He wrote that another guest was Lunden Roberts, a woman he described as “my youngest daughter’s basketball mentor.”
Within a year, Roberts would have a baby that Hunter denied was his until she filed a paternity suit and DNA testing confirmed it was his. They settled the case in March 2020 and court documents show he is paying an undisclosed amount in child support.
Roberts’s lawyer, Clint Lancaster, said his client had worked for Biden at the time of the House of Sweden incident. He said Roberts was called to testify for several hours before a grand jury in Wilmington, Del., in mid-February, an indication that the federal investigation of Hunter Biden remains active. Lancaster declined to comment on the nature of her testimony. The Justice Department and the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.
Hunter Biden confirms he is under federal investigation
During the time the CEFC was active, funds were being transferred from Hunter Biden to his uncle, records show. All told, nearly $1.4 million went from Hunter’s company to one controlled by James Biden, according to a 2020 report produced by Grassley and fellow Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The transactions were identified as potential criminal activity, a designation meant to flag potential money laundering, political corruption or other financial crimes, according to a report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the Treasury Department that was reviewed by The Post.
When James and Sara Biden’s bank contacted them about the transactions, they would not provide supporting documentation to explain the activity and closed the account, according to records reviewed by The Post.
James Biden did not respond to a detailed list of questions about the financial transactions.
Meanwhile, CEFC executives were concerned about Justice Department inquiries into officials tied to the company. As would become clear later in court records, federal investigators had obtained a foreign intelligence surveillance warrant on Ho and were monitoring his communications.
On Sept. 18, 2017, Hunter Biden signed a two-page attorney engagement letter to represent Ho, with a $1 million retainer. The agreement specified that Hunter Biden was to provide “counsel to matters related to US law and advice pertaining to the hiring and legal analysis of any US Law Firm or Lawyer.” Ho signed the document four days later, on Sept. 22, 2017.
A signed copy of the two-page agreement was contained on the purported copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop drive, stored as an attachment to an email that did not contain sufficient data to be verified by The Post’s outside experts. But the bank records obtained by Grassley show $1 million was eventually deposited into an account associated with Hunter Biden, with a note describing the payment as “representation” of Ho.
On Nov. 18, a few weeks after Hunter Biden signed the agreement to represent Ho, his client was arrested by two FBI agents at JFK Airport. He was read his Miranda rights at 2 p.m.; nine minutes later, he called James Biden, according to police records.
James Biden told the New York Times in 2018 that he assumed Ho was looking for Hunter Biden, and he passed along contact information for his nephew.
Almost immediately after Ho’s arrest, according to verified emails, Edward Y. Kim, an attorney at Krieger Kim, was enlisted to represent Ho. Kim and Ho declined requests for comment.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Ho had bribed leaders in Chad and Uganda, aiming to obtain oil permits for CEFC. They also said Ho had offered CEFC as a resource in helping Iran evade oil sanctions.
The crash
Things fell apart quickly. Ho was in jail awaiting trial. Ye, the head of CEFC, had been detained in China in mid-February 2018 and hadn’t been heard from since. The reasons for the arrest were unclear, although Reuters reported that it was related to suspected economic crimes.
Ye could not be reached for comment, and the Chinese Embassy declined to comment on Ye’s arrest.
By March 2018, Hunter Biden’s uncle was seeking access to the $1 million retainer that he was owed for the Ho representation. James Biden on March 21, 2018, wrote to CEFC officials with “wiring instructions,” providing the address and routing numbers for how to transfer to the account linked to Hunter Biden.
“Received and will take care of this ASAP,” Mervyn Yan, one of the CEFC officials, wrote back in a verified email.
At 9:43 the next morning, the wire went through and was deposited in the account just as James Biden had instructed, with the routing number in his email matching the routing number received by the bank, according to bank records.
Hunter Biden began exchanging hostile messages with remaining executives, including Dong and Mervyn Yan. The two had questioned several of Hunter Biden’s business expenses, asking for receipts to back up the charges. Yan, in a verified email, wrote Biden that some of the expenses for which he sought reimbursement did not appear related to the Chinese energy company’s business, including, he wrote, “house in Sweden.”
Biden threatened to sue both Yan and Dong for balking at paying, claiming they had no right to question his expenses — and explaining that the House of Sweden was his D.C.-based office.
“I will bring suit in the Chancery Court in Delaware — which as you know is my home state and I am privileged to have worked with and know every judge in the chancery court,” he wrote on March 14, 2018.
“You cannot sue us for not paying incorrect expenses,” Dong wrote in response, according to a verified email.
Dong and Yan did not respond to requests for comment.
JiaQi Bao, an assistant with whom Hunter Biden had worked closely on CEFC business, wrote in a March 26, 2018, email that the company was being dissolved and she would lose her job — but that Hunter Biden should “take whatever money you can take, as long as the money is available to claim.”
“Take as much as possible, or figure out a way to spend them for your own benefit,” she wrote.
Bao did not respond to numerous phone and email messages.
Over the next six months, nearly $1.4 million was transferred to Hunter Biden’s account, according to bank records.
But troubles also loomed. Hunter Biden continued to battle addiction issues that created strains within his family, and his father began paying some of his bills. The younger Biden’s problems loomed large over his father’s decision to run for president, a campaign Joe Biden would announce formally in April 2019.
Hunter Biden’s personal battles would continue. But the business saga of CEFC would soon come to a close.
Yan signed a document on Nov. 2, 2018, dissolving Hudson West III LLC, the company that linked the Bidens to CEFC. Yan filed it with an office based in Dover, Del., less than an hour’s drive from the Biden family home.
Josh Dawsey, Alice Crites and Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
【中国观察2022年4月2日讯】
这笔交易酝酿多年，是建立联系、举办晚宴、往返中国的航班的高潮。但在2017年8月2日，签名很快就被贴上了，一个是亨特-拜登，另一个是一位名叫董功文的中国高管。
几天之内，一个新的国泰银行账户被创建。一周内，数百万美元开始易手。
一年之内，这一切就开始崩溃。
虽然亨特-拜登与CEFC中国能源公司的财务安排的许多方面以前已经被报道过，并被列入2020年共和党领导的参议院报告中，但《华盛顿邮报》的审查证实了许多关键细节，并发现了显示拜登家族与中国高管互动的其他文件。
根据政府记录、法庭文件和新披露的银行对账单，以及据称曾属于亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑硬盘副本中的电子邮件，在14个月的时间里，这家中国能源集团及其高管向亨特-拜登及其叔叔控制的实体支付了480万美元。
《邮报》没有找到证据表明乔-拜登个人从与CEFC的交易中获益或知道这些交易的细节，这些交易发生在他离开副总统职位之后，在他宣布打算在2020年竞选白宫之前。
但新文件--其中包括一份签署的100万美元的法律委托书、与电汇有关的电子邮件，以及新的银行记录和亨特-拜登签署的协议中确认的380万美元的咨询费--说明了他的家人是如何从乔-拜登几十年的公共服务中建立的关系中获益的。
亨特-拜登签署了一份100万美元的聘金协议，代表帕特里克-何，这位CEFC官员后来在美国被指控与一项价值数百万美元的贿赂乍得和乌干达领导人的计划有关。经核实的电子邮件和新的银行记录显示，这笔钱被转到与亨特-拜登有关的一个账户。
亨特-拜登的海外工作一直是受到高度关注的对象。作为对他的税务调查的一部分，他一直在接受联邦调查，最近在上个月，大陪审团还传唤了证人。据《邮报》此前报道，联邦检察官一直试图确定他是否没有说明与中国有关的交易收入，尽管目前还不清楚这是否仍是一个焦点。同时，共和党人指出，拜登家族在中国的商业交易，以及亨特-拜登过去在乌克兰能源公司Burisma的董事会成员身份，都是潜在的利益冲突。
据了解，中欧石油公司的交易成为亨特-拜登所从事的最有利可图的外国投资项目之一，尽管时间不长。邮报》的评论部分借鉴了对一份据称是笔记本电脑硬盘的拷贝的分析，据称亨特-拜登把这台电脑放在特拉华州的一家维修店，但从未来取。根据《邮报》审查的文件，这台笔记本电脑在2019年12月被移交给联邦调查局，在2020年大选前几个月，鲁迪-朱利安尼和当时总统唐纳德-特朗普的其他顾问获得了该硬盘的副本。
在《纽约邮报》于2020年10月开始发表有关该笔记本电脑内容的报道后，《华盛顿邮报》多次向朱利安尼和共和党战略家斯蒂芬-K-班农索要一份数据副本，以便在选举前进行审查，但这些要求被拒绝或忽略。
2021年6月，杰克-马克西(Jack Maxey)向《邮报》提供了一份副本，他是一名活动人士，在2020年从朱利安尼那里得到了一份副本，当时马克西正与斯蒂芬-K-班农及其 "作战室 "播客一起工作。
《邮报》在另一篇报道中探讨了保管链，以及对数据进行法医分析的结果。
亨特-拜登的海外工作一直是受到高度关注的对象。作为对他的税务调查的一部分，他一直在接受联邦调查，最近在上个月，大陪审团还传唤了证人。据《邮报》此前报道，联邦检察官一直试图确定他是否没有说明与中国有关的交易收入，尽管目前还不清楚这是否仍是一个焦点。同时，共和党人指出，拜登家族在中国的商业交易，以及亨特-拜登过去在乌克兰能源公司Burisma的董事会成员身份，都是潜在的利益冲突。
据了解，中欧石油公司的交易成为亨特-拜登所从事的最有利可图的外国投资项目之一，尽管时间不长。《邮报》的评论部分借鉴了对一份据称是笔记本电脑硬盘的拷贝的分析，据称亨特-拜登把这台电脑放在特拉华州的一家维修店，但从未来取。根据《邮报》审查的文件，这台笔记本电脑在2019年12月被移交给联邦调查局，在2020年大选前几个月，鲁迪-朱利安尼和当时总统唐纳德-特朗普的其他顾问获得了该硬盘的副本。
在《纽约邮报》于2020年10月开始发表有关该笔记本电脑内容的报道后，《华盛顿邮报》多次向朱利安尼和共和党战略家斯蒂芬-K-班农索要一份数据副本，以便在选举前进行审查，但这些要求被拒绝或忽略。
2021年6月，杰克-马克西(Jack Maxey)向《邮报》提供了一份副本，他是一名活动人士，在2020年从朱利安尼那里得到了一份副本，当时马克西正与斯蒂芬-K-班农及其 "作战室 "播客一起工作。
《邮报》在另一篇报道中探讨了保管链，以及对数据进行法医分析的结果。
以下是《邮报》对亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑进行的分析
拜登的助手和一些前美国情报官员对该设备可能被俄罗斯操纵以干预竞选表示担忧。在国会山，民主党人驳斥了先前关于亨特-拜登在中国工作的报道，认为其缺乏可信度，或者是俄罗斯虚假信息活动的一部分。《邮报》的分析包括两名外部专家的取证工作，他们评估了与CEFC事项有关的许多电子邮件的真实性。此外，《邮报》发现，亨特-拜登所谓的笔记本电脑副本上的财务文件与其他记录中发现的文件和信息相符，包括参议院财政和司法委员会的资深共和党人、爱荷华州的查尔斯-E-格拉斯利（Charles E. Grassley）获得的新披露的银行文件。
2名专家利用电子邮件标题来确定真实性
亨特-拜登与CEFC讨论的潜在能源项目从未成行。
然而，根据《邮报》审查的银行记录和联合协议，与亨特-拜登有关的账户通过咨询合同从CEFC获得了至少379万美元的付款。
拜登还收到了100万美元的聘金，这是代表CEFC官员帕特里克-何（Patrick Ho）的协议的一部分，这位官员后来在美国被指控与贿赂乍得和乌干达领导人的百万美元计划有关。在一份新发现的文件中，该聘用协议包含亨特-拜登和何某的签名，何某后来被定罪并被判处三年监禁。
拥有法律学位的亨特-拜登没有被指控在该计划中犯有不法行为，而且似乎在联邦案件中代表何某的作用不大。何氏通过他在该案中的律师拒绝发表评论。
亨特-拜登和他的律师没有回应过去一周的多次留言。白宫拒绝公开回应，但指出乔-拜登以前的声明，即乔-拜登 "根本没有考虑过与他的家人做生意，也没有考虑过任何海外生意。"
2013年12月，副总统乔-拜登与他的儿子亨特-拜登（右）和他的孙女菲尼根-拜登一起乘坐空军二号飞机抵达北京。(Ng Han Guan/AP)
多年来在中国寻求业务
根据法庭文件和亨特-拜登的陈述，亨特-拜登与中欧金融公司的关系是在其家庭经济紧张和动荡的时期建立的。2015年5月，亨特的哥哥博的死亡让拜登夫妇心力交瘁，亨特也在为吸毒而挣扎。
"亨特在去年出版的回忆录中写道："我当时正处于毒瘾的折磨之中。
在与妻子凯瑟琳的离婚程序中，一份法庭文件描述了 "令人震惊和不堪重负的未偿债务"，这对夫妇的信用卡被刷爆，他们拥有的两处房产都有双重抵押贷款，税款高达313,970美元。根据2017年2月提交给华盛顿特区高级法院的文件，他们给管家的三张支票已经跳票，他们还欠医疗机构和治疗师的钱。
根据外部专家为《邮报》审查的一份据称是笔记本硬盘拷贝的经核实的电子邮件，CEFC的一名中间人最初在2015年12月联系了亨特-拜登，以安排当时的副总统的儿子和这家中国公司的创始人兼董事长叶简明会面。
最近担任联合国大会主席的塞尔维亚政治家武克-耶雷米奇(Vuk Jeremic)给年轻的拜登写了一封电子邮件，说他要在华盛顿与叶建明--他称之为 "最富有的10位中国商人之一"--举办一个小型私人晚宴，并希望亨特参加。
"他年轻而有活力，在他的国家拥有最高级别的关系，"杰里米在2015年12月1日的电子邮件中写道。
亨特-拜登未能参加晚宴，杰雷米在给《邮报》的电子邮件中说，虽然他认识这两个人，但他 "没有参与他们的相互介绍"，而是从媒体报道中发现两人最终有了联系。
据研究该公司的人说，中欧石油公司是一家成立于2002年的大型石油和天然气公司，有来自政府开发银行的融资，并与中国共产党和人民解放军有联系。叶檀的官方传记说，他曾经是中国国际友好联络会的副秘书长，2011年美国国会的一份报告称该组织是人民解放军的 "幌子"。
虽然CEFC表面上是私营企业，但中国经济专家说，它不太可能独立于政府运作。
中国大使馆拒绝就CEFC与中国政府的关系或亨特-拜登与该公司的关系发表评论。
在乔-拜登离开副总统职位后不久，亨特-拜登和叶檀在迈阿密共进晚餐时会面。
据《纽约客》2019年7月根据对亨特-拜登的广泛采访所做的报道，两人讨论了CEFC在美国的商业机会，包括一个价值4000万美元的合资企业，在路易斯安那州生产液化天然气。
那笔交易失败了。但据《纽约客》报道，叶简明对他与亨特-拜登的初次会面非常满意，晚餐后他将一颗2.8克拉的钻石送到亨特-拜登的酒店房间，并附上一张感谢他的谈话的卡片。
在离婚诉讼中，亨特的妻子会声称这颗钻石价值8万美元。亨特-拜登告诉《纽约客》，价值接近1万美元，他把钻石给了他的同事，他不知道他们用它做什么。
2017年夏天，亨特-拜登收到叶某的请求，这预示着CEFC后来的问题。叶某说，CEFC的一名高层人员何志强可能正在接受美国执法部门的调查，他向亨特-拜登寻求帮助。亨特-拜登告诉《纽约客》，他同意代理何某，并试图弄清他是否受到执法部门的审查。
亨特-拜登在2017年8月与中国一家能源集团的高管董功文签署了一份协议，共同寻求投资。该协议包括提供给参议员查尔斯-E-格拉斯利（R-Iowa）的银行记录，其中指出，亨特-拜登将一次性获得50万美元的聘金，然后每月获得10万美元的津贴，其叔叔詹姆斯-拜登每月获得6.5万美元。(Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
亨特-拜登和CEFC之间更大的咨询交易的执行迅速发生在2017年8月初。
2017年8月2日签署的合同规定，亨特-拜登将一次性获得50万美元的聘金，然后每月获得10万美元的津贴，他的叔叔詹姆斯-拜登每月获得6.5万美元。
在据称是亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑硬盘上发现了一份未签署的协议副本。一份签署的副本包括在提供给格拉斯利的银行记录中，并由《邮报》审查。根据这份26页的协议，他们同意在一家名为Hudson West III LLC的公司下共同进行投资。
根据在亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑副本上发现的文件，以及格拉斯利办公室从国泰银行获得的亨特-拜登和CEFC高管共同持有的账户的相同银行对账单所证实，资金几乎立即开始流动，第一笔500万美元的电汇于2017年8月8日到达。
文件显示，在扣除开支和人事费用后，大部分资金（约480万美元）在14个月内被转入与亨特-拜登有关的账户，通常以16.5万美元为单位递增。根据《邮报》查阅的其他政府记录，在此期间，约140万美元从亨特的账户转到詹姆斯-拜登经营的咨询公司Lion Hall Group。
"无可奉告，"詹姆斯-拜登在通过手机被问及CEFC的交易时说。
2018年，位于华盛顿特区乔治敦社区的瑞典之家。(Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)
更多红旗
在2017年秋季与CEFC高管进行交易的几周后，亨特-拜登要求改变他在瑞典之家租用的五楼办公空间，这栋位于乔治敦的建筑通风良好，是瑞典大使馆和其他办公室的所在地。
2017年9月21日，亨特-拜登写信给一位大楼经理，要求更换新的办公室标牌，以反映新的家族企业和新的商业关系。他在给物业经理的电子邮件中写道："拜登基金会和哈德逊西部（CEFC- US）"。
他还要求为他的新办公室伙伴提供钥匙：他的父亲乔，他的母亲吉尔，他的叔叔詹姆斯，以及中国高管董功文。
作为请求的一部分，他提供了他所说的他父亲的手机号码，说办公室代表可以用它来联系他的新办公室伙伴。
亨特-拜登称中欧金融公司董事长叶志强为 "我的伙伴"，并将董功文描述为 "叶董事长中欧金融公司的使者"。
讨论亨特-拜登开设拜登-CEFC办公室计划的电子邮件往来包括在他的硬盘副本中，并通过瑞典政府向《邮报》发布的公共记录得到证实。这些记录的内容首先由瑞典报纸《Dagens Nyheter》报道。
"我们非常兴奋和荣幸地欢迎你的新同事！"经理给亨特-拜登回信。
亨特-拜登在2017年秋天寻求改变他在瑞典之家租用的办公场所，该建筑位于乔治敦，是瑞典大使馆和其他办公室的所在地。根据他的笔记本电脑的所谓副本中包含的电子邮件，以及从瑞典政府获得的电子邮件，拜登要求为他的新办公室伙伴提供钥匙：他的父亲乔，他的母亲吉尔，他的叔叔詹姆斯，以及中国高管董功文。(华盛顿邮报》获得）。
拜登基金会董事会成员杰弗里-佩克(Jeffrey Peck)是参与设立办公室等细节问题最多的人，他说从来没有考虑过这个地点。
"我记得关于其他可能的空间的讨论，所谓的瑞典之家从未在任何名单上，"佩克说。"从来没有考虑过--比如说零考虑或考虑--那个建筑。"
负责监管该房产的瑞典当局的一位女发言人说，按照要求提供了四把钥匙，但亨特-拜登从未拿过。她说，门上的标志牌并没有改变。
在亨特-拜登要求改变其办公场所的前后，与物业经理的电子邮件交流越来越紧张--提醒亨特-拜登停止违反办公室政策，将访客从侧门带入，而不是在前台签到，因为他们要通过金属探测器。
亨特-拜登愤怒地回应说，其中一位是他可以担保的无家可归的妇女--并指责办公室管理人员有种族歧视，因为该妇女是黑人。他写道，另一位客人是伦登-罗伯茨，他把这个女人称为 "我小女儿的篮球导师"。
一年之内，罗伯茨将有一个孩子，亨特否认是他的，直到她提起亲子鉴定诉讼，DNA测试证实是他的。他们在2020年3月解决了这个案子，法庭文件显示他正在支付一笔未披露的儿童抚养费。
罗伯茨的律师克林特-兰卡斯特说，他的当事人在瑞典之家事件发生时曾为拜登工作。他说，2月中旬，罗伯茨被传唤到德克萨斯州威尔明顿市的一个大陪审团面前作证数小时，这表明对亨特-拜登的联邦调查仍在进行。兰卡斯特拒绝对她的证词的性质发表评论。司法部和特拉华州的美国检察官办公室也拒绝发表评论。
亨特-拜登证实他正在接受联邦调查
记录显示，在CEFC活动期间，亨特-拜登的资金被转移到他叔叔那里。根据格拉斯利和威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩-约翰逊(Ron Johnson)在2020年编制的报告，总共有近140万美元从亨特的公司转到詹姆斯-拜登控制的公司。根据《邮报》查阅的财政部金融犯罪执法网络的一份报告，这些交易被认定为潜在的犯罪活动，这一名称旨在标示潜在的洗钱、政治腐败或其他金融犯罪。
根据《邮报》查阅的记录，当詹姆斯-拜登和萨拉-拜登的银行就这些交易与他们联系时，他们不愿意提供证明文件来解释这些活动，并关闭了账户。
詹姆斯-拜登没有对有关金融交易的详细问题清单作出回应。
与此同时，CEFC的高管们担心司法部对与该公司有关联的官员进行调查。正如后来的法庭记录所显示的那样，联邦调查人员已经获得了对何的外国情报监视令，并正在监视他的通信。
2017年9月18日，亨特-拜登签署了一份两页的律师委托书，代表何炅，并支付了100万美元的聘金。该协议规定，亨特-拜登要提供 "与美国法律有关的事项的咨询，以及与任何美国律师事务所或律师的聘用和法律分析有关的建议"。四天后，即2017年9月22日，何某在该文件上签字。
这份两页的协议的签字副本包含在亨特-拜登的笔记本电脑驱动器的所谓副本中，作为电子邮件的附件存储，其中没有足够的数据供《邮报》的外部专家核实。但格拉斯利获得的银行记录显示，100万美元最终被存入与亨特-拜登有关的一个账户，并有一张说明，称这笔款项是对何的 "代理"。
11月18日，在亨特-拜登签署代理何某的协议几周后，他的客户在肯尼迪机场被两名联邦调查局特工逮捕。下午2点，他被宣读了米兰达权利；根据警方记录，9分钟后，他给詹姆斯-拜登打电话。
詹姆斯-拜登在2018年告诉《纽约时报》，他认为何炅是在找亨特-拜登，他传来了他侄子的联系方式。
根据经核实的电子邮件，几乎在何炅被捕后，Krieger Kim律师事务所的律师Edward Y. Kim被邀请代表何炅。金和何拒绝了发表评论的请求。
在审判期间，检察官称，何炅曾贿赂乍得和乌干达的领导人，目的是为CEFC获得石油许可证。他们还说，何氏曾提供CEFC作为资源，帮助伊朗逃避石油制裁。
崩溃
事情很快就败露了。何氏在监狱中等待审判。CEFC的负责人Ye于2018年2月中旬在中国被拘留，此后一直没有消息。逮捕的原因尚不清楚，尽管路透社报道说这与涉嫌经济犯罪有关。
无法联系到叶某进行评论，中国大使馆拒绝对叶某的被捕进行评论。
到2018年3月，亨特-拜登的叔叔正在寻求获得被拖欠的100万美元的何氏代理费。詹姆斯-拜登于2018年3月21日写信给CEFC官员，提供了 "汇款指示"，提供了如何转账到与亨特-拜登有关的账户的地址和路线号码。
"收到并将尽快处理此事，"CEFC官员之一的梅文燕在一封核实的电子邮件中回信。
第二天早上9点43分，电汇通过了，并按照詹姆斯-拜登的指示存入账户，根据银行记录，他电子邮件中的路由号码与银行收到的路由号码一致。
亨特-拜登开始与其余高管交换敌意信息，包括董明珠和梅文燕。两人曾对亨特-拜登的几笔商业开支提出质疑，要求提供收据以证明这些费用。严介和在一封经过核实的电子邮件中写道，他要求报销的一些费用似乎与中国能源公司的业务无关，他写道，包括 "在瑞典的房子"。
拜登威胁说要起诉严介和和董明珠，说他们无权质疑他的开支--并解释说，瑞典的房子是他在华盛顿的办公室。
"我将在特拉华州的大法官法庭提起诉讼--如你们所知，这是我的家乡，我有幸与大法官法庭的每一位法官共事过，并且认识他们，"他在2018年3月14日写道。
"你不能因为我们没有支付不正确的费用而起诉我们，"根据一封经过核实的电子邮件，董在回复中写道。
董明珠和严跃进没有对置评请求作出回应。
与亨特-拜登在CEFC业务上密切合作的助理JiaQi Bao在2018年3月26日的电子邮件中写道，该公司正在解散，她将失去工作--但亨特-拜登应该 "拿任何你能拿的钱，只要钱能领。"
"尽可能多地拿，或者想办法为自己的利益花掉，"她写道。
Bao没有回应许多电话和电子邮件信息。
根据银行记录，在接下来的六个月里，近140万美元被转入亨特-拜登的账户。
但麻烦也随之而来。亨特-拜登继续与毒瘾问题作斗争，这在他的家庭中造成了压力，他的父亲开始支付他的一些账单。小拜登的问题对他父亲竞选总统的决定产生了很大影响，乔-拜登将在2019年4月正式宣布这一竞选。
亨特-拜登的个人争斗将继续下去。但CEFC的商业传奇很快就会落下帷幕。
2018年11月2日，严跃进签署了一份文件，解散了将拜登夫妇与CEFC联系起来的哈德逊西部第三有限责任公司。严跃进在位于德克萨斯州多佛市的办公室提交了这份文件，该办公室距离拜登家不到一个小时的车程。
Josh Dawsey、Alice Crites和Devlin Barrett对本报告有贡献。
Inside Hunter Biden’s multimillion-dollar deals with a Chinese energy company
A Washington Post review confirms key details and offers new documentation of Biden family interactions with Chinese executives
By Matt Viser
The deal was years in the making, the culmination of forging contacts, hosting dinners, of flights to and from China. But on Aug. 2, 2017, signatures were quickly affixed, one from Hunter Biden, the other from a Chinese executive named Gongwen Dong.
Within days, a new Cathay Bank account was created. Within a week, millions of dollars started to change hands.
Within a year, it would all begin to collapse.
While many aspects of Hunter Biden’s financial arrangement with CEFC China Energy have been previously reported and were included in a Republican-led Senate report from 2020, a Washington Post review confirmed many of the key details and found additional documents showing Biden family interactions with Chinese executives.
Over the course of 14 months, the Chinese energy conglomerate and its executives paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and his uncle, according to government records, court documents and newly disclosed bank statements, as well as emails contained on a copy of a laptop hard drive that purportedly once belonged to Hunter Biden.
The Post did not find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited from or knew details about the transactions with CEFC, which took place after he had left the vice presidency and before he announced his intentions to run for the White House in 2020.
But the new documents — which include a signed copy of a $1 million legal retainer, emails related to the wire transfers, and $3.8 million in consulting fees that are confirmed in new bank records and agreements signed by Hunter Biden — illustrate the ways in which his family profited from relationships built over Joe Biden’s decades in public service.
Hunter Biden signed an agreement for a $1 million retainer to represent Patrick Ho, a CEFC official who would later be charged in the United States in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe leaders from Chad and Uganda. Verified emails, and new banking records, show that the money was transferred to an account linked to Hunter Biden. (Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
Hunter Biden’s overseas work has been the subject of heightened scrutiny. He has been under federal investigation as part of an inquiry into his taxes, with witnesses called before a grand jury as recently as last month. Federal prosecutors had been attempting to determine if he failed to account for income from China-related deals, The Post has previously reported, although it is unclear whether that is still a focus. Republicans, meanwhile, have pointed to the Biden family’s business deals in China, along with Hunter Biden’s past membership on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, as potential conflicts of interest.
The CEFC deal became one of the most lucrative, if short-lived, foreign ventures Hunter Biden is known to have pursued. The Post review draws in part on an analysis of a copy said to be of the hard drive of a laptop computer that Hunter Biden purportedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and never came to collect. The laptop was turned over to the FBI in December 2019, according to documents reviewed by The Post, and a copy of the drive was obtained by Rudy Giuliani and other advisers to then-President Donald Trump a few months before the 2020 election.
After the New York Post began publishing reports on the contents of the laptop in October 2020, The Washington Post repeatedly asked Giuliani and Republican strategist Stephen K. Bannon for a copy of the data to review before the election, but the requests were rebuffed or ignored.
In June 2021, a copy was provided to The Post by Jack Maxey, an activist who received a copy from Giuliani in 2020, at a time when Maxey was working with Stephen K. Bannon and his “War Room” podcast.
The Post has explored the chain of custody, as well as the findings of forensic analyses of the data, in a separate story.
Here’s how The Post analyzed Hunter Biden’s laptop
Biden aides and some former U.S. intelligence officials have voiced concern that the device may have been manipulated by Russia to interfere in the campaign. On Capitol Hill, Democrats have dismissed earlier reports about Hunter Biden’s work in China as lacking credibility or being part of a Russian disinformation campaign. The Post analysis included forensic work by two outside experts who assessed the authenticity of numerous emails related to the CEFC matter. In addition, The Post found that financial documents on the copy of Hunter Biden’s purported laptop match documents and information found in other records, including newly disclosed bank documents obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees.
2 experts used email headers to determine veracity
The potential energy projects Hunter Biden discussed with CEFC never came to fruition.
Nonetheless, accounts linked to Hunter Biden received at least $3.79 million in payments from CEFC through consulting contracts, according to bank records and joint agreements reviewed by The Post.
Biden received an additional $1 million retainer, issued as part of an agreement to represent Patrick Ho, a CEFC official who would later be charged in the United States in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe leaders from Chad and Uganda. That retainer agreement, in a newly uncovered document, contains the signatures of both Hunter Biden and Ho, who was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Hunter Biden, who has a law degree, was not accused of wrongdoing in that scheme and appeared to have little role representing Ho in the federal case. Ho, through his attorney in that case, declined to comment.
Hunter Biden and his attorney did not respond to numerous messages left over the past week. The White House declined to respond on the record but pointed to previous statements that Joe Biden “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”
Vice President Joe Biden arrives on Air Force Two in Beijing with his son Hunter Biden, right, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden in December 2013. (Ng Han Guan/AP)
Years of seeking business in China
Hunter Biden’s relationship with CEFC took root during a time of financial strain and turmoil for his family, according to court filings and Hunter Biden’s accounts. The Bidens were reeling from the May 2015 death of Hunter’s older brother, Beau, and Hunter was struggling with drug use.
“I was in the throes of addiction,” Hunter wrote in a memoir published last year.
During divorce proceedings with his wife Kathleen, a court filing in the case described “outstanding debts [that] are shocking and overwhelming,” with the couple carrying maxed-out credit cards, double mortgages on both properties they owned and a tax debt of $313,970. Three checks to their housekeeper had bounced, and they owed money to medical providers and therapists, according to a February 2017 filing in D.C. Superior Court.
An intermediary from CEFC initially reached out to Hunter Biden in December 2015 to set up a meeting between the then-vice president’s son and Ye Jianming, the founder and chairman of the Chinese firm, according to verified emails from a purported copy of the laptop hard drive reviewed by the outside experts for The Post.
Vuk Jeremic, a Serbian politician who had recently served as president of the United Nations General Assembly, wrote an email to the younger Biden that he was hosting a small private dinner in Washington with Ye — whom he called “one of the 10 wealthiest Chinese businessmen” — and wanted Hunter to attend.
“He’s young and dynamic, with the top-level connections in his country,” Jeremic wrote in the Dec. 1, 2015, email.
Hunter Biden was unable to attend the dinner and Jeremic said in an email to The Post that while he knew both men, he was “not involved in their mutual introduction” and found out from media reports that the two had eventually connected.
CEFC, a massive oil and gas company founded in 2002, had financing from government development banks and ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, according to people who studied the firm. Ye’s official biography said he was once deputy secretary of the China Association for International Friendly Contact, an organization that a 2011 U.S. congressional report called “a front” for the People’s Liberation Army.
While CEFC was ostensibly private, experts in the Chinese economy say it is unlikely that it operated independently of the government.
The Chinese Embassy declined to comment on CEFC ties to the Chinese government or Hunter Biden’s involvement with the firm.
Shortly after Joe Biden left the vice presidency, Hunter Biden and Ye met over dinner in Miami.
The two discussed business opportunities for CEFC in the United States, including a $40 million joint venture to produce liquefied natural gas in Louisiana, according to a July 2019 New Yorker report based on extensive interviews with Hunter Biden.
That deal failed. But Ye Jianming was so pleased with his initial meeting with Hunter Biden that after dinner he sent a 2.8-carat diamond to Hunter Biden's hotel room with a card thanking him for the conversation, according to the New Yorker.
In divorce proceedings, Hunter’s wife would claim the diamond was worth $80,000. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker the value was closer to $10,000, that he gave the diamond to his associates, and that he doesn’t know what they did with it.
In the summer of 2017, Hunter Biden received a request from Ye that would foreshadow subsequent problems for CEFC. Ye said that a top CEFC associate, Patrick Ho, might be under investigation by U.S. law enforcement and he asked Hunter Biden for help. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker that he agreed to represent Ho and to try to figure out if he was under scrutiny by law enforcement.
Hunter Biden in August 2017 signed an agreement with Gongwen Dong, an executive at a Chinese energy conglomerate, to jointly pursue investments. The agreement, included with bank records provided to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), stated that Hunter Biden would get a one-time retainer of $500,000 and would then receive a monthly stipend of $100,000, with his uncle James Biden getting $65,000 a month. (Courtesy of Office of Sen. Charles Grassley)
The execution of the bigger consulting deal between Hunter Biden and CEFC occurred rapidly in early August 2017.
The contract, signed on Aug. 2, 2017, stated that Hunter Biden would get a one-time retainer of $500,000 and would then receive a monthly stipend of $100,000, with his uncle James Biden getting $65,000 a month.
An unsigned copy of the agreement was found on the purported copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive. A signed copy was included with bank records provided to Grassley and reviewed by The Post. Under the 26-page agreement, they agreed to jointly pursue investments under a company named Hudson West III LLC.
The money began flowing almost immediately, with the first incoming wire of $5 million arriving on Aug. 8, 2017, according to documents found on the copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop and corroborated by identical bank statements that Grassley’s office obtained from Cathay Bank for an account jointly held by Hunter Biden and CEFC executives.
After expenses and personnel costs, the bulk of the money, about $4.8 million, was directed over a 14-month period, usually in increments of $165,000, to an account linked to Hunter Biden, the documents show. During that time period, about $1.4 million was transferred from Hunter’s account to Lion Hall Group, the consulting firm that James Biden ran, according to other government records reviewed by The Post.
“No comment,” James Biden said when reached on his cellphone and asked about the CEFC deal.
The House of Sweden in D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, in 2018. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)
More red flags
A few weeks after he went into business with the CEFC executives in the fall of 2017, Hunter Biden requested changes to the fifth-floor office space he was renting at the House of Sweden, an airy building in Georgetown that is home to the Swedish Embassy and other offices.
On Sept. 21, 2017, Hunter Biden wrote to a building manager requesting new office signage to reflect a new family enterprise and a new business relationship: “The Biden Foundation and Hudson West (CEFC- US),” he wrote in emails to the property manager.
He also requested keys for his new office mates: his father, Joe; his mother, Jill; his uncle James; and the Chinese executive, Gongwen Dong.
As part of the request, he provided what he said was his father’s cellphone number, saying an office representative could use it to contact his new office mates.
Hunter Biden referred to Ye, the chairman of CEFC, as “my partner” and described Gongwen Dong as the “Chairman Ye CEFC emissary.”
The email exchanges that discuss Hunter Biden’s plan to open a Biden-CEFC office were included on the copy of his hard drive and were confirmed through public records released by the Swedish government to The Post. The contents of the records were first reported by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
“We are very excited and honored to welcome your new colleagues!” the manager wrote back to Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden in the fall of 2017 sought changes to office space he was renting at the House of Sweden, a building in Georgetown that is home to the Swedish Embassy and other offices. According to emails included in a purported copy of his laptop, and in emails obtained from the Swedish government, Biden requested keys for his new officemates: his father, Joe; his mother, Jill; his uncle James; and the Chinese executive, Gongwen Dong. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
Jeffrey Peck, the Biden Foundation board member most involved in details like setting up the office, said there was never any consideration of that location.
“I recall discussions about other possible spaces and the so-called House of Sweden was never on any lists,” Peck said. “There was never any thought — like zero thought or consideration — given to that building.”
A spokeswoman for the Swedish authority that oversees the property said that the four keys were made available, as requested, but that Hunter Biden never picked them up. The signboard on the door wasn’t changed, she said.
Around the time Hunter Biden was asking for changes to his office space, email exchanges with the property manager grew tense — with a reminder to Hunter Biden to stop violating office policies by bringing visitors in through a side entrance rather than signing them in at the front desk, where they go through metal detectors.
Hunter Biden responded angrily, saying that one was a homeless woman he could vouch for — and accused the office managers of racism because that woman is Black. He wrote that another guest was Lunden Roberts, a woman he described as “my youngest daughter’s basketball mentor.”
Within a year, Roberts would have a baby that Hunter denied was his until she filed a paternity suit and DNA testing confirmed it was his. They settled the case in March 2020 and court documents show he is paying an undisclosed amount in child support.
Roberts’s lawyer, Clint Lancaster, said his client had worked for Biden at the time of the House of Sweden incident. He said Roberts was called to testify for several hours before a grand jury in Wilmington, Del., in mid-February, an indication that the federal investigation of Hunter Biden remains active. Lancaster declined to comment on the nature of her testimony. The Justice Department and the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.
Hunter Biden confirms he is under federal investigation
During the time the CEFC was active, funds were being transferred from Hunter Biden to his uncle, records show. All told, nearly $1.4 million went from Hunter’s company to one controlled by James Biden, according to a 2020 report produced by Grassley and fellow Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The transactions were identified as potential criminal activity, a designation meant to flag potential money laundering, political corruption or other financial crimes, according to a report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the Treasury Department that was reviewed by The Post.
When James and Sara Biden’s bank contacted them about the transactions, they would not provide supporting documentation to explain the activity and closed the account, according to records reviewed by The Post.
James Biden did not respond to a detailed list of questions about the financial transactions.
Meanwhile, CEFC executives were concerned about Justice Department inquiries into officials tied to the company. As would become clear later in court records, federal investigators had obtained a foreign intelligence surveillance warrant on Ho and were monitoring his communications.
On Sept. 18, 2017, Hunter Biden signed a two-page attorney engagement letter to represent Ho, with a $1 million retainer. The agreement specified that Hunter Biden was to provide “counsel to matters related to US law and advice pertaining to the hiring and legal analysis of any US Law Firm or Lawyer.” Ho signed the document four days later, on Sept. 22, 2017.
A signed copy of the two-page agreement was contained on the purported copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop drive, stored as an attachment to an email that did not contain sufficient data to be verified by The Post’s outside experts. But the bank records obtained by Grassley show $1 million was eventually deposited into an account associated with Hunter Biden, with a note describing the payment as “representation” of Ho.
On Nov. 18, a few weeks after Hunter Biden signed the agreement to represent Ho, his client was arrested by two FBI agents at JFK Airport. He was read his Miranda rights at 2 p.m.; nine minutes later, he called James Biden, according to police records.
James Biden told the New York Times in 2018 that he assumed Ho was looking for Hunter Biden, and he passed along contact information for his nephew.
Almost immediately after Ho’s arrest, according to verified emails, Edward Y. Kim, an attorney at Krieger Kim, was enlisted to represent Ho. Kim and Ho declined requests for comment.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Ho had bribed leaders in Chad and Uganda, aiming to obtain oil permits for CEFC. They also said Ho had offered CEFC as a resource in helping Iran evade oil sanctions.
The crash
Things fell apart quickly. Ho was in jail awaiting trial. Ye, the head of CEFC, had been detained in China in mid-February 2018 and hadn’t been heard from since. The reasons for the arrest were unclear, although Reuters reported that it was related to suspected economic crimes.
Ye could not be reached for comment, and the Chinese Embassy declined to comment on Ye’s arrest.
By March 2018, Hunter Biden’s uncle was seeking access to the $1 million retainer that he was owed for the Ho representation. James Biden on March 21, 2018, wrote to CEFC officials with “wiring instructions,” providing the address and routing numbers for how to transfer to the account linked to Hunter Biden.
“Received and will take care of this ASAP,” Mervyn Yan, one of the CEFC officials, wrote back in a verified email.
At 9:43 the next morning, the wire went through and was deposited in the account just as James Biden had instructed, with the routing number in his email matching the routing number received by the bank, according to bank records.
Hunter Biden began exchanging hostile messages with remaining executives, including Dong and Mervyn Yan. The two had questioned several of Hunter Biden’s business expenses, asking for receipts to back up the charges. Yan, in a verified email, wrote Biden that some of the expenses for which he sought reimbursement did not appear related to the Chinese energy company’s business, including, he wrote, “house in Sweden.”
Biden threatened to sue both Yan and Dong for balking at paying, claiming they had no right to question his expenses — and explaining that the House of Sweden was his D.C.-based office.
“I will bring suit in the Chancery Court in Delaware — which as you know is my home state and I am privileged to have worked with and know every judge in the chancery court,” he wrote on March 14, 2018.
“You cannot sue us for not paying incorrect expenses,” Dong wrote in response, according to a verified email.
Dong and Yan did not respond to requests for comment.
JiaQi Bao, an assistant with whom Hunter Biden had worked closely on CEFC business, wrote in a March 26, 2018, email that the company was being dissolved and she would lose her job — but that Hunter Biden should “take whatever money you can take, as long as the money is available to claim.”
“Take as much as possible, or figure out a way to spend them for your own benefit,” she wrote.
Bao did not respond to numerous phone and email messages.
Over the next six months, nearly $1.4 million was transferred to Hunter Biden’s account, according to bank records.
But troubles also loomed. Hunter Biden continued to battle addiction issues that created strains within his family, and his father began paying some of his bills. The younger Biden’s problems loomed large over his father’s decision to run for president, a campaign Joe Biden would announce formally in April 2019.
Hunter Biden’s personal battles would continue. But the business saga of CEFC would soon come to a close.
Yan signed a document on Nov. 2, 2018, dissolving Hudson West III LLC, the company that linked the Bidens to CEFC. Yan filed it with an office based in Dover, Del., less than an hour’s drive from the Biden family home.
Josh Dawsey, Alice Crites and Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.