Documents collected by US federal authorities and reviewed by independent American media outlet Just the News indicate that Hunter Biden, son of the incumbent president of the United States, received a loan amounting to $250,000 from Xiangsheng "Jonathan" Li in July, 2019.
Li and Hunter had been doing business for a long time: in particular, the two participated in founding Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. (BHR), a US-Chinese private investment entity.
However, what struck House lawmakers was that Hunter received the loan from the foreign individual just a few months after his father announced his presidential bid on April 25, 2019. The second unusual aspect of the transaction was that Joe Biden’s Delaware home is listed as the beneficiary address of the wire.
For years, Joe Biden denied being aware of his son's business dealings. Still, Republican lawmakers believe that the younger Biden used "to sell" his father's brand. The only question is whether Joe gave his blessing to Hunter's influence peddling schemes.
Meanwhile, there is a third questionable issue concerning the loan: after Joe Biden won the presidency, Hunter transferred the debt in question to Kevin Morris, a famous lawyer and big-money Democratic Party supporter. According to the media, Hunter Biden and Morris became friends after the two met at a November 2019 Joe Biden campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles.
The US conservative media calls Morris nothing short of Hunter's "sugar brother": the lawyer has reportedly lent over $2 million to the younger Biden since then. Furthermore, Morris helped him with paternity and child support lawsuits, and facilitated the first son's controversial "art career" and assisted in publishing Hunter's memoir Beautiful Things in 2021.
29 October 2021, 13:00 GMT
According to records reviewed by the independent media outlet, Morris "assumed" Hunter's $250,000 debt on November 17, 2021. House Republicans suspect that the lawyer's generosity stemmed not from his warm feelings for the younger Biden, but lucrative opportunities which his closeness to the family of the Democratic 46th president could provide.
"It sure seems that the Bidens get a lot of loans that raise many questions," House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer told the independent media outlet. "Hunter Biden’s defense team was quick to say that the $250,000 wire he received from a Chinese national that listed Joe Biden’s home as the beneficiary address was a loan. However, Hunter Biden’s defense team fails to mention that Kevin Morris quietly assumed that loan for Hunter Biden."
Comer has raised the question as to why Kevin Morris was taking on Hunter Biden's loan received from a foreign national. "This raises serious ethical questions that the White House must answer," the Republican congressman said.
The controversy surrounding the reported $250K loan is just part of a broader set of Hunter Biden's financial schemes which saw him receiving hefty salaries, gifts and money wires while his father held top positions in the US government.
In August, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Majority Staff announced that it had identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to the Biden family and their business associates during Joe Biden's vice presidential tenure.
"Joe Biden was 'The Brand' sold around the world to enrich the Biden family and he was used to 'signal' their access, influence, and power," the congressional memo stated.
Meanwhile, the $250K loan received by the son of would-be president Joe Biden from a foreign businessman has raised suspicions among Republican lawmakers: they wonder whether the incumbent has been compromised and involved in "pay-to-play" with foreign individuals or officials.
A September YouGov survey showed that nearly half of Americans (48%) believe Joe Biden did something "illegal" with regard to Hunter's overseas business dealings. Those who believe that Joe did something "illegal" include 85% of Republicans and 54% of independents. Forty-one percent of Americans assume Biden was "involved" in his son's business, while 43% suggest the incumbent president used to "make money off" Hunter's deals.