Hunter Biden received money from a foreign business magnate to influence U.S. policy and lied about the nature of his services for his father’s sake, prosecutors stated in court after years of investigations.
Hunter Biden “received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” prosecutors say in documents filed last week in the trial of the president’s son over $1.4 million in unpaid taxes.
Yet the younger Biden failed to register as a lobbyist for a foreign power to spare his father political embarrassment, falsely labeling his business as real estate management advice.
In 2015, Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu faced bribery charges in his native land. Popoviciu hired Hunter Biden, then the son of sitting Vice President Joe Biden, to prompt the Obama-Biden administration to “investigate the Romanian criminal investigation into Gabriel Popoviciu and thereby cause an end to the investigation of Gabriel Popoviciu in Romania,” stated court filings from special counsel David Weiss.
At the time, the senior Biden handled the Eastern European portfolio for the Obama administration.
Since he was attempting to change U.S. policy toward the Romanian government, Hunter Biden should have registered with the U.S. government as the agent of a foreign citizen under the terms of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
Yet the younger Biden and his business associate “were concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for the defendant’s father,” Joe Biden, the court filings say. Instead, their business documents claimed Popoviciu (whom prosecutors refer to as “G.P” in court documents) hired Biden to provide “management services to real estate prosperities in Romania.”
“That was not actually what G.P. was paying for,” charged Weiss, who was named special counsel in the case by Attorney General Merrick Garland, himself appointed by Biden.
In all, Popoviciu paid the firm Robinson Walker LLC, run by Rob Walker, just over $3.1 million, which distributed approximately one-third of the proceeds each to Hunter Biden, Walker, and James Gilliar.
Payments began on Nov. 5, 2015, as Popoviciu deposited $179,836.86 into the business account. On Nov. 14, Hunter Biden met with Romania’s ambassador to the United States and, the next day, traveled to Romania. Hunter would meet the ambassador again on March 26, 2016.
The efforts may have included Joe Biden. In September 2015, then-Vice President Biden welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House to discuss corruption.
“Vice President welcomed President Iohannis’ focus on anti-corruption efforts and [the] rule of law as a means to strengthen national security and promote greater investment and economic growth,” stated a White House readout of the meeting.
All in all, Popoviciu wired the first son and his associates $3,101,258 in a matter of months, according to court documents. Yet Hunter Biden “performed almost no work in exchange for the millions of dollars he received from these entities,” Weiss maintains in the documents.
In 2017, Popoviciu received a seven-year sentence after being convicted in his bribery case.
The details confirm the work done by Republican investigators for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which launched a comprehensive probe into the Biden family’s finances. Those finances often are deeply enmeshed with foreign business deals carried out through the president’s relatives.
“The Romanian transactions show evidence of influence peddling and a correlation between Biden family and their business associates’ work and then Vice President Biden’s responsibilities while in office,” stated the second memorandum produced by the House committee on the Biden family’s banking records.
“The Biden family and associates’ activities in Romania bear clear indicia of a scheme to peddle influence from 2015 to 2017,” the memo said. “While Vice President Biden lectured Romania on corruption and ethics, Hunter Biden received—through Biden associate Rob Walker—over a million dollars from a company controlled by a Romanian individual accused of corruption (Gabriel Popoviciu).”
Among the beneficiaries was Hallie Biden, Hunter’s then-girlfriend and the widow of his late brother, Beau, whom House investigators say received $10,000.
“The Biden family is a syndicate,” Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said.
The details also align with allegations that the Biden family sold proximity to the 46th president to foreigners. During his father’s tenure as vice president, Hunter Biden also inked deals as an adviser to the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma and to China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC).
Weiss, who began investigating these charges during the Trump administration, allowed the statute of limitations to expire on many allegations. Yet the younger Biden’s undisclosed Romanian lobbying “presumably could still receive FARA scrutiny,” National Review reporter James Lynch said.
It does not appear that Weiss intends to bring such charges. The court filings say they reference Hunter Biden’s dubious foreign lobbying only because it shows his state of mind and serves as “evidence that the defendant’s actions do not reflect someone with a diminished capacity, given that he agreed to attempt to influence U.S. public policy and receive millions of dollars.”
The president’s son faces three felonies and six misdemeanors related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes on $7 million in income.
He has been convicted of three felony charges for lying on a federal gun application when he indicated he was not drug-dependent so that he could purchase a handgun.
Originally published by The Washington Stand
