The House Oversight Committee on Thursday released a trove of financial documents showing the widow of President Joe Biden’s deceased son Beau collected profits from a $3 million payment tied to officials from the communist government of China.
Hallie Biden, who briefly dated the president’s other son Hunter Biden following the death of her husband, received a $35,000 payment in 2017 from family associate John R. Walker after his company collected $3 million for work done on behalf of the now-defunct CEFC China Energy. Earlier this week the Oversight committee released evidence that two individuals who authorized the payments, Ren Qingxin and Lei Donghui, were directly linked to the Chinese government.
CEFC China Energy collapsed in 2018 after prosecutors secured a conviction of the company’s founder on seven counts of bribery and money laundering.
The Oversight committee, led by ranking Republican James Comer (R-Ky.) concluded that approximately one-third of the funds received through Walker’s company went directly to members of the Biden family.
From the bank records, it appears that the Biden family received approximately one-third of the money obtained from the China wire.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 16, 2023
The disclosure of payments to Hallie Biden is the latest in a wide-ranging investigation by congressional Republicans seeking to link President Biden to efforts by family members to allegedly peddle influence in Washington on behalf of overseas companies. If true, such efforts would have required Hunter Biden, John Walker, and President Biden’s brother James Biden to register as foreign agents.
Earlier this month, Rep. Comer announced a subpoena of financial records within the Biden family going back 14 years to when President Biden first assumed the vice presidential role in the Obama administration. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ultimately complied with the request, turning over a plethora of records involving Hunter Biden that were flagged as suspicious by the Internal Revenue Service. Such a designation means government officials believe a high probability exists that at least some of the exchanges could be linked to criminal activity.
Oversight’s ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has alleged that House Republicans did not adequately brief their colleagues before announcing the subpoena and asserts such an extensive search of financial exchanges between private citizens is outside the scope of the committee’s responsibilities. While no criminal activity has yet been proven by the committee, Comer and Republicans maintain a further search is warranted given the high-profile office held by President Biden during that time.