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Hunter Biden Lied About Lobbying for Foreign Agent to Protect His Father: Biden-Appointed Prosecutor

August 12, 2024

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,” stated prosecutors in documents filed in Biden’s trial over $1.4 million in unpaid taxes last Wednesday. 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 cause 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, Joe Biden handled the Eastern European portfolio for the Obama administration.

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 (FARA). Yet Hunter Biden and his business associate “were concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for the defendant’s father,” Joe Biden. 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 appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

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 to Hunter Biden, Walker, and James Gilliar each.

Payments began on November 5, 2015, as Popviciu deposited $179,836.86 into the business account. On November 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 maintained.

In 2017, Popoviciu received a seven-year sentence in his bribery case.

The details confirm the work done by Republican investigators in the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which has launched a comprehensive probe into the Biden family’s finances, which are often deeply enmeshed with foreign business deals carried out through the president’s family members.

“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 the committee produced 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. 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, the widow of his late brother, Beau, whom House investigators say received $10,000.

“The Biden family is a syndicate,” said Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas).

The details also align with allegations the Biden family sold their 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 China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC).

Weiss, who began investigating these charges during the Trump administration, allowed the statute of limitations to expire on many of these allegations. Yet Hunter Biden’s undisclosed Romanian lobbying “presumably could still receive FARA scrutiny,” said James Lynch of National Review.

It does not appear 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.”

Biden 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 in order to purchase a handgun.

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.



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