Emails obtained by America First Legal under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suggest that Hunter Biden and his business partners may have had a greater influence in then Vice President Joe Biden’s office than previously known.
“These records–which are only a small portion of the actual records that the National Archives possess–demonstrate for the American people, yet again, continued evidence of influence peddling and personal enrichment by the Biden family,” America First Legal vice president Gene Hamilton said in a statement. “The full extent has yet to be seen, but with each release, we are painting a fuller picture for the American people of the extent to which the Biden family business was intertwined with the official business of the United States.”
Many of the emails have been significantly redacted due to executive privilege shielding communications between the president, vice president, and staff. However, emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop archived by the Marco Polo group run by former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler show.
The president has said he had no knowledge of Hunter Biden’s business activities; however, this latest trove of emails further discounts his claim. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki forcefully denied that he had talked with Hunter Biden about his overseas business dealings in April 2022.
Emails Show Joe Biden’s Staff Interacted With Hunter Biden Business Partners
Emails from the laptop from 2010 show that Michele Smith, then senior executive assistant to Joe Biden, frequently CC’d Hunter Biden’s business partners on invites. A June 3, 2010 email with the subject line “Foreign Trip” offers one such example. Hunter Biden business partner Eric Schwerin is CC’d.
“Hunter – there is a foreign trip meeting in your Dad’s office with Mom and Dad tomorrow at 1:30 pm. If you are available, I think it would be helpful to you to be there,” Smith wrote.
Ziegler’s report on the infamous laptop describes Schwerin as “a well-paid babysitter for Hunter: he maintained and curated guest lists for White House functions, shared a joint bank account with Joe and paid his bills, and negotiated the settlement and alimony agreement with Hunter’s first wife, Kathleen.” The dossier notes that Schwerin was the “front man” who controlled the bank accounts that handled monies Hunter Biden received from foreign oligarchs. He also paid bills for the president.
Hunter Business Partner Consulted on China State Luncheon Guest List
The emails show that Schwerin reached out to Smith in a Nov. 19, 2010 email titled “China Lunch,” the text of which was not made public. Emails from the laptop show that Smith requested suggested names for the lunch. Among the suggestions included Jim Bulger, nephew of mobster Whitey Bulger and Walmart board member Greg Penner. Schwerin noted that the White House was “desperately trying to get in to China with that Confucious Institute.”
Confucius Institutes have subsequently been accused of being used by the Chinese Communist Party to engage in espionage against U.S. colleges and universities where they are hosted.
Schwerin suggested Hunter Biden’s business partner Jeff Cooper for a follow-up email. Cooper later worked with the Bidens to orchestrate business deals with Mexican oligarchs.
Other emails show that White House staff brainstormed with Hunter Biden about what his father should say during a 2010 trip to Africa and that his family was not always welcome at the White House.
John Rossomando was a senior analyst for Defense Policy and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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