Comer Presses Treasury on Joe Biden & Biden Family Selling America’s Energy Independence to China
Documents reveal Joe Biden participated as business partner, had office space, and may have received a cut from the deal
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) today is pressing Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for information about the Biden family selling American natural gas to China in 2017 and Joe Biden’s involvement. Documents and communications obtained by Committee Republicans reveal Joe Biden was involved in the arrangement as a business partner, had office space, and may have benefitted financially from his family’s transaction selling American energy to a Chinese business closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. Ranking Member Comer is calling on Secretary Yellen to provide all suspicious activity reports for the Biden family’s transactions with Chinese entities.
“Documents obtained by Committee Republicans show that the Biden family received millions of dollars from a Chinese business closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, and therefore the Chinese government, to ship American natural gas to China. According to additional information provided by a whistleblower, Joe Biden was involved with this arrangement as a business partner, and documents reveal he even had office space to work on the deal. This comes to light at a time when the cost of natural gas is at a 14-year high and Americans struggle to pay their energy bills. The President has not only misled the American public about his past foreign business transactions, but he also failed to disclose that he played a critical role in arranging a business deal to sell American natural resources to the Chinese while planning to run for President,” wrote Ranking Member Comer. “We are concerned that the President may have compromised national security in his dealings with the country most adverse to U.S. interests—China.”
Under the Biden Administration, the Treasury Department changed its policy for releasing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)—a tool provided in the Bank Secrecy Act—to Congress. According to media reports, Hunter Biden and other Biden family members have racked up at least 150 SARs related to their foreign business deals. On May 25, 2022, Ranking Member Comer wrote to Secretary Yellen requesting all SARs generated for Hunter Biden and other Biden associates and family members’ financial transactions. He reiterated his request on July 6, 2022. In the Treasury Department’s September 2, 2022, letter to Committee Republicans, Treasury stated that SARs may be provided “upon a written request stating the particular information desired, the criminal, tax or regulatory purpose for which the information is sought, and the official need for the information.”
“Multiple whistleblowers have confirmed to Committee Republicans that from 2017 to 2021, the Biden family made promises to business associates that: (1) Joe Biden would run for President in 2020 and, (2) those who worked with the Bidens in 2017 onward would reap the rewards in a future Biden Administration. As America now struggles in an energy crisis, it is critical to understand why the Biden family was selling American energy reserves to the Chinese, if that is affecting President Biden’s decision making today, and why President Biden has never disclosed his relationship with the Chinese to the American public,” continued Ranking Member Comer. “If President Biden has worked to enrich not only himself but his family by promising, in exchange for millions of dollars, access or policy influence in a future Biden Administration, Congress and the American people are entitled to that information. Particularly since the Biden family promised business partners similar access to a future Biden Administration in other business deals, all while President Biden continues to deny any knowledge of Hunter Biden’s business dealings.”
The letter to Secretary Yellen and associated documents can be found here.