WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley is calling on the FBI to produce specific records in its possession indicating potential criminal activity in the Biden family’s foreign business deals. It remains unclear whether those FBI records, which have been reviewed by Grassley’s investigative staff, have been shared with the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office as part of its ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
 
Since first raising concern about bias by senior leadership and a double standard by the FBI in politically sensitive investigations, numerous whistleblowers have made legally protected disclosures substantiating these concerns.
 
Notably, the Justice Department and FBI have not disputed the accuracy of the allegations that I have made public since May 31, 2022. The Justice Department’s and FBI’s continued silence on these matters is deafening and further erodes their credibility. Simply put, enough is enough – the Justice Department and FBI must come clean to Congress and the American people with respect to the steps they have taken, or failed to take, relating to the Hunter Biden investigation,” Grassley wrote in a letter to FBI and Justice Department leadership as well as the Delaware U.S. attorney.
 
In the letter, Grassley attached a contract, signed by Hunter and James Biden and three other business associates. The contract was part of an arrangement designed to funnel $5 million from the Chinese communist government-connected CEFC to Hunter and James Biden to compensate them for work done while Joe Biden was vice president, according to an FBI interview summary of Tony Bobulinski. But other records held by the FBI reveal frustration by the Bidens about CEFC’s payment being delayed. Records previously released by Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) show James and Hunter Biden ultimately profited from a $5 million payment from a company connected to CEFC via a separate arrangement.
 
Other records held by the FBI shed light on Hunter Biden’s business and financial relationship with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky. These documents include specific details about conversations by non-government individuals relevant to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden. These documents also indicate that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them. It remains unclear whether the FBI took appropriate steps to follow up on this information or passed it to the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office.
 
Whistleblowers
Grassley frequently hears from current and former government employees who come forward to shine a light on fraud, waste, abuse and gross mismanagement in government agencies or by government contractors. He protects the identities of these sources and frequently promotes policies that shield whistleblowers from retaliation. Individuals wishing to call attention to mismanagement or misconduct within the Justice Department and its component agencies, such as the FBI, about the aforementioned allegations or other misconduct should contact Sen. Grassley’s investigations unit at (202) 224-3738 or email wb_reports@judiciary-rep.senate.gov.
 
Director Wray has personally committed to Senator Grassley that whistleblowers who have come forward will not face retaliation.
 
Grassley’s letter follows.
 
October 13, 2022
 
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
 
The Honorable Merrick Garland
Attorney General
Department of Justice
 
The Honorable Christopher Wray
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
 
The Honorable David Weiss
U.S. Attorney
District of Delaware
 
Dear Attorney General Garland, Director Wray and U.S. Attorney Weiss:
 
Since May 31, 2022, I’ve written three letters to the Justice Department and FBI based on protected whistleblower disclosures that indicate a pattern and practice of political decisions being made at the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) and FBI Headquarters.[1]  In those letters, I’ve noted that Congress has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that the Executive Branch executes the law and uses taxpayer money appropriated to it in accordance with congressional intent.  In furtherance of that constitutional responsibility, Congress has an obligation to investigate the Executive Branch for fraud, waste, abuse and gross mismanagement – acts which undermine faith in the American people’s governmental institutions.  Those constitutional and legislative responsibilities apply to this letter to you.  My previous letters also invited individuals, including current and former government employees, to contact me and my office to confidentially report allegations of fraud, waste, abuse and gross mismanagement by FBI and Justice Department officials.  In response, my office has received a significant number of protected communications from highly credible whistleblowers which have increased since my initial outreach to your offices.
 
Based on recent protected disclosures to my office, the FBI has within its possession significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden.[2] 
 
The evidence within the FBI’s possession that I am referencing is included, in part, in a summary of Tony Bobulinski’s October 23, 2020, interview with FBI agents.  In that interview, Mr. Bobulinski stated that the arrangement Hunter Biden and James Biden created with foreign nationals connected to the communist Chinese government included assisting them with potential business deals and investments while Joe Biden was Vice President; however, that work remained intentionally uncompensated while Joe Biden was Vice President.  After Joe Biden left the Vice Presidency, the summary makes clear that Hunter Biden and James Biden worked with CEFC and affiliated individuals to compensate them for that past work and the benefits they procured for CEFC.  According to the summary, Hunter Biden, James Biden and their business associates created a joint venture that would serve as a vehicle to accomplish that financial compensation, and that arrangement was made sometime after a meeting in Miami between Hunter Biden and CEFC officials in February 2017.  According to the summary, that vehicle was called SinoHawk, which was owned 50 percent by Oneida Holdings LLC (Oneida) and 50 percent by Hudson West IV.  According to the summary, Oneida was made of five evenly divided LLCs, one for each business associate – including Hunter Biden and James Biden. However, according to the summary, 10 percent of Hunter Biden’s interest was to be held for Joe Biden.  Attached to this letter is the Oneida Operating Agreement which lists Hunter Biden, James Biden and their business associates and the percentage of interest for each individual.[3]  Included below is a copy of the signature block for the Oneida Operating Agreement which was signed on May 22, 2017.
 


According to the interview summary, the money transferred to Oneida as part of the venture to compensate the Bidens was supposed to consist of an unsecured $5 million loan, intended to be forgivable, from CEFC in 2017.  Similarly, the FBI has within its possession a different document, dated in October 2020, but referencing events that occurred years before. That document indicates that in May 2017 – approximately three months after the joint venture was hatched in Miami and the same month it was officially formed – Hunter Biden yelled at CEFC officials at a meeting for failing to fund the joint venture.  That same document notes that as of July 2017 the money still had not been transferred and James Biden considered calling CEFC officials and threatening to withdraw Biden family support from future deals.  Notably, my September 2020 report with Senator Johnson and our floor speeches from this year made public bank records and financial data that showed that Hunter Biden and James Biden profited from a $5 million wire from a company connected to CEFC in August of 2017, indicating that it could have been the money originally intended for SinoHawk.  However, based on records, that money was not transmitted to the SinoHawk joint venture, rather it was transmitted to Hudson West III which could partially explain SinoHawk’s eventual failure.[4]  As noted in our report and our floor speeches, the money from the wire was transferred from Hudson West III to Hunter Biden’s firm, Owasco, and James Biden’s firm, Lion Hall Group, apparently circumventing SinoHawk.[5]
 
Based on allegations provided to my office, the information provided by Mr. Bobulinski formed a sufficient basis to open a full field investigation on pay-to-play grounds; however, it is unclear whether the FBI did so and whether the information is part of the ongoing criminal investigation by U.S. Attorney Weiss.
 
The FBI also has a document within its possession that notes that then former Vice President Joe Biden met with Hunter Biden and his business associates at a conference in Los Angeles on May 2, 2017, and May 3, 2017.  The meetings have been publicly disclosed; however, the fact that the FBI maintains documents referencing these data points has not been made public before.
 
Lastly, the FBI has within its possession a series of documents relating to information on Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma, and his business and financial associations with Hunter Biden.  The documents in the FBI’s possession include specific details with respect to conversations by non-government individuals relevant to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden.  These documents also indicate that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them.  Based on allegations, it is unclear whether the FBI followed normal investigative procedure to determine the truth and accuracy of the information or shut down investigative activity based on improper disinformation claims in advance of the 2020 election, just as it did with Hunter Biden information that I wrote to you about on July 25, 2022.[6]  It is also unclear whether U.S. Attorney Weiss has performed his own due diligence on these and related allegations.
 
These new whistleblower disclosures beg the question: in light of the allegations that I have brought to your attention, what have the FBI and Justice Department, to include U.S. Attorney Weiss, done to investigate? 
 
Notably, the Justice Department and FBI have not disputed the accuracy of the allegations that I have made public since May 31, 2022.  The Justice Department’s and FBI’s continued silence on these matters is deafening and further erodes their credibility.  Simply put, enough is enough – the Justice Department and FBI must come clean to Congress and the American people with respect to the steps they have taken, or failed to take, relating to the Hunter Biden investigation.  With respect to the new – and numerous – legally protected disclosures that have been made to my office, please provide the following no later than October 27, 2022, so that Congress can perform an independent and objective review:
 
1.      The full and unredacted FBI summary of Tony Bobulinski’s October 23, 2020, interview.
 
2.      Was Tony Bobulinski’s interview summary placed within Guardian?  Was it placed within an investigative case file?
 
3.      The full and unredacted October 2020 document that lists a timeline of events associated with Hunter Biden’s business associates, foreign and domestic.
 
4.      All records relating to the May 2, 2017, and May 3, 2017, meetings between Tony Bobulinski and Joe Biden. 
 
5.      All records,[7] including FD-71, FD-209a, FD-302, FD-794b, FD-1023, FD-1040a, FD-1057 and Guardian leads, from January 1, 2014 to the date of this letter that reference Mykola Zlochevsky, Hunter Biden, James Biden and Joe Biden.
 
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
 
Sincerely,
 
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
 
cc:
The Honorable Richard Durbin
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
 
The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz
Inspector General
Department of Justice
 
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[1] Letter from Senator Grassley to Attorney General Garland and Director Wray (May 31, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CEG%20to%20DOJ%20FBI%20(WFO).pdf; Press Release, Senator Grassley, Whistleblowers’ Report Reveal Double Standard in Pursuit of Politically Charged Investigations by Senior FBI, DOJ Officials (July 25, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/whistleblowers-reports-reveal-double-standard-in-pursuit-of-politically-charged-investigations-by-senior-fbi-doj-officials
[2] At my direction, my staff have reviewed the unclassified records.
[3] Attachment at p. 8.
[4] Chairman Charles Grassley, S. Comm. on Fin., and Chairman Ron Johnson, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Governmental Aff. Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns 78 (Sept. 23, 2020) https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HSGAC%20-%20Finance%20Joint%20Report%202020.09.23.pdf; Floor Speech, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson Discuss Investigation into Biden Family Foreign Financial Entanglements - Part 1 (Mar. 28, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/remarks/grassley-johnson-discuss-investigation-into-biden-family-foreign-financial-entanglements_-part-1; see also Floor Speech, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson Release Bank Records Tying Biden Family to CCP-Linked Individuals & Companies (Mar. 29, 2022), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/remarks/grassley-johnson-release-bank-records-tying-biden-family-to-ccp-linked-individuals-and-companies; Floor Speech, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson, The Biden Family Investigation – Part III: James Biden (Apr. 5, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/remarks/the-biden-family-investigation_part-iii-james-biden
[5] Id.
[6] Press Release, Ranking Member Grassley, Whistleblowers’ Reports Reveal Double Standard in Pursuit of Politically Charged Investigations by Senior FBI, DOJ Officials (July 25, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/whistleblowers-reports-reveal-double-standard-in-pursuit-of-politically-charged-investigations-by-senior-fbi-doj-officials
[7] “Records” include any written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports,
notes, electronic data (e-mails, email attachments, and any other electronically-created or stored information),
calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal
communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents).  This definition applies to all requests for records in the questions for the record.