The Biden family business received over $20 million from Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan while President Joe Biden was vice president in the Obama administration, the House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) revealed.
The committee previously unveiled two tranches of Biden business bank records. Those showed the Biden business received at least $10 million from business schemes in Romania and China. In total, nine Biden family members received payments from the family foreign business ventures, including two of Joe Biden’s grandchildren.
Comer predicted in June that the committee’s work would ultimately show the Biden family accepted up to $30 million from its foreign business dealings.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The committee revealed the third tranche Wednesday after subpoenaing six different banks and receiving thousands of records in response. The committee said its subpoenas were tailored to individuals and companies that engaged in business activities with Biden family members and their business associates.
The committee has not yet subpoenaed Biden family members.
“During Joe Biden’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden sold him as ‘the brand’ to reap millions from oligarchs in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine,” Comer said in a press release. “It appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself.”
Comer said Joe Biden is implicated in the payments due to his personal relationship with the family’s business associates.
“This is made clear by meals at Café Milano where then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son,” Comer said. “It’s clear Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings and allowed himself to be ‘the brand’ sold to enrich the Biden family while he was Vice President of the United States.”
The committee provided specifics about the bank records:
- Hunter Biden and Devon Archer Used Rosemont Seneca Entities to Bring in Millions from Oligarchs in Europe and Asia: Using accounts nominally tied to Devon Archer (but using the familiar “Rosemont Seneca” branding), Hunter Biden received incremental payments originating from foreign sources, attempting to hide the source and size of the payments.
- In February 2014, a Russian Oligarch Sent $3.5 Million to a Shell Company Associated with Hunter Biden and Devon Archer: Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina transferred $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, a shell company. Approximately $1 million was transferred to Devon Archer, and the remainder was used to initially fund a new company account, Rosemont Seneca Bohai, which Devon Archer and Hunter Biden used to receive other foreign wires.
- In the Spring of 2014, a Ukrainian Oligarch Placed Archer and Biden on the Burisma Board of Directors and Agreed to Pay them $1 Million Each per Year: Burisma Holdings’ (Burisma) corporate secretary, Vadym Pozharsky, worked on behalf of the Ukrainian oligarch and owner of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky. Hunter Biden was initially hired by Burisma to work as counsel for the company, and Pozharsky and Zlochevsky met with Hunter Biden at a conference in Lake Como in Italy where they decided Hunter Biden would work on the board of directors with Devon Archer. Then-Vice President Joe Biden visited Ukraine soon after their first payments. Payments from Burisma for both Devon Archer and Hunter Biden were wired to Rosemont Seneca Bohai. Payments were transmitted in incremental amounts to Hunter Biden’s different bank accounts.
- In April of 2014, a Kazakhstani Oligarch Wired the Exact Price of Biden’s Sportscar to a Bank Account Used by Archer and Biden: In February 2014, Hunter Biden met with Kenes Rakishev at a Washington, DC, hotel. Rakishev worked closely with the prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov. In April, Rakishev, a Kazakhstani oligarch, wired $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca Bohai. The next day, a payment was made from Rosemont Seneca Bohai for a sportscar for Hunter Biden in the amount of $142,300. Archer and Biden then arranged for Burisma executives to visit Kazakhstan in June 2014 to evaluate a three-way deal among Burisma, a Chinese state-owned company, and the government of Kazakhstan.
- Hunter Biden received millions of dollars in payments from Yelena Baturina, Burisma, and Kenes Rakishev. Vice President Biden had dinner with them in the spring of 2014 and 2015 in Washington, DC.
President Joe Biden attends his granddaughter Maisy Biden’s commencement ceremony with first lady Jill Biden and children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Monday, May 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Comer said in July the Biden family business caused six banks to flag more than 170 “large” amounts of money in Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the treasury for review, 20 more than previously known. SARs “often contain evidence of potential criminal activities, such as money laundering and fraud,” according to a 2020 Senate report.
Comer believes the Biden family opened more than 20 shell companies to hide payments and launder money. “When you set up a bunch of shell companies for the sole purpose to launder money, that is called racketeering,” he said.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.