House Republicans demand to see evidence collected against former Hunter Biden business associate convicted of bribery
The leaders of House Judiciary and Oversight committees asked the Justice Department Tuesday for access to evidence that was collected against a former Hunter Biden business associate convicted of bribery.
Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairmen of the Judiciary and Oversight panels, respectively, requested records related to the prosecution of Chi Ping “Patrick” Ho in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Ho, the former head of a US-based nongovernmental organization funded by Chinese energy behemoth CEFC, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 for international bribery and money laundering offenses. He was released in June 2020 and deported to Hong Kong.
CEFC and Ho have both been linked to the 54-year-old first son, through his various overseas business dealings.
Ho is described as a “close business associate of Hunter Biden,” in the letter to Garland, and the two GOP lawmakers further allege that the DOJ made an effort not to entangle the first son in Ho’s trial proceedings.
“Information obtained by the Committees indicate that prosecutors sought to keep the Biden name out of Mr. Ho’s trial,” Jordan and Comer state. “This material is directly relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry.”
The chairmen demand that the DOJ turn over unredacted emails between Ho and Serbian politician Vuk Jeremić relating to “an individual that Mr. Jeremic was willing to bring to a dinner” with Ye Jianming, the chairman of CEFC.
The lawmakers claim that the individual’s name was redacted at trial because the DOJ successfully argued that the name could “introduce a political dimension to this case.”
“Other communications and documents obtained by the Committees strongly suggest that the individual in question was Hunter Biden,” the missive notes.
Jordan and Comer also demanded access to the contents of Ho’s seized iPad.
Documents obtained by The Post from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop show that the president’s son reached a deal with Ye for half-ownership of a holding company that was expected to provide him with more than $10 million a year for making “introductions.”
Another document included an “Attorney Engagement Letter” executed in September 2017 in which Ho, one of Ye’s top lieutenants, agreed to pay Hunter Biden a $1 million retainer for “Counsel to matters related to US law and advice pertaining to the hiring and legal analysis of any US Law Firm or Lawyer.”
In other correspondence between Hunter Biden and CEFC, he said that any deals struck would be “interesting for me and my family.”
“It is not clear what work Mr. Biden actually performed” for Ho, the GOP lawmakers said, noting that Hunter Biden “is not a licensed attorney in New York.”
They ask that the DOJ respond to their request by March 5.
