(Headline USA) Shortly after attending a 2013 dinner in Beijing with then-Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden bragged to a business associate that he had close connections to top members of the Chinese Communist Party, according to emails.
Hunter was discussing business in 2014 with James Bulger, who had asked Hunter if he could introduce his business partners to Tung Chee-hwa, a billionaire who was then serving serving as the vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The CPPCC is an arm of the CCP.
Bulger was chairman of the Thornton Group LLC, a firm that joined forces with Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca to launch a joint-venture in China. Bulger is related to notorious crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger, whose name Hunter once invoked to intimidate a drug dealer.
Bulger asked Hunter to introduce some of his Chinese business partners to “Mr. Tung” to discuss “fundraising” and potential business deals in China.
“It is my understanding that during the trip to Beijing that you made with your father, President Xi hosted a welcome dinner,” Bulger wrote.
“[A]t that dinner, you were seated right next to Mr Tung, therefore J and Andy believe it would be very helpful if you could please send a brief email to Mr Tung laying out that you are a partner and Board Member of BHR and that You would be grateful to Mr Tung if he could meet your local partners to discuss the Fund.”
Hunter replied that he would be “happy” to introduce Bulger’s partners to Tung and other CCP officials, though he noted he did not have direct contacts for them.
“Happy to do this,” he emailed back, “but I have no email address for Mr. Tung and he very well may have sat next to me but I don’t recall the two gentlemen’s names to my left and right. Regardless, I would suggest the team draft an email in Mandarin and English for my approval ASAP.”
It is unclear whether Hunter ever made the introduction, but the emails reveal how Hunter was able to use the political connections he made through his father for business purposes.
