WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a Louisiana Public Records Act request seeking records from the Office of Governor John Bel Edwards for communications with Hunter, James, and Joe Biden relating to the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) deals that they were pursuing on behalf of their Chinese business partners led by CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.
Congressional investigators have described Ye Jianming as an investor affiliated with People Liberation Army intelligence who ran a $44 billion business empire to implement China’s Belt and Road Initiative to “obtain overseas resources and serve the national strategy.” Over $1 million from Chairman Ye’s shell companies made its way to members of the Biden family a couple of months after Joe Biden left the White House in 2017, and Ye allegedly gave Hunter a 2.8-carat diamond when they met in Miami later that year to discuss how their business arrangement would look.
Their arrangement ultimately took form as Hudson West III LLC, immediately after Hunter sent the now-infamous WhatsApp message to a CEFC associate with the threat: “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled … I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.” Under the terms of the arrangement, Hunter’s firm, Owasco PC, would source strategic sector deals exclusively on behalf of his Chinese business partners. Subpoenaed bank records recently released by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability revealed that Owasco PC made direct monthly payments to Joe Biden.
One of the deals was Monkey Island LNG, off the coast of Louisiana. According to an IRS whistleblower, Special Agent Joseph Zeigler, James Biden recalled during his interview with federal investigators that he talked to people in the Louisiana Governor’s Office regarding the permits for that deal.
While the Monkey Island LNG deal ultimately fell through, the evidence shows that the Bidens leveraged their political relationships to do deals for their Chinese business partners, even after Joe Biden left the White House in 2017. AFL is determined to uncover the truth.
Read the FOIA here.
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