WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), sent letters to the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General today seeking all U.S. intelligence records relating to Biden family business associates linked to Chinese intelligence services.

The senators’ investigative report on the Biden family’s foreign business arrangements detailed financial transactions and connections between and among members of the Biden family and foreign nationals linked to the communist Chinese government, including its military and intelligence services. The senators issued a supplement to their report further detailing troubling financial connections involving the Biden family, their business associates and Chinese and Russian governments.

One individual, Chi Ping “Patrick” Ho, who had a close association with James and Hunter Biden, and who reportedly paid Hunter $1 million for legal representation, was the subject of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant, suggesting he posed a potential counterintelligence threat to the United States. He was later convicted of international bribery and money laundering offenses stemming from his work with a Chinese organization with deep ties to the communist regime. Hunter Biden was reportedly aware of those ties.

“It’s imperative that Congress better understand the relationship Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong, and Patrick Ho had between and among themselves, with the communist Chinese government, CEFC China Energy, and their activities in the United States, including those relating to the Biden family.  Accordingly, please produce all intelligence records, including but not limited to, all FISA-derived information relating to these three individuals no later than April 14, 2021,” the senators wrote today in a letter to the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department. 

Full text of the letter is below:

March 31, 2021

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Avril Haines

Director of National Intelligence

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General

Department of Justice

Dear Director Haines and Attorney General Garland:

As you know, we have been reviewing financial transactions and connections between and among members of the Biden family and foreign nationals connected to the communist Chinese government, including its military and intelligence services.[1]  In particular, Hunter Biden had a close and personal relationship with Ye Jianming, who reportedly had links to the communist regime’s People’s Liberation Army.[2]  According to an October 2017 text message, Hunter Biden spoke to Ye on a “regular basis,” was the “first guest in his new apartment,” “[Ye] cooked [Hunter Biden] lunch himself and [they] ate in the kitchen together,” they had a “standing once a week call,” and he helped Ye “on a number of his personal issues (staff visas and some more sensitive things).”[3]  In addition, Hunter Biden had a close association with Gongwen Dong and Chi Ping “Patrick” Ho, who were also business associates of Ye’s. 

In December 2017, Patrick Ho was charged and in December 2018 was convicted of international bribery and money laundering offenses stemming from his work for Ye’s China Energy Fund Committee, a subsidiary of Ye’s CEFC China Energy, a company with extensive links to the communist regime.[4]  After his arrest, his first call was reportedly to James Biden, President Biden’s brother.[5]  Hunter Biden reportedly represented Patrick Ho for a period of time and received at least $1 million in payment.[6]  According to recent reporting and a federal government filing, the federal government obtained at least one Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant relating to Patrick Ho, indicating his potential counterintelligence threat to the United States.[7]  Indeed, Hunter Biden was well aware of Patrick Ho’s links to the communist Chinese government, specifically its intelligence services.  According to records reportedly released from Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hunter Biden allegedly said the following:

I have another New York Times reporter calling about my representation of Patrick Ho – the f***ing spy chief of China who started the company that my partner, who is worth $323 billion, founded and is now missing.[8]

Moreover, news reports made publicly available a September 21, 2017, email from Hunter Biden to an office manager that asked for keys to be made available to then-former Vice President Biden, James Biden, and “Gongwen Dong (Chairman Ye CEFC emissary)” and referred to them as “office mates.”[9]  Hunter Biden also requested that the office sign reflect “The Biden Foundation” and “Hudson West (CEFC US).”[10]  If accurate, the sharing of office space with Chinese nationals and entities linked to the communist regime and its military demands additional explanation.      

It’s imperative that Congress better understand the relationship Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong, and Patrick Ho had between and among themselves, with the communist Chinese government, CEFC China Energy, and their activities in the United States, including those relating to the Biden family.  Accordingly, please produce all intelligence records, including but not limited to, all FISA-derived information relating to these three individuals no later than April 14, 2021.  

Please send all unclassified material directly to the Committees.  In keeping with the requirements of Executive Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain classified information, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Committees, and provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security.  Although the Committees comply with all laws and regulations governing the handling of classified information, they are not bound, absent their prior agreement, by any handling restrictions.

Should you have questions, please contact Joshua Flynn-Brown of Senator Grassley’s Committee staff at 202-224-5225 and Brian Downey and Scott Wittmann of Senator Johnson’s Subcommittee staff at 202-224-3721.  Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary

Ron Johnson

Ranking Member

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

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