Joe Biden Met with Chinese Energy Firm Chairman around the Time of $3M Payment to Hunter’s Business Partner

Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese energy firm CEFC shortly after Hunter Biden’s business associate Rob Walker received a $3 million payment from the firm as part of a joint venture the pair were then trying to develop, according to a newly released transcript of Walker’s closed-door congressional testimony.

Walker testified before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on January 26 about his role in Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC.

Walker received roughly $3 million from CEFC in March 2017 through its State Energy HK account, bank records show. He recalled a meeting between Joe Biden and CEFC officials in spring 2017, around the time of the State Energy HK payment.

“Did Joe Biden ever attend any location or meeting or place where CEFC officials were also there?” a staffer asked Walker, according to a transcript of the interview released Tuesday morning.

“Yes,” Walker replied. He recalled the meeting took place in Washington, D.C., and Joe Biden, who had just left office as vice president, stopped by for lunch.

“I don’t know the exact — it was 20- probably -17 at some point, but I don’t know exactly when,” Walker said.

The meeting took place at a Four Seasons hotel in a private room. CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming and other associates were present at the meeting.

“I don’t know if Zang was there, but I believe that Ye was there. I’m certain of it,” Walker testified.

He did not know who the other CEFC associates were at the meeting. Walker firmly recalled Jianming and his translator, Hunter Biden, business associate James Gilliar, and Joe Biden attending the meeting.

“We were still discussing ways we could work together. I don’t think we had structured a deal on how to work together at this point,” Walker said of the meeting.

The meeting went for an hour-and-a-half and Joe Biden was there for ten minutes or so. He exchanged pleasantries and addressed a group of about ten people from CEFC who attended the meeting.

Walker said Joe Biden did not discuss business with the CEFC representatives at the meeting. He gave similar information to FBI agents in a December 2020 interview, according to a transcript provided to the House Ways and Means Committee by IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler.

The CEFC meeting came up again later in Walker’s testimony and he hesitated to say whether Joe Biden’s presence was helpful for the CEFC relationship.

“Okay. So you didn’t — did Hunter tell you before the luncheon that his dad was coming?”

“No. But I would say that he would have had to coordinate with Hunter somehow because he would have had to have known where Hunter was,” Walker said. He received a series of follow-up questions on Joe Biden’s presence at the meeting and how CEFC officials may have reacted.

“Okay. So you’re not willing to admit that you were trying to impress the Chinese with having Joe Biden involved with this luncheon?

“I am not saying it was foreshadowed. Were the Chinese impressed? It’s quite possible,” Walker said. He vaguely recalled the possibility of Joe Biden stopping by without going into detail.

Hunter Biden and his associates began their relationship with CEFC during Joe Biden’s vice presidency, but they did not receive any payments until the State Energy HK wire shortly after Joe Biden left office.

In 2015 and 2016, Walker testified that he along with Hunter Biden and Gilliar introduced CEFC to potential business deals.

“We introduced them to a bunch of potential projects. I think a lot of the projects were maybe in documents that you shared with me earlier,” Walker said after the follow-up discussion of the meeting. Earlier in his testimony, Walker addressed the relationship timeline with CEFC in more detail.

“But you did have — in February of 2016, there was some sort of relationship at least developing with CEFC. Do I have that correct?”

‘That is correct,” Walker affirmed.

In March 2016, Hunter Biden’s letterhead was used for a letter to CEFC Director Zang. Walker explained why they decided to use Hunter Biden’s letterhead for the document.

“I think what is common with U.S. companies working with individuals abroad, those individuals tend to — they don’t — they aren’t taken seriously unless they have a calling card like this or something that says that they represent. So if — you wouldn’t — this is just normal, customary business practice,” Walker testified.

“Well, I think in Zang’s eyes — that I worked for Hunter and that James worked for us or for Hunter, and so that would be — he was viewed as the principal of this organization by Zang,” he added in response to follow up questions.

Walker wired approximately $1 million of the State Energy HK funds to Biden family accounts and a little more than $1 million to a company linked to Gilliar, the bank records indicate.

Hunter Biden instructed Walker to wire some of the State Energy HK money to his uncle James Biden and his then-girlfriend Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s late brother Beau Biden, Walker told lawmakers.

In addition to CEFC, Walker, Biden and Gilliar had a business relationship with Romanian oligarch Gabriel Popoviciu, who paid them approximately $3 million from November 2015 to May 2017, bank records show.

Joe Biden was vice president for 16 of the 17 payments from Popoviciu, and $1.038 million of the money went into Biden family accounts. The business associates split increments sent by the Romanian businessman totaling nearly $180,000 per month.

Popoviciu faced corruption charges in his home country while Joe Biden oversaw the Obama administration’s anti-corruption efforts in Romania.

At one point, Hunter Biden and attorney Michael Gottlieb met with the U.S. Ambassador to Romania to make Popoviciu’s case in November.

Then-U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm was not interested in Popoviciu’s case, Walker testified. Nonetheless, they sought other ways to help Popoviciu fight the corruption charges.

“I was still trying to figure out ways to help him. We were also wanting to do some other development work around the world,” Walker said.

He could not recall why the payments from Popoviciu stopped following the conclusion of Joe Biden’s vice presidency.

Hunter Biden’s federal tax indictment in California confirms the State Energy HK payment and the timeline of his relationship with CEFC.

A few months later, Hunter Biden and CEFC officials created Hudson West III, a separate venture designed to explore U.S. business deals, former associate Mervyn Yan testified.

The indictment contains a breakdown of the Hudson West III income and a brief paragraph about the Popoviciu arrangement. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the tax charges in January.

The younger Biden is set to testify before congress on February 28 to advance the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden centered around the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.