According to a report published by New York Post on Thursday, February 29, 2024, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, admitted that his father was referred to as “the big guy” in an email related to a lucrative business deal with a Chinese state-linked energy firm.
However, Hunter denied that Joe Biden was ever intended to have a 10% stake in the venture.
The revelation came to light through the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, who participated in Hunter Biden’s six-hour deposition on Capitol Hill.
According to Greene, they presented Hunter with the email mentioning the “10% for the big guy,” and he responded by saying, “Oh, that was after my father left office.”
This marks the first time that Hunter Biden has acknowledged that his former business partner, James Gilliar, was referring to Joe Biden as “the big guy” in the email exchange dated May 13, 2017.
The email, retrieved from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and initially reported by The Post in October 2020, was a significant part of the series of reports on Hunter’s alleged influence-peddling activities.
Hunter Biden defended the email, stating, “What’s wrong with having a pie-in-the-sky idea?”
He further explained that he assumed his father was no longer involved in public office after serving as Barack Obama’s vice president for eight years.
While Hunter Biden admitted that Joe Biden was the individual referenced as “the big guy,” he emphasized that his father had no stake in the business.
A source familiar with the deposition confirmed this, stating that Hunter had dismissed Gilliar’s suggestion that Joe Biden be involved in their joint venture, considering it to be an irrational proposition.
The House Oversight Committee chairman, James Comer (R-Ky.), referred to the deal involving CEFC China Energy as “money laundering.”
Comer pointed to a $40,000 check received by Joe Biden from his brother James after a “complicated financial transaction.”
Bank records released by Comer in the past year indicated that James and Hunter Biden received $6.1 million from the shuttered firm in 2017 and 2018.
Notably, a $5 million wire transfer was made just days after Hunter texted a CEFC translator, expressing his anticipation of a call with his father.
The funds from CEFC China Energy flowed through a series of transfers to entities controlled by Hunter Biden, ultimately benefiting other members of the Biden family.
James and his wife Sara received $50,000 in a personal checking account, while James issued a $40,000 check to Joe Biden, described as a “loan repayment.”
During the deposition, Hunter Biden also defended his frequent communication with foreign associates, including putting his father on speakerphone more than 20 times.
He claimed that it was “totally normal for your parents to call you” and that the practice was not illicit.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee’s ranking member, echoed this sentiment, stating that the use of speakerphones in public settings was common and that Hunter’s explanation resonated with both Democrats and Republicans present.
However, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) dismissed Hunter Biden’s defense and questioned his credentials as a businessman.
“It is a mirage to believe that Hunter Biden was engaged in international business,” he told reporters.
“This was a bribe masquerading as an international business transaction.”
“Hunter Biden told us that he joined the Burisma board to counter Russian aggression. I hadn’t heard that one before,” he added.