Senators Want Answers Following Conflicting Reports of FBI Surveillance Into Hunter Biden Associate

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Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) are calling on the Justice Department to clarify inconsistent statements relating to Hunter Biden. Evidence suggests that DOJ used “extraordinary surveillance tools” to monitor at least one of Hunter Biden's former business partners.

Along with an open letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the senators shared a 2018 LLC Membership Interest Assignment signed by Gongwen Dong. That document is available to view here. They say it proves a direct business relationship between Hunter and Gongwen—one of several of his alleged business links to China.

A 2020 report by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee further detailed Hunter's relationships with Hong Kong businessman Chi-Ping “Patrick” Ho, Ye Jianming, founder of China Energy Co., and his business partner, Gongwen.

As Fox News reported at the time:

“Hunter Biden had business associations with Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong and other Chinese nationals linked to the Communist government and the People's Liberation Army,” the report says. “Those associations resulted in millions of dollars in cash flow.”

Earlier this year, Grassley and Johnson wrote a letter requesting “all intelligence records, including but not limited to, all Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-derived information” on Ho, Gongwen and others.

Time to Clear the Air

DOJ documents showed that at the department filed at least one FISA warrant against Ho in 2018. Despite the obvious paper trail, Garland responded to the senators' letter by claiming that he wasn't “in a position to confirm the existence of the information that is sought (if it exists in the Department's possession).”

Despite their frustration at the obvious obfuscation, Grassley and Johnson are firing back:

In response to the senators' March inquiry seeking intelligence records related to the Biden family's business partners, the Justice Department indicated that it couldn't confirm the existence of such material. However, in a public 2018 court filing, the department stated its intent to use information gathered pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act related to Patrick Ho, a former business partner of Hunter Biden. Ho, who is associated with the communist Chinese government and its intelligence services, was convicted of international bribery and money laundering offenses stemming from his work for a Chinese energy company linked to the communist regime. The existence of information acquired pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act indicates Ho may have posed a counterintelligence threat.

Grassley and Johnson are calling on Garland to correct the public record and clear up confusion about the counterintelligence steps the U.S. government has taken against the Biden family's past business partners.

Read the Full Letter Here

November 15, 2021

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General

Department of Justice

Dear Attorney General Garland:

Today, we write to you about a potentially false statement that your Department provided to us on July 12, 2021.  By way of background, on March 31, 2021, we wrote to you with respect to 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, our letter noted that Hunter Biden had a close association with Chi-Ping “Patrick” Ho, who is associated with the communist Chinese government and its intelligence services.[2]  As you are aware, 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 China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), a subsidiary of CEFC China Energy and a company with extensive links to the communist regime.[3]  After his arrest, Ho's first call was reportedly to James Biden, President Biden's brother.[4]  Hunter Biden reportedly represented Patrick Ho for a period of time and received at least $1 million in payment.[5]

Our March 31, 2021, letter also mentioned an individual named Gongwen Dong, who is connected to the communist Chinese government.[6]  Hunter Biden had a close business and financial relationship with him.  As one example of their relationship, we've attached a document which shows the direct financial and business relationship between Hunter Biden and Gongwen Dong.  This document illustrates an assignment and assumption of business interests with respect to Hunter Biden's companies, Hudson West III and Owasco, and Gongwen Dong's company, Hudson West V, which was memorialized in writing:

Based on the extensive relationships between and among Hunter Biden and individuals connected to the communist Chinese regime, our letter requested “all intelligence records, including but not limited to, all Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-derived information” relating to Patrick Ho and other individuals, including Gongwen Dong.[7]  Our request was based, in part, on reporting and a federal court filing by the Department that said it had obtained at least one Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant relating to Patrick Ho, indicating his potential counterintelligence threat to the United States.  That February 2018 federal court filing was titled, “Notice Of Intent To Use Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Information.”  The filing by the Department stated, in part:

[T]he United States intends to offer into evidence, or otherwise use or disclose in any proceedings in the above-captioned matter, information obtained or derived from electronic surveillance and physical search conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.[8]

Despite this sworn acknowledgement by the Department you oversee, your July 12, 2021, response to our letter denied knowing whether the Department even possessed the information stating, in part:

Unfortunately, under the circumstances described in your letter, we are not in a position to confirm the existence of the information that is sought (if it exists in the Department's possession).[9]

Both statements cannot be true.  Either the statement in your July 12, 2021, letter is true – that the Department is unaware of whether it possesses the relevant material – or the Department's February 8, 2018, statement to federal court that the Department is aware of the fact that it possesses the relevant material is true.  Therefore, one statement is false.

Accordingly, no later than November 22, 2021, we request that you either amend your July 12, 2021, letter to correct the inaccurate statement or confirm in writing that the Department's February 8, 2018, court filing stating that the Department possesses FISA-related information on Patrick Ho was an inaccurate statement to federal court.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary

Ron Johnson

Ranking Member

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

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SEE ALSO: FEC Declares Twitter Did Nothing Wrong Censoring Hunter Biden Story

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