By TIPP EDITORIAL BOARD, TIPP Insights

Last week’s events show why Attorney General Merrick Garland should appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

There are many worrying questions. First, did Hunter Biden parlay his connection to then-Vice President Biden to promote his business? Second, what is the extent of President Biden’s involvement in his son’s business dealings, if any? Third, did the Chinese intelligence target the Biden family for access to the highest levels of the U.S. government?

Bank Records

David Weiss, the Delaware U.S. Attorney, leads the probe related to Hunter Biden.

Last week Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson shared more than 200 pages of bank records with Weiss. They also made the documents public. The bank records show transactions between Hunter Biden’s companies and Chinese entities.

“If you are conducting a full and complete investigation, you should already possess these records. In the case that you are not and do not possess these records, we suggest that you review them in detail,” the senators wrote in the cover letter to Weiss.

The New York Post summarized the senators’ letter.

Hudson West III, a company established by Hunter Biden, received $6 million from the Chinese energy company CEFC and its affiliates. Northern International Capital, an affiliate of CEFC incorporated in China, gave 5 million dollars. Another $1 million came from CEFC itself. The transactions took place between August 2017 and October 2018.

Hudson West III then transferred eighty percent of the six million, $4.8 million, to other Biden companies such as Owasco P.C. and Owasco LLC. The Lion Hall Group, a company associated with James Biden, President Biden’s brother, received $1,398,999 via 20 wire transfers.

The senators also describe numerous other transactions, including spending sprees by Biden family members, and report specific actions taken by Biden family members after receiving funds.

Press Conference

In addition to the letter, a press conference last Monday by AG Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray emphasized how China targets the U.S. to gain influence and intelligence. They announced the indictment of 13 Chinese individuals related to three separate cases at the conference.

The press conference’s main takeaway was China’s persistent efforts to penetrate American institutions.

One case was about Chinese intelligence agents bribing a U.S. law enforcement official. The agents offered the bribe to get an internal strategy memo about the prosecution of Huawei, the Chinese chip manufacturer.

Another case was about China’s efforts to recruit agents in the U.S. China recruited university professors, former federal law enforcement officers, and others as agents.

New Revelations

Was the Biden family a target of the Chinese intelligence operation?

In October 2020, Tony Bobulinski, the former partner of Hunter and Jim Biden in the deal with CEFC, revealed that President Biden was the “big guy” supposed to get a 10% cut in the CEFC deal.

In a column in the New York Post, Michael Goodwin wrote about his conversation with Tony Bobulinski last week. “I believe Chinese intelligence officials infiltrated the Biden family,” he told me last week. “And I think eventually the FBI and Justice Department will peel it back and realize this was a Chinese intel operation.” Bobulinski credits his conclusion to what he calls “aggregating all the data points.”

Goodwin writes: Based on what he saw firsthand, what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop and the disappearance of most of the Chinese officials who paid millions of dollars to the Biden family, Bobulinski now believes there is “a zero chance that all this is random.”

Public Opinion

In a recent TIPP Poll of 1,335 Americans, only 30% follow the Hunter Biden laptop story. But, 79% of those following the story think that the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election might have been different had the public known about the story.

Eighty-one percent of those following the story believe that the AG must appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s laptop-related issues. Those who subscribe to this notion include 66% of Democrats, 92% of Republicans, and 79% of independents. Note that about two-thirds of those from the President’s party are also in favor of such a move.

We have argued before why Attorney General Garland must appoint a special counsel or name David Weiss as a special counsel. We reiterate that last week’s events make it necessary to appoint a special counsel without further delay. It will go a long way to restore faith in the country’s judiciary and investigative agencies.

READ MORE BY TIPP INSIGHTS

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