Saying the potential conflicts of interest were reminiscent of the controversial “Uranium One” transaction, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley announced Thursday he is probing the Obama administration’s 2015 decision to approve the sale of a sensitive U.S. technology company to the Chinese government and an investment firm run by the sons of Joe Biden and John Kerry.
Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine have already become a liability for the elder Biden’s frontrunning presidential campaign, and the new investigation could lead to further allegations of corruption. Joe Biden has bragged about pressuring Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor in 2016, and critics said the then-vice president wanted to head off the prosecutor’s probe into a company that employed Hunter Biden as a board member.
Grassley, writing to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, noted that Rosemont Seneca Partners, which was established by Kerry stepson Christopher Heinz and Hunter Biden, among others, joined with the government-run Bank of China to create Bohai Harvest RST (BHR) in 2013. The fund openly advertised its “unique Sino-US shareholding structure,” as well as its lucrative “global resources and network.”
TRUMP: IT WOULD BE ‘APPROPRIATE’ TO CONSIDER DOJ PROBE OF BIDEN
In 2015, BHR and the state-owned military contractor Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) jointly purchased Henniges, a U.S.-based automotive company that creates “dual-use” technologies with both military and civilian applications. including anti-vibration technology. AVIC purchased 51 percent of Henniges, while BHR took 49 percent.
The Obama administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), by law, had to approve the sale because of its national security implications. The CFIUS is an interagency body consisting of, among other agencies, the Energy Department, Defense Department, Treasury Department, and State Department — which John Kerry led from 2013 to 2017. – READ MORE