It wasn’t just Ukraine. A U.S. senator is now investigating whether Hunter Biden improperly benefited from his business ties to a Chinese investment firm that has partnered with a Chinese-backed aviation company keen on stealing U.S. national security secrets. Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) received a classified briefing about the foreign investment deal on Friday, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China had raised national security concern in the U.S. before. American national security officials and independent analysts strongly suspected that the company, a major supplier of military jets in China, had hacked U.S. networks to steal the design of the F-35 jet and used the design to build its own stealth jet fighters.
In 2015, the Chinese aviation giant partnered with BHR Partners, a state-backed Chinese equity firm, to acquire Henniges Automotive, a U.S. auto company that produces technologies with military applications. Biden has sat on BHR’s board since 2013. The $600 million acquisition was one of the largest by a Chinese company of a U.S.-based auto company.
Officials from the Treasury Department, Commerce Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence gave Grassley an “extensive, classified briefing,” according to Michael Zona, Grassley’s communications director.
“Chairman Grassley intends to review additional material and will contact the agencies with follow-up questions in the coming weeks,” Zona said. While he declined to comment on the substance of Friday’s briefing, citing its classified nature, Zona said the senator would have more to say at a “later date.” – READ MORE