On Wednesday, White House spokesman John Kirby claimed that he had no information as to whether or not Hunter Biden is still co-owner of an investment firm that he shared with the Chinese government, even though Hunter’s lawyer has claimed that he has divested the entirety of his ownership stake.
The New York Post asked Kirby, the top spokesman for the National Security Council, if Joe Biden’s son still owns 10 percent of BHR Partners, a private equity company backed by the state.
“On China, this is a very simple question, but it’s an enduring point of uncertainty: Does the president’s son still co-own a company with China’s government?” The Post reporter asked at Kirby’s latest White House briefing. “And if not, can you provide some basic transparency about who bought that stake and for how much money?”
“I don’t have anything for you,” Kirby answered simply. He then quickly changed the subject by taking another question about an American citizen currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
BHR Partners was co-founded in 2013 just 12 days after Hunter had joined his father, then-Vice President of the United States, on an official trip to Beijing on Air Force Two. During the trip, Hunter introduced his father to Jonathan Li, the new CEO of BHR at the time; the elder Biden would later write college recommendation letters for Li’s children.
It was previously reported that Hunter’s “paid-in capital” to get the company started was approximately $425,000. But after Joe Biden vowed that no member of his family would hold any foreign corporate positions if he took office as president, Hunter allegedly began working to “unwind” his 10 percent stake in BHR. In November of 2021, Hunter’s lawyer Chris Clark claimed that the stake had already been divested; however, online records seem to indicate that Hunter still holds the stake.
Hunter’s involvement with BHR is one of many examples of the president’s son becoming actively involved with multiple foreign business deals as a result of his father becoming vice president. Hunter has made similarly lucrative deals with Russian and Ukrainian businesses as well, all of which have drawn increased scrutiny, despite Hunter and his father claiming that there was never any wrongdoing or corruption.