Texts suggest Biden requested meeting with son’s Chinese business partner after company paid Hunter millions

Text messages released Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee suggest President Biden personally requested a meeting with his son Hunter's Chinese business partner whose company previously doled out millions of dollars to the younger Biden.

The committee obtained the messages as part of its investigation into Hunter's foreign business dealings, and released them, along with a trove of other documents on Wednesday to coincide with the House Oversight Committee's first impeachment inquiry hearing against Biden on Thursday.

One Aug. 27, 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter to Gongwen Dong, the director of then-Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC, showed Hunter saying his uncle's "brother" wanted to meet with Ye Jianming, the chairman of the company, in New York City.

DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO ‘REMOVE ANY REFERENCE’ TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP

Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, the only brother of Joe Biden involved in the family's business dealings, were in New York City to meet with Ye at the time, according to emails recovered from Hunter's infamous laptop. The meeting came just weeks after CEFC wired $5 million to an LLC co-owned by Hunter.

"My uncle will be here with his BROTHER who would like to say hello to the Chairman," Hunter said in the message, appearing to reference his dad, who was allegedly involved in the family's dealings with CEFC. "So please give me location and time. Jim’s BROTHER if he is coming just wants to say hello he will not be stopping for lunch."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

WATCH: BIDEN INTERRUPTED BY CLIMATE PROTESTER, TELLS HECKLER THAT HE WILL MEET HIM 'IMMEDIATELY AFTER' SPEECH

The documents released by the committee also revealed the Department of Justice ordered FBI and IRS investigators involved in the Hunter Biden probe to "remove any reference" to Biden in a search warrant related to a Foreign Agents Registration Act probe.

"The Biden Administration — including top officials at the Justice Department — lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself," the committee said following the release.

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According to the committee, the documents "corroborate" the whistleblower testimony to the committee, "and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

IRS agent said CNN has Hunter Biden email where Hunter claimed legal ‘stuff’ would go away under Biden admin

The House Ways and Means Committee released a document on Wednesday showing an IRS agent relaying an inquiry from a CNN producer who claimed to have an email where Hunter Biden said that all of his "stuff" would go away once his father was elected president. To date, the alleged email has never become public. 

"Documents show Hunter Biden and his business associates had access to the White House and Joe Biden’s advisors; Biden business associates were instructed to not ‘mention Joe being involved;’ and official trips to Ukraine line up U.S. government actions and Hunter Biden’s financial bottom line," the Wednesday press release states.

"And, after the IRS began investigating these crimes, Hunter apparently "expected all of this ‘stuff’ to go away when his dad becomes President." 

One of the documents involves IRS public affairs officer Justin Cole emailing two IRS officials involved in criminally investigating Hunter Biden and reporting that a CNN producer has an email from Hunter Biden where the president’s son said he was "not willing to accept" a plea deal and "expected all of this ‘stuff’ to go away when his dad becomes president."

HUNTER BIDEN'S $250K WIRE FROM CHINA LABELED AS A 'PERSONAL INVESTMENT'

It is unclear when the Hunter Biden email was sent.

In another document from the committee, a message from Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud backup on June 6, 2017, shows him talking to his uncle, Jim Biden, about his family’s "brand."

"Bullsh-t James – all around bullsh-t," Hunter Biden wrote. "Explain to me one thing Tony brings to MY table that I so desperately need that I’m willing to sign over my family’s brand and pretty much the rest of my business life? Read the f-cking documents people It’s plane f-cking English. Why in gods name would I give this marginal bully the keys my family’s only asset? Why?"

HUNTER BIDEN SUES RUDY GIULIANI OVER LAPTOP, ACCUSES EX-TRUMP LAWYER OF 'HACKING'

In a Wednesday press conference, Rep. Jason Smith said that the "asset" Hunter Biden was referring to "could only be one person, Joe Biden."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and CNN but did not immediately receive a response.

The newly released documents came the night before the House Oversight Committee was set to hold its first impeachment inquiry public hearing into President Biden's overseas ties and possible corruption, where they said they will present all evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

"The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has uncovered a mountain of evidence revealing how Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer said in his opening statement. "For years, President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes."

Democrats seek to switch Biden impeachment inquiry hearing focus to Trump

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly sought to refocus the attention on former President Donald Trump during the Republican-led impeachment inquiry hearing on President Biden Thursday.

The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., held its first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where members presented evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

Committee Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of taking cues from Trump in launching the inquiry and used the opportunity to highlight the former president’s myriad legal issues.

"President Trump has gone on his social media account and said we should be impeaching President Biden," Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. "Kevin McCarthy said we have an impeachment inquiry. You draw the conclusion. Directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump's pressure."

WHITE HOUSE, HUNTER BIDEN'S TEAM KEEP SHIFTING GOALPOSTS IN DENYING DAD'S INVOLVEMENT WITH BUSINESSES

"It's scandalous to use impeachment to establish a counterfeit moral equivalence between President Biden, an honorable public servant who has never been indicted or convicted of anything in his career of more than 50 years in public life," Raskin continued. "And Donald Trump, a twice impeached president who's recently been found in court to have sexually abused and defamed a woman and fraudulently inflated the value of his real estate properties, while facing 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments on everything from conspiring to overthrow an election and defraud the American people to making criminal hush money payoffs, to stealing classified government documents and hiding them while obstructing justice."

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused the Republicans of trying to "distract" and "deflect" before launching into a guessing game with the only Democrat-appointed witness, law professor Michael Gerhardt, in which he inserted Biden's name for Trump's in order to try to illustrate that Trump, not Biden, should be investigated.

"Hold on to those two words ‘distract’ and ‘deflect,’ because I think this hearing's all about, ‘Look over here, not over there,’" Connolly said.

"So, Professor Gerhardt, I've heard concern about branding, so shouldn't we be concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the United States?" Connolly said, knowingly alluding to Trump Towers located in cities across the globe.

"I think we are talking about Mr. Trump," Gerhardt responded.

Connolly continued, "Shouldn't we be concerned that a New York judge just found President Biden's organization committed fraud every year for the last ten or 15 years, and that under the Martin Law in New York, that Biden organization is now subject to dismemberment and dismantlement because of the fraudulent activity."

"That should be of concern with respect to Mr. Trump," Gerhardt replied.

"Mr. Trump again," Connelly responded, feigning incredulity.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., mused that the former president "lives free in the Democrats’ heads."

"I'm amazed at, and I love the fact that Trump lives free in the Democrats’ heads every day," she said. "That is a beautiful thing. Even though we're here talking about the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden."

Committee Democrats also repeatedly mentioned Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Trump, during the impeachment inquiry hearing. 

Democrats say Giuliani promoted a "big lie" that then-Vice President Joe Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was threatening to investigate Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter Biden served on. 

Raskin said this was the "opposite of the truth," and that Biden led a "coordinated global effort" to remove Shokin because he was corrupt. He asserted that Giuliani twisted the facts to accuse Biden of corruption — an accusation repeatedly made by Trump — and quoted Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, who said there was "no evidence that Shokin was engaged in an investigation of Burisma or that Joe Biden's role in his firing was in any way connected to Burisma." 

Raskin later pointed to a letter Giuliani associate Lev Parnas sent to Congress urging Republicans to drop their Burisma investigation, calling it a "wild goose chase." 

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., demanded to know why Giuliani was not testifying at the hearing, since Trump sent Giuliani to Ukraine to urge the government there to open investigations into the Biden family. The pressure Trump exerted on Ukraine to investigate Biden ultimately became the basis for the first impeachment effort led by Democrats against Trump, of which the former president was acquitted. 

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

House Intel Chair Turner brings Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified records into impeachment inquiry

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner on Thursday brought President Joe Biden's alleged improper retention and mishandling of classified records from his time as vice president and in the U.S. Senate into the House impeachment inquiry against him. 

Turner, R-Ohio, during the first hearing as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, raised that the president is currently under federal criminal investigation for his alleged mishandling of classified records, blasting him as a "classified document hoarder."

AG GARLAND APPOINTS SPECIAL COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE BIDEN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Beyond Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s business dealings, Turner said "there’s also another concerning aspect of President Joe Biden's actions as vice president, for which there is currently a criminal investigation, and that is his misuse of classified documents."

"There has been appointed by the Department of Justice, by the attorney general, a special prosecutor for the purposes of investigating the federal crimes that could arisen as a result from this president's misuse of classified documents," Turner said.

Special Counsel Robert Hur was appointed in January to investigate the president’s alleged improper retention of the records. The status of that investigation, at this point, is unclear. 

"This committee, in its scope of this investigation, indicates that these classified materials are also relevant because, example, the Oversight committee has requested information regarding the classified materials discovered in the president's home, where his son has resided during the time period relevant to the investigation and personal office," Turner said. 

WHITE HOUSE REFUSES TO SAY IF BIDEN WOULD SIT FOR INTERVIEW WITH SPECIAL COUNSEL IN CLASSIFIED RECORDS PROBE

Turner said that the White House "has not provided this information." 

"Obviously, his son was receiving payments from Romania, Russia, Ukraine, China," Turner said, referring to financial records uncovered by the House Oversight Committee. "If there are in those documents that relate to, for example, the prosecutor in Ukraine or Burisma itself or other aspects of Ukraine or any of the parties or individuals obviously, that were making payments to Hunter Biden, that would be relevant, wouldn’t it?"

Law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, a witness at the hearing, agreed, saying "pre-office conduct" should be considered.

Turley, though, said it is "not clear to me" whether Biden’s retention of the records "would amount to an impeachable offense or not."

DOJ SEIZES MORE CLASSIFIED DOCS FROM BIDEN'S WILMINGTON HOME AFTER 12-HOUR FBI SEARCH

"Right," Turner said. "You have to make that nexus."

Turner said that, in his role as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he has seen several of the documents Biden had been holding.

"I can tell you they are of the highest level of concern and threat to national security," Turner said. "I think we do have to get to the bottom of why was he taking them and what was he doing with them."

Former President Trump was also under separate special counsel investigation for his alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago. Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with 37 federal charges, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

Hunter Biden’s $250K wire from China labeled as a ‘personal investment’

EXCLUSIVE: The $250,000 wire Hunter Biden received from his Chinese business partners was labeled as a "personal investment," despite his legal team claiming the funds were part of a loan and previously saying he never "received any return on his investment," Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital first reported Tuesday that Hunter Biden received wires that originated in Beijing totaling $260,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME

The revelations come after Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell told CNN that the wires were "a documented loan (not a distribution or pay-out) that was wired from a private individual to his new bank account which listed the address on his driver’s license, his parents’ address, because it was his only permanent address at the time."

The wires for the funds originated from Beijing and were linked to BHR Partners.

BHR Partners is a joint-venture between Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca and Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital. BHR Partners is a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited. Hunter Biden reportedly sat on the board of directors of BHR Partners.

The first wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin. 

Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

Fox News Digital has learned that the $10,000 wire was labeled as "ACC/LOAN TO BENEFICIARY."

DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO 'REMOVE ANY REFERENCE' TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated Aug. 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng — also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners — and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

Fox News Digital has learned that $250,000 wire was labeled as "ACC/PERSONAL INVESTMENT."

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." in Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for President Biden.

Back in October 2019, despite Hunter having received more than a quarter of a million dollars from BHR-linked associates, then-attorney for Hunter Biden, George Mesires, explained Hunter’s role at BHR Partners by saying he "served only as a member of the board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets."

"It was an unpaid position," Mesires said on Oct. 13, 2019. "In October 2017, Hunter committed to invest approximately $420,000 USD (as of 10/12/2019) to acquire a 10% equity position in BHR, which he still holds."

Messires, at the time, added: "To date, Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest."

Hunter resigned from the board of BHR at the end of October 2019.

DOJ REVEALS HUNTER BIDEN STILL UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR POTENTIAL FARA VIOLATIONS

Meanwhile, as the White House declines to comment on the beneficiary address and wire payments, President Biden has had several interactions with BHR Partners CEO Jonathan Li.

The wires were sent just several months after then-Vice President Joe Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, in August 2019, said he "never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period."

As for Jonathan Li, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Devon Archer, as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, Joe Biden sat down for coffee in Beijing with the CEO of BHR. Archer also testified that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li’s daughter to Georgetown. Archer said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for at least one call with Li in addition to meeting for coffee.

Separately, Fox News Digital first reported in 2022 that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li's son to Brown University.

"Bank records don’t lie, but President Joe Biden does," Comer told Fox News Digital.

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

"In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for president of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children," Comer said.

"Joe Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing? Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the first family’s corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

The discovery of the records comes ahead of the first hearing, to be held by Oversight, as part of House Republicans' impeachment inquiry against President Biden. 

The White House declined to comment on the wires. 

House GOP to present evidence against Biden in first impeachment hearing

House Republicans on Thursday morning are set to hold their first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where they will present all evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will "examine the value of an impeachment inquiry and present evidence House Republicans have uncovered to date regarding President Joe Biden's knowledge of and role in his family's domestic and international business practices," according to the panel. The hearing is to begin at 10 a.m.

HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME

Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting – and who the committee says has testified in more than 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud – will testify, along with former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor, who served in the Department of Justice Tax Division.

Law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

IRS OFFICIAL SAYS HE WAS FRUSTRATED DOJ DID NOT BRING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN FOR 2014, 2015 TAX YEARS

"Since January, House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," Comer said this week. "Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family."

The House of Representatives formally launched the impeachment inquiry this month – something Comer said Congress had a duty to do while stressing that Americans "demand and deserve answers, transparency and accountability" for Biden’s alleged corruption and "abuse of public office."

Biden faces accusations that he was involved in foreign business deals set up by his son, Hunter Biden, who allegedly promised his father would use his public office to grant favors in exchange for payments.

JORDAN WANTS SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY NEXT MONTH BEFORE CONGRESS

The White House maintains that President Biden was "never in business with his son."

White House officials, though, have blasted House Republicans for the impeachment inquiry, calling it an "evidence-free" probe and a "political stunt." The White House is also slamming GOP lawmakers for holding the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding.

Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country," White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

WHITE HOUSE HAMMERS UPCOMING BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING AS 'EVIDENCE-FREE' STUNT

"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," Sams said.

The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation.

The hearing comes after Comer subpoenaed Hunter Biden's financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners.

Fox News Digital first reported that Hunter Biden received the wire payments, which originated in Beijing, for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

The White House declined to comment.

DOJ ordered Hunter Biden investigators to ‘remove any reference’ to Joe Biden in FARA probe warrant: House GOP

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered FBI and IRS investigators involved in the Hunter Biden probe to "remove any reference" to President Biden in a search warrant related to a Foreign Agents Registration Act probe, new documents released by the House Ways & Means Committee reveal.

Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a vote Wednesday to release new documents provided by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that "corroborate their initial testimony to the Committee and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues."

"The Biden Administration — including top officials at the Justice Department — lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself," the committee said.

One document released Wednesday was an August 2020 email sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf in which she ordered investigators to remove any reference to "Political Figure 1" from a search warrant. Subsequent documents released Wednesday revealed that President Biden is "Political Figure 1."

"As a priority, someone needs to redraft attachment B," Wolf writes in the email. "I am not sure what this is cut and pasted from but other than the attribution location, and identity stuff at the end, none of it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant." 

Wolf adds: "Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here." 

A document released Wednesday and reviewed by Fox News Digital states that "Political Figure 1" is "Former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr."

"VP BIDEN is currently the Democratic Party Presidential candidate for the United States and served as the 47th officeholder for the position of the Office of the Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS) in the Barack Obama Administration from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017," the document states. "He is the father of SUBJECT 1."

"SUBJECT 1" is presumably Hunter Biden, the target of the investigation.

The Justice Department indirectly revealed that Hunter Biden is still under investigation for a potential violation of FARA during his first court appearance in July, in which his "sweetheart" plea deal collapsed.

When asked by federal Judge Maryellen Noreika of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware whether the government could bring a charge against Hunter Biden related to FARA, the DOJ prosecutor replied, "Yes."

Meanwhile, the committee said that documents also revealed that the Hunter Biden federal investigation was being "hampered and artificially slowed." 

The committee said during a September 2022 interview with the president’s brother, James Biden, that investigators were "not allowed to ask if then-Vice President Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s deal with CEFC China Energy," or follow "normal investigative leads."

The committee also said a May 2021 report from investigators detailed that they were "not allowed to follow investigative leads on potential campaign finance violations related to a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, Kevin Morris, who was enlisted to help the family, and who paid millions of dollars to help Hunter around the time that Joe Biden becomes president." 

"Investigators wrote that ‘there may be campaign finance criminal violations. AUSA Wolf stated on the last prosecution team meeting that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation,’" the committee said Wednesday. 

Chairman Jason Smith said the new documents show a "clearer connection between Joe Biden, his public office, and Hunter Biden’s global influence peddling scheme that resulted in over $20 million in payments to the Biden family." 

"In addition to then Vice-President Joe Biden attending lunches and speaking on the phone with his son’s business associates, the details released today paint a fuller picture of how Joe Biden’s vice presidential office was instrumental to the Biden Family’s business schemes," Smith said.

Smith said that the evidence included in the documents shows "a pattern of Hunter Biden creating for-profit entities to shield at least $20 million from foreign sources from taxes and hide the trail of payments that led to members of the Biden family."

A congressional aide told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the Biden family and their associates collected more than $24 million in foreign payments between 2014 and 2019.

"The growing body of evidence further calls into question the Justice Department’s attempted sweetheart plea deal for Hunter Biden, and the reasons for appointing the architect of that plea deal as the special counsel for Hunter Biden’s case, in light of officials’ efforts to protect President Biden and his son," Smith said. "This evidence makes clear Hunter Biden’s business was selling the Biden ‘brand’ and that access to the White House was his family’s most valuable asset — despite official claims otherwise."

Smith, who is leading the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden alongside House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said his committee will continue to take "appropriate steps" in its investigation, including sharing documents with committee Democrats ahead of their release.

"We have promised to go where the facts lead us, and that is exactly what we will do to get answers for the American people," Smith said.

The documents come out as part of House Republicans' formal impeachment inquiry investigation against President Biden. The House Oversight Committee is set to hold its first public hearing as part of the inquiry on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

Neither the White House nor the Justice Department immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Hunter Biden received $250K wire from Beijing with beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden’s Delaware home

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden received wires originating in Beijing for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019—wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating the Biden family business dealings and Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in those ventures. 

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATE TEXTS HINT AT PUSH TO ‘GET JOE INVOLVED,’ MAKE IT LOOK LIKE ‘TRULY FAMILY BUSINESS’

As part of the investigation, Comer subpoenaed financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing, China and linked to BHR Partners.

BHR Partners is a joint-venture between Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca and Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital. BHR Partners is a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited. Hunter Biden sat on the Board of Directors of BHR Partners.

The first wire sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin. There is a Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated August 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng—also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners—and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden, with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." In Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for Joe Biden.

Comer and the House Oversight Committee have obtained bank records as part of their investigation revealing that the Biden family and their business associates received millions of dollars from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan during the Obama administration. 

Fox News Digital has also learned that the committee has records revealing that from 2014 to 2019, the Biden family and their associates received $24 million in foreign payments--$15 million to the Bidens, and $9 million for their business associates, $4 million than previously known 

Committee aides told Fox News Digital that beneficiary addresses are either the address listed to the recipient account, or listed by the individual sending the wire. It is unclear, based on the wire records, who listed the address.

Hunter Biden spent a period of time in 2017, 2018 and 2019 living at the Biden family home in Wilmington. It is unclear if he was living at the home at the time of the wire transfers in July and August 2019.

The wires were sent just several months after then-Vice President Joe Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, in August 2019, said he "never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period." 

As for Jonathan Li, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, Joe Biden sat down for coffee in Beijing with the BHR CEO. Archer also testified that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li’s daughter to Georgetown. Archer also said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for at least one call with Li, in addition to meeting for coffee. 

Separately, Fox News Digital first reported in 2022 that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li's son to Brown University.

EXCLUSIVE: BIDEN WROTE COLLEGE RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR SON OF HUNTER'S CHINESE BUSINESS PARTNER, EMAILS REVEAL

"Bank records don’t lie but President Joe Biden does," Comer told Fox News Digital. 

"In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing, and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children," Comer said.

"Joe Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing? Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the First Family’s corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

Despite Hunter Biden receiving more than a quarter of a million dollars in the summer of 2019 from BHR-linked individuals, in October 2019, then-attorney for Hunter Biden George Mesires explained Hunter’s role at the company by saying he "served only as a member of the board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets."

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

"It was an unpaid position," Mesires said on Oct. 13, 2019. "In October 2017, Hunter committed to invest approximately $420,000 USD (as of 10/12/2019) to acquire a 10% equity position in BHR, which he still holds. To date, Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest."

Hunter resigned from the board of BHR at the end of October 2019.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

The White House, attorneys for Hunter Biden, and Mesires did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The White House maintains that the president was "never in business with his son."

The subpoenaed financial records come amid House Republicans' impeachment inquiry investigation against President Biden. 

Hunter Biden sues Rudy Giuliani over laptop, accuses ex-Trump lawyer of ‘hacking’

Hunter Biden on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani alleging the former President Trump lawyer violated his privacy rights by illegally disseminating content from Biden's infamous laptop.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California states Giuliani is "primarily responsible" for the "total annihilation" of Biden's digital privacy. It also names Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who previously represented Giuliani, as a defendant, Fox News has confirmed. 

"For the past many months and even years, Defendants have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff's devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff's alleged ‘laptop’ computer," Biden's attorneys wrote in the complaint, claiming that the data was not even from a "laptop," but from an "external drive."

The contents of this "external drive" include pictures, videos, emails and other data that since their initial publication by the New York Post in 2020, have paced Biden in legal jeopardy and caused political problems for this father, President Biden.

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Giuliani and Costello have openly acknowledged that they obtained copies of files from a hard drive device that Biden allegedly left at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. Giuliani provided that information to the Post in October 2020, which published a story based on Hunter Biden's emails that implicated President Biden in a business deal with a Ukrainian company that had hired Hunter on its board. 

House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden based on claims that he used his position, then as vice president, to deter Ukrainian prosecutors from investigating the company that his son worked for. GOP lawmakers further allege, based on their follow-up investigations, that the president was involved in several business deals arranged by his son Hunter. 

The president has repeatedly denied any involvement in his son's business dealings.

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Hunter Biden's attorneys previously issued cease-and-desist letters to Giuliani and others who obtained and disseminated the laptop's contents.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to prevent Giuliani and others from accessing, tampering with, manipulating or copying Biden's data and have them return the "device/hard drive" to Biden, along with any backup files, cloud files or copies of the same data.

Neither attorneys for Hunter Biden nor a representative for Giuliani immediately responded to a request for comment. 

The lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest effort from Biden and his lawyers to hit back after leaks of the information catapulted his sordid private life onto the front page of many conservative media outlets.

HUNTER BIDEN SUES FORMER WH AIDE FOR ALTERING, PUBLISHING ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ PHOTOS FROM THE LAPTOP HE DENIES IS HIS

Earlier this month, the president's son sued former President Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, alleging that Ziegler and his company spread "tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings" that were considered "pornographic" from the device.

In March, Biden initiated a countersuit asserting that the Wilmington, Delaware, computer repair shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, had unlawfully disseminated Biden's personal information, and leveled six invasion of privacy charges against him. Mac Isaac first filed a lawsuit against the president’s son — as well as CNN, Politico, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.— in October 2022 for defamation.

According to Mac Isaac, Biden did not return for the laptop within three months after dropping it off, and he could not be reached. He then alerted the FBI after seeing emails illustrating information about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s purported foreign business dealings and videos of Biden taking drugs and performing sex acts with prostitutes.

Before federal agents picked up the device, Mac Isaac made a copy of its hard drive and gave it to Giuliani the following year.

Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge last month.

Fox News' Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Five takeaways from Merrick Garland’s hours-long testimony at House Judiciary

Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee for nearly a half-dozen hours on Wednesday, fielding questions from lawmakers on the alleged politicization within the Justice Department under his leadership.

The hearing on Capitol Hill began at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday and lasted through the late afternoon.

AG GARLAND SLAPS DOWN 2 TIERS OF JUSTICE NARRATIVE IN OPENING STATEMENT AHEAD OF HOUSE TESTIMONY

Here are highlights from the hearing.

Garland was pressed by Republicans, as they lead an impeachment inquiry against President Biden and investigate allegations of corruption within the Biden family and surrounding the federal investigation into the First Son, on his involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation.

Garland stressed that he is "not the president’s lawyer," and that the Justice Department’s "job is to follow the facts and the law, and that is what we do."

"I promised the Senate that I would not interfere… I would not influence the investigation," Garland said. "I do not intend to discuss internal Justice Department deliberations, whether or not I had them."

Garland also said he does not know "the specifics of the investigation." 

AG GARLAND TESTIFIES THAT WEISS HAD FULL AUTHORITY IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE, BUT NEVER DISCUSSED SPECIFICS

Garland repeatedly said during the first hours of his testimony that he never had discussions with Weiss about the investigation, and said the prosecutor had the necessary tools to continue his years-long probe into President Biden’s son.

But whistleblowers testified to Congress that Weiss had requested special counsel authority from the Justice Department back in 2022, but was denied.

In August, Garland ultimately granted Weiss that authority.

"Mr. Weiss asked to be made special counsel. I had promised that I would give him all the resources he needed, and I made him special counsel," Garland testified Wednesday.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, highlighted Hunter's business dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and noted that the DOJ had allowed the statute of limitations to lapse on any potential tax crimes Hunter may have committed during the time he served on the board of that company.

The DOJ had been considering tax charges against Hunter Biden for failing to pay income tax for 2014 and 2015—the years he served on the board. At the time, Hunter Biden did not report "approximately $400,000" in income he collected from his position on the board of Burisma Holdings.

JIM JORDAN GRILLS AG GARLAND OVER ALLOWING HUNTER BIDEN'S POTENTIAL BURISMA CHARGES TO 'LAPSE'

Garland refused to answer Jordan's questions directly, instead deflecting to future statements by Special Counsel David Weiss.

"Mr. Weiss was the supervisor of the investigation at that time and at all times," Garland repeated. "He made the appropriate decisions. You'll be able to ask him that question."

"We all know why they did it," Jordan said. "Everyone knows why they did it … those tax years, that involved the president. It's one thing to have a gun charge in Delaware. That doesn't involve the President of the United States. But Burisma? Oh, my, that goes right to the White House."

Jordan was referring to information House Republicans have gleaned from their investigation into Biden’s alleged corruption and involvement in his son’s business dealings.

Garland had a contentious exchange with Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-N.J., regarding the Justice Department's handling of investigations into Catholic and pro-life groups.

"Do you agree that traditional Catholics are violent extremists, yes or no?" Van Drew asked, referring to an anti-Catholic memo that circulated in the FBI and led to agents undercover at Catholic Churches.

"Attorney General … I ask you do you agree that traditional Catholics are violent extremists?" Van Drew repeated.

"I have no idea what ‘traditional’ means here," Garland said before becoming animated. "The idea that someone with my family background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous – so absurd that you would ask me that question."

Garland comes from a family of Jewish immigrants who fled antisemitism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century.

AG GARLAND FLIPS OUT AT GOP LAWMAKER OVER ACCUSATIONS OF ANTI-CATHOLIC BIAS: 'OUTRAGEOUS'

"It was your FBI that did this. It was your FBI that was sending – and we have the memos, we have the emails – undercover agents into Catholic churches," Van Drew asserted.

"Both I and the director of the FBI have said that we were appalled by that memo," Garland said.

The pair then spoke over each other for an extended period, with Van Drew repeatedly asking, "Are they extremists or not, attorney general?"

"Catholics are not extremists, no," Garland ultimately said in a frustrated tone.
 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, grilled Garland on whether the Justice Department has stopped its alleged targeting of parents at school board meetings.

Roy was referring to Garland’s October 2021 memo that directed the FBI and federal officials to address violence and threats of violence against those on school boards and school administrators.

AG GARLAND DEFENDS DOJ FROM ACCUSATIONS OF TARGETING PRO-LIFE GROUPS, PARENTS IN FIERY TESTIMONY

When asked if that memo had been rescinded, Garland said: "There's nothing to rescind," while stressing it said "nothing about parents being terrorists, nothing about attending school boards."

Roy went on to note that the DOJ had prosecuted 126 instances of alleged crimes by pro-life groups but only four instances of alleged crimes by pro-choice groups under Garland's tenure.

Roy turned to the case of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist who was arrested "in front of his wife and children" by heavily armed FBI agents. Houck faced 11 years in prison for demonstrating outside an abortion clinic, but he was later acquitted.

Roy noted that the jury in Houck's case met for just one hour before acquitting him. He then asked whether Garland had investigated why his department wasted resources on such a case.

"The Justice Department respects the jury's verdict. The accusations in that case were made by agents and prosecutors on the ground," Garland responded.