According to allegations put forward by an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower, Hunter Biden purportedly sent a Whatsapp message to a Chinese businessman during a dispute, indicating that he was in the presence of his father and leveraging his father’s name and connections to coerce compliance with Hunter’s instructions.
The message recipient was Henry Zhao, a Chinese business associate of Hunter with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
If these allegations are accurate, they will contradict President Joe Biden’s repeated assertions that he has never been involved in or discussed his son’s business endeavors.
On June 22, the House Ways and Means Committee revealed significant whistleblower claims, contending that the IRS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) displayed preferential treatment towards Hunter Biden.
The allegations further suggest that there was interference in the investigation, aiming to protect Hunter Biden by avoiding search warrants or filing charges against him.
In the testimony provided by Gary Shapley, an official at the IRS, it was stated that during an investigation into a felony tax fraud case involving Hunter Biden, they could “authenticate” a WhatsApp message sent by Biden to Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017.
Henry Zhao, also known as Zhao Xuejun, is the president and CEO of Harvest Capital Management, an investment firm based in Beijing.
He is also the head of the Chinese Communist Party cell within the firm.
Zhao’s company was involved in establishing BHR Partners, an investment firm based in Shanghai, in which Hunter Biden had also played a role.
According to his lawyers, Hunter Biden was not paid for his service as a board member of BHR and he left in April 2020.
In 2021, Hunter Biden divested a 10 percent holding he had in the company.
According to Shapley’s testimony, the message from Hunter Biden to Zhao appears to be a demand for payment.
The younger Biden allegedly wrote, “I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled.” He desired to resolve the matter before it escalated, stating he wanted the issue resolved that evening.
Biden also warned he only wanted to hear from Zhao, “Zhang, or the chairman” and any action to intervene, he would ensure they would regret not following his instructions, invoking his connections and the ability to hold grudges.
The nature of the dispute that led to the abovementioned communication remains uncertain. However, if the alleged exchange is indeed authentic, it contradicts the consistent claims made by the president regarding his lack of involvement in Hunter Biden’s business affairs.
In 2019, Joe Biden stated, that he never discussed business interests with any family members including his brother Jim or Hunter.
According to the whistleblower, messages such as the one mentioned earlier prompted the IRS to seek authorization to search Joe Biden’s guest house, where Hunter had resided for a period.
However, during a meeting in September 2020, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official informed the IRS investigators that obtaining a search warrant for evidence was highly unlikely due to the significant consideration given to optics.
At the time, Joe Biden was a candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
