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Breitbart editor: Biden’s son inked deal with Chinese government days after vice president’s trip

by John Bowden - 03/15/18 2:49 PM ET

A private equity firm managed by the son of former Vice President Joe Biden struck a deal with China’s state-owned bank in 2013 at the same time that Biden was in the country to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hunter Biden, who arrived in China aboard Air Force Two alongside the vice president and the rest of the U.S. delegation, was at the time in control of Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC., a private equity firm that would go on to strike a deal with the state-owned Bank of China to create a $1 billion joint investment fund.

In excerpts from his upcoming book, “Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends,” Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Peter Schweizer writes that the China deal was part of a trend of high-stakes deals between the sons’ investment firm — under the Rosemont entities umbrella — and foreign governments that were also in the middle of striking deals with the Obama administration.

Hunter Biden controlled the Rosemont entities, which describes itself as “a $2.4 billion private equity firm.”

In 2011, Hunter Biden met with top Chinese government fund leaders alongside managing partner Devon Archer and James Bulger, the nephew of notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, who controls a Massachusetts-based consultancy firm. The meeting took place just hours before the vice president would meet with Hu Jintao, then China’s president, in Washington as part of a nuclear security summit.

A second meeting that year between Hunter Biden and other top Chinese officials would occur in Taiwan, just two weeks after the vice president opened up strategic talks with China in Washington.

In 2013, the younger Biden would be part of an official U.S. delegation to the country. Ten days later, Rosemont entities inked a $1 billion deal with the bank of China. The deal was eventually increased to $1.5 billion.

Deals made by the firm — co-owned by the government of China and the two sons of top American officials — would go on to have serious national security implications for the United States. One such deal was with the automotive subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a major Chinese military contractor accused of frequently stealing U.S. military technology.

In late 2015, AVIC would go on to purchase 51 percent of American precision-parts manufacturer Henniges. Joe Biden’s son bought the other 49 percent in a deal that was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which includes members of numerous government agencies including the State Department.

In an email, a spokesman for Chris Heinz, John Kerry’s son by marriage, told The Hill that Heinz had “no operating role” in Rosemont Seneca, and was not involved in any of the firm’s dealings in China — contradicting Schweizer’s original reports.

“Rosemont Capital is not, and never was, a part of the Heinz Family Office and was a fully independent alternative investment fund manager,” said Heinz spokesman Chris Bastardi.

“Chris Heinz was involved in Rosemont Capital. Rosemont Seneca was established under the same GP as Rosemont Capital, but Chris Heinz had no operating role in it. Chris and his family have no financial interest or investment in Bohai Harvest RST, he has never traveled to China, and he has never met with the firm’s Chinese management team or investors.”

Joe Biden is considered by many Democrats as a top contender in 2020 to challenge President Trump, whose own sons have been involved in foreign business dealings that raise questions about foreign officials using the Trump Organization to influence the White House.

Last week, the Trump organization donated $151,470 in profits earned from foreign government patronage at its hotels and other businesses in 2017 to the U.S. Treasury, a move not required by law.

This article was updated at 4:30 p.m. to correct one meeting date and note that Chris Heinz, John Kerry’s son by marriage, was not a managing partner of Rosemont Seneca Partners or involved with Rosemont Seneca Bohai.