Tipsheet

James Biden Reveals Joe Received Thousands of Dollars From China

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  March 02, 2024 9:00 AM

Despite repeatedly claiming he has not benefited from China, President Joe Biden’s brother is arguing otherwise. 

According to transcripts released on Friday, Biden’s brother, James confirmed that the president received $40,000 from a Chinese government-linked company in 2017. 

During a February 21 interview, the first brother also revealed that Biden received money from overseas business dealings as recently as last year. 

While being questioned by House investigators, James Biden said that he did not believe the Chinese Communist Party-linked company, CEFC China Energy, was controlled by Beijing. He instead claimed that he “misspoke” during interrogation while speaking to an IRS agent in 2022. Initially, he said that the president’s son Hunter Biden, who was partnering with James, had described CEFC executive Ye Jianming as a “protégé” of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Where did you believe the source of the money that was going into [Hunter Biden’s company] Owasco, before being sent to you, was coming from?” A House investigator asked James Biden— per the New York Post. 

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“CEFC,” James confirmed. 

James’s attorney, Paul Fishman, argued that “money’s fungible” as a House staffer reminded James that Hunter Biden “did not have sufficient funds” to repay the alleged loan of $40,000 on his own, stating that “it is traceable.”

“It was sweat equity, mainly, in dealing with him in terms of his other ventures,” James also said, referring to payments he received from Argentinian businessman Jose Luis Manzano. 

The first brother received a total of $840,000 over four wire transfers made between November 2022 and July 2023. James also said that Manzano was approached at one point about working with CEFC. 

Trending Politics has more details on James’ shady business dealings. 

The president’s brother also detailed other business ventures, some of which involved foreign nationals. James told the committee that around the time, he used a $200,000 loan from struggling rural hospital chain Americore to repay funds from another alleged loan to Joe Biden in 2018. “I was looking for investments from Qatar, again, in infrastructure projects. They were building hotels in Miami,” he said. 

The alleged loan repayment from James Biden to his brother has become a major point of interest in the House impeachment inquiry. Republicans have cited it as evidence that President Biden benefited from the overseas business ventures of his relatives, something the White House has repeatedly denied. 

Previously released bank records revealed that the bank account used by James Biden to wire the $40,000 alleged loan repayment to his brother had just $46.88 before receiving a $50,000 deposit just days before on August 28, 2017.