Hunter Biden, Business Partners Lobbied U.S. Government on Behalf of Romanian Businessman, Prosecutors Say

Hunter Biden and one of his business partners crafted a scheme to dodge U.S. foreign-lobbying laws and shield then–vice president Joe Biden from the consequences of their lucrative agreement to lobby the U.S. government on behalf of a Romanian businessman accused of corruption, federal prosecutors said in court papers filed Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors filed a response to a pre-trial motion from Hunter Biden’s attorneys seeking to exclude political-corruption allegations from his criminal tax trial set to begin next month and laid out the evidence allegedly showing that Hunter Biden acted on behalf of a foreign client to influence U.S. government policy.

The government anticipates testimony from one of Hunter Biden’s business associates about an agreement with Romanian oligarch Gabriel Popoviciu claiming the business associate’s legal entity would be managing Romanian real estate, to shield the fact that Popoviciu would pay Hunter Biden and his business partners to lobby U.S. officials to investigate the Romanian investigation into Popoviciu and bring it to an end, prosecutors said.

The evidence is relevant to the tax case because it establishes certain income that Biden received, and it demonstrates that he was not in a diminished mental capacity at the time, even though he was addicted to crack cocaine, according to prosecutors.

“The government does not intend to reference allegations at trial. Rather, the government will introduce the evidence described above, including that the defendant and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of G.P. in Romania,” prosectors explained.

“Moreover, the evidence of what the defendant agreed to do and did do for G.P. demonstrates the defendant’s state of mind and intent during the relevant tax years charged in the indictment. It is also evidence that the defendant’s actions do not reflect someone with a diminished capacity, given that he agreed to attempt to influence U.S. public policy and receive millions of dollars pursuant to an oral agreement with Business Associate 1 in an arrangement that concealed the true nature of the work he was performing,” prosecutors added.

Nonetheless, prosecutors will not be accusing him of violating Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) laws or improperly coordinating policy with the Obama administration, even though the agreement was designed for Biden to avoid foreign-agent registration.

“The government will introduce evidence that Business Associate 1 structured a business relationship in an effort to avoid having to register as a foreign agent, and that the defendant and his business partners did reach out to government officials, specifically the United States Department of State. That evidence is relevant because it establishes that the defendant received income, when he earned the income, and his state of mind was not consistent with someone with a diminished capacity,” prosecutors asserted in the court filing.

“The introduction of that evidence, however, does not mean that the government will also reference allegations that the defendant violated FARA and that contacts with government officials were improper; such allegations are not relevant to the charges in this tax case. The defendant’s motion as to these issues is therefore moot.”

Bank records released by the House Oversight Committee last year indicate the business associate in question is Rob Walker, whose company received $3 million worth of payments from Popoviciu beginning in November 2015 and ending in May 2017.

All but one of the payments occurred when Joe Biden, Hunter’s father, was vice president during the Obama administration, and roughly $1 million of the funds went to Hunter Biden. The payments from Popoviciu were briefly mentioned in the sweeping indictment last year listing the nine federal tax charges against Biden, three of which are felonies. Walker’s statements were included in discovery that Justice Department turned over to Biden’s attorneys in May, prosecutor Derek Hines said in a sworn declaration.

In addition to Hunter Biden’s Romanian business dealings, income he received from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings and from Chinese infrastructure conglomerate CEFC will be introduced at the tax trial, but he will not be accused of lobbying for those two entities.

“This evidence will not include evidence that the defendant performed lobbying activity in exchange for this compensation. Rather, the evidence will show the defendant performed almost no work in exchange for the millions of dollars he received from these entities,” prosecutors asserted.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the tax charges, and his trial is set to begin in early September, two months before his scheduled sentencing for his federal gun conviction. His lucrative foreign business dealings and a trove of emails from his abandoned laptop archive will likely feature prominently at the tax trial.