Hunter Biden announced Sunday that he will resign from the board of a Chinese-backed private equity company, just days after President Trump criticized him for his work there.
The son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is embroiled in a scandal over his work in Ukraine, also vowed to forego all foreign work if his father wins the 2020 presidential election.
“Hunter always understood that his father would be guided, entirely and unequivocally, by established U.S. policy, regardless of its effects on Hunter’s professional interests,” reads a statement released by Hunter’s lawyer George Mesires. “He never anticipated the barrage of false charges against both him and his father by the President of the United States.”
Hunter served on the board of BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company, which is backed by several Chinese state-owned companies. In the statement, his lawyer said Hunter invested “approximately $420,000 in October 2017 to acquire a 10% equity position in BHR, which he still holds.”
But the lawyer said Hunter has never been paid by the company.
“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. Moreover, Hunter played no role in directing or making BHR’s investments. Hunter intends to resign from the BHR board of directors on or by October 31, 2019,” Mesires wrote.
Trump, meanwhile, claims Biden made $1.5 billion in China for the private equity firm after he flew there in 2013 with his father aboard Air Force Two. Hunter has admitted in the past that he met with Jonathan Li, a Chinese banker who is a partner in a Chinese investment fund, during the 2013 trip, but says it was merely a social visit.
The president on Sunday ripped Biden’s son on Twitter, saying he has “disappeared” since the scandals have emerged.
“Where’s Hunter? He has totally disappeared!” Trump tweeted. “Now looks like he has raided and scammed even more countries! Media is AWOL.”
Where’s Hunter? He has totally disappeared! Now looks like he has raided and scammed even more countries! Media is AWOL.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2019
The president’s statement is accurate, according to law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University.
“For news shows on MSNBC, CNN and other cable networks, nothing is more disgusting than the mention of what Hunter Biden actually was doing in Ukraine,” Turley writes in The Hill. “What is most remarkable about the paucity of coverage of Hunter Biden’s dealings is the conclusory mantra that, ‘This has all been investigated.’”
Turley also pointed out that the Biden campaign is pressuring news organizations to stop running stories on the subject.
“Indeed, the Biden campaign has been remarkably open in demanding that news organizations stop airing interviews or publishing articles about the allegations,” Turley write. “Instead of calling it ‘fake news’ (which is virtually copyrighted by Trump), the Biden campaign calls such coverage ‘conspiracy theories.’”
The statement released Sunday said Hunter will pledge not to perform foreign work if his father is elected.
“Hunter makes the following commitment: Under a Biden Administration, Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests. In any event, Hunter will agree not to serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign owned companies,” said the statement.
“He will continue to keep his father personally uninvolved in his business affairs, while availing himself as necessary and appropriate to the Office of the White House Counsel to help inform his application of the Biden Administration’s guidelines or standards to his business decision-making.”