New York Post - USA (2020-10-25)

New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020

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Hunter, in his own angry texts, makes
clear that his contribution is his name.
He rails at Bobulinski that the CEFC
heads are “coming to be MY partner
to be partners with the Bidens.” He re-
minds him “that in this instance only
one player holds the trump card and
that’s me. May not be fair but it’s the
reality because I’m the only one put-
ting an entire family legacy on the
line.” Gilliar privately tells Bobulinski
to show flexibility, since “I know why
[CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming] wants
the deal and what makes it enormous,
It’s the family name.”
CEFC was closely entwined with the
Chinese government and military un-
til it went bankrupt, following US
charges of money laundering. There
is no question CEFC was buying
Hunter for influence.
Joe Biden claims he has never dis-
cussed his son’s business. Yet a May
2017 “expectations” document shows
Hunter receiving 20 percent of the eq-
uity in the venture and holding an-
other 10 percent for “the big guy”—
who Bobulinski attests is Joe Biden.
In one text, Hunter says that “my
Chairman gave an emphatic NO” to
a version of the deal. Walker, Hunter’s
partner, explains in a text to Bobulin-
ski that when Hunter “said his chair-
man he was talking about his dad.”
Bobulinski’s texts show he even met

JOE KNOW?

But the media keeps ignoring the story

with Joe Biden. Gilliar reminds him in

May 2017: “Don’t mention Joe being

involved, it’s only when u are face to

face, I know u know that but they are

paranoid.” Biden had left office by

then, though CEFC was always a sus-

picious company with ties to a rival

government. It would have been risky

for any public figure to deal with it,

much less a potential presidential can-

didate.

The deal fell through on the Chinese

end in the summer of 2017. CEFC was

supposed to supply $10 million; it

never arrived. This is where the John-

son report comes in. The Senate re-

port notes that CEFC wired $5 million

to a company called Hudson West in

August 2017. The report says an asso-

ciate of CEFC Chairman Ye in Sep-

tember opened a line of credit under

Hudson West’s name, and Hunter, Jim

Biden and Jim Biden’s wife, Sara, were

given credit cards associated with the

account, and bought items totaling

more than $100,000.

The report says Hudson West also

sent $4.7 million in “consulting fees”

to Jim Biden’s law firm over the course

of a year. Bobulinski suspects Hunter

and Jim had found an easier way to

cash in on their name, one that didn’t

involve pesky partners and complex

deals. He sent a furious text to Jim

Biden after the release of the Senate

report, accusing Hunter and Jim of

“lying” to their partners and secretly

taking money from CEFC. The FBI last

year subpoenaed Hunter’s laptop. A

call to Hunter Biden’s attorney was

not returned by deadline.

All of this is news. The press corps

that is ignoring it spent four years

writing about Donald Trump’s Mos-

cow business. The correspondence

meanwhile blows up Rep. Adam

Schiff ’s claim that the Hunter story is

Russian “disinformation.” It raises real

concerns about what security risks

Hunter might pose for a Biden admin-

istration. And it raises questions about

Joe Biden’s involvement.

The former vice president is run-

ning on trust and good judgment. The

Hunter tale is at best the story of a

wayward son and indulgent father. At

worst, it is an example of the entire

Biden clan cashing in on its name with

a US rival. As Joe Biden refuses to an-

swer questions about this case, voters

will have to make up their own minds.

But given Hunter’s exploits in China,

Ukraine, Kazakhstan and elsewhere,

much more is yet to come — in the

next week and a half and potentially

in a Biden presidency.

This piece has been reprinted with permission of

The Wall Street Journal ©2020, Dow Jones &

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Chatter

Bag baloney

In the middle of a pandemic,

the state has banned plastic

bags and wants people to bring

used, unwashed, reusable bags

from home, which could help

spread the contagion (“No bag

of tricks,” Oct. 16).

This is right up there with

Gov. Cuomo sending COVID-

positive patients to nursing

homes, but worse — because

there are millions who could be

potentially infected due to this

idiocy.

This confirms and proves that

the anti-plastic-bag environ-

mentalists are religious extrem-

ists, ignoring science for their

own self-righteousness, no mat-

ter the cost in human lives.

Francis Rushford, Brooklyn

Playing with COVID

The Post subhead “COVID-19

fears turning NYC playgrounds

into war zones” is true, but

there’s only one reason for this

protect-yourself-at-all-times dy-

namic pitting parents against

parents. It’s the non-maskers

(“Park worse than bite,” Oct. 21).

I’m a parent of a 5-year-old

and, sadly, my experiences on

New York City’s playgrounds

have kept me from taking my

kid to one for months.

To call parents like me “Ka-

rens,” as Lauren Conlin does,

because I’m wary of other kids,

including her non-mask-wear-

ing 2-year-old, is too easy.

You’re not a Karen when you’re

being vigilant about your kid’s

health.

Go to any playground in the

city and you’ll see parents and

kids not wearing masks. All

blame goes to the parents.

I’m not sure if their lax behav-

ior is a stand against New York

City’s liberal politics or if

they’re just oblivious, which is a

sin during a pandemic.

Whatever justification these

parents may have for taking off

their own masks and letting

their kids run maskless and

wild, it’s just not good enough.

While playgrounds aren’t on

the front line of this battle,

they’re representative of the

cavalier irresponsibility that

will continue to sicken and kill

American parents and kids.

Adam Berlin, Manhattan

Social safety

As we all mourn the terrible

shooting death of Houston Po-

lice Sgt. Harold Preston, it

makes me think more about the

ongoing political chatter re-

garding sending social workers

out on domestic disturbance

calls (“One cop killed, second

injured in Houston standoff,”

Oct. 20).

My younger son is a social

worker and my older son is a

pastor. As a 68-year-old father

and former mayor, I would

think twice about rolling the

dice by dispatching my un-

armed sons or your son or

daughter into an explosive trap

like this one that fatally am-

bushed Sgt. Preston.

Mike Sawyer, Denver, Colo.

McCray away

Thanks for the amazing news

that Chirlane McCray won’t be

running for Brooklyn borough

president (“Blasio’s free ride is

over,” Michael Goodwin, Oct. 18).

Her staff ’s combined salary is

$2 million per year, but the city

can’t afford weekend street

trash pickups? What a beautiful

day it will be to see McCray and

Mayor de Blasio gone.

Carol Meltzer, Manhattan

F’book’s censors

It has come to light that Chi-

nese nationals are working on

censorship for Facebook — an

area I am sure they are well-

versed in (“FB’s Chinese censor

team,” Sohrab Ahmari, Oct. 21).

However, to see this happen

in America is a disgrace. CEO

Mark Zuckerberg and his part-

ner-in-crime Sheryl Sandberg

take us for fools.

Facebook, Twitter and other

tech media need to lose their

Section 230 protection. It is time

for Congress to get off their duff

and protect our freedom.

Glen Benjamin, Suffern

AP