Jordan, Comer press DOJ for docs on bribery conviction for Hunter Biden associate

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Tuesday wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking materials related to the investigation into Patrick Ho, an associate of first son Hunter Biden who was convicted of bribery in 2019.

Ho previously served as the head of an NGO backed by CEFC China Energy, a now-defunct firm that has come under scrutiny over alleged dealings with the Biden family.

"On December 5, 2018, Mr. Ho was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, money laundering, and conspiracy for paying millions of dollars in bribes to top government officials in Chad and Uganda to secure oil rights for CEFC China Energy (CEFC)," the pair wrote to Garland. "At the time, Mr. Ho was the head of a U.S.-based non-governmental organization funded by CEFC. On March 25, 2019, the federal court sentenced Mr. Ho to three years in prison and fined him $400,000. On June 8, 2020, Mr. Ho was released from prison and deported to Hong Kong. The last activity in Mr. Ho's case appears to have occurred on June 28, 2021, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined Mr. Ho's request to hear his appeal."

"Information obtained by the Committees indicate that prosecutors sought to keep the Biden name out of Mr. Ho's trial. First, as the Oversight Committee previously noted, prosecutors in Mr. Ho's case seemingly redacted Hunter Biden's name from evidence used at trial. During Mr. Ho's trial, former president of the United Nations General Assembly Vuk Jeremic testified that following his term as president, he worked as a consultant for CEFC, which involved 'opening doors' for CEFC by 'introducing company executives to the business or political leadership of various countries,'" they continued. "As part of this work, in December 2015, Mr. Jeremic 'attempted to introduce Chairman Ye and CEFC to Hunter Biden and his associates.'"

"During the trial, a prosecutor requested that the judge redact from an email between Ho and Jeremic that DOJ intended to introduce into evidence the name of 'an individual that Mr. Jeremic was willing to bring to a dinner with the chairman Mr. Ye,'" Jordan and Comer asserted that the unnamed individual was likely Hunter Biden.

"In the years immediately preceding Mr. Ho's trial and during his trial, Hunter Biden was closely connected to both Mr. Ho and CEFC. Mr. Biden’s business relationship with CEFC is lengthy and well-documented, and resulted in Mr. Biden receiving millions of dollars without providing an identifiable product or service," Comer and Jordan went on. "Additionally, Mr. Ho paid Hunter Biden $1 million to serve as his legal counsel, though it is not clear what work Mr. Biden actually performed—especially since Mr. Biden is not a licensed attorney in New York—aside from hiring another law firm to represent Mr. Ho. Mr. Biden reportedly agreed to represent Mr. Ho after CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming expressed 'concern that U.S. law-enforcement agencies were investigating one of his associates, Patrick Ho.'"

"Additionally, Mr. Ho's criminal activity was conducted as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. An alleged infrastructure development program, the Belt and Road Initiative has 'the ultimate goal of advancing Chinese global dominance,' and represents a major threat to America’s national security," they asserted. "Concerningly, despite this threat, evidence suggests that CEFC was paying Mr. Biden and James Biden for 'use of the Biden name to promote China’s Belt and Road Initiative around the world[.]'"

Both Republicans further highlighted revelations of Biden family activity that appeared to undercut the claim that Joe Biden was not involved in the first family's myriad foreign dealings.

The pair specifically asked that Garland provide them with "the unredacted email between Vuk Jeremic and Patrick Ho regarding “an individual that Mr. Jeremic was willing to bring to a dinner with the chairman Mr. Ye" as well as the contents of Ho's iPad. The Republicans set a deadline of March 5 for Garland to comply.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.