The Wall Street Journal newsroom has found that texts and emails recently given to the publication by Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, provide no evidence that Joe ever used his political standing as a former vice president to aid Hunter's business dealings in China.
The publication initially reported on Bobulinski's records in its opinion section with author Kimberley A. Strassel stating that Bobulinski claimed to have met Joe to discuss Hunter's Chinese business dealings.
Bobulinski also said that in a May 2017 email, Hunter sought to get Joe 10 percent equity from Sinohawk Holdings, a holding company in which Bobulinski served as CEO and which sought a joint venture with the Chinese oil company CEFC China Energy.
Following the publication of the opinion article, Wall Street Journal reporters Andrew Duehren and James T. Areddy wrote a news article stating, "The venture—set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign—never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden."
Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told the publication, "Joe Biden has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever. He has never held stock in any such business arrangements nor has any family member or any other person ever held stock for him."
However, the Biden campaign hasn't yet said whether Joe ever personally met with Bobulinski. Newsweek contacted the Biden campaign for comment.
Bobulinski was recruited for the venture in December 2015 by James Gilliar, one of Hunter's business associates. Bobulinski gave the Journal a May 2017 email from Gilliar stating that Hunter sought to get "the big guy," Joe Biden, 10 percent of equity from the venture.
However, Gilliar told the Journal, "I am unaware of any involvement at any time of the former Vice President. The activity in question never delivered any project revenue."
In the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election, the re-election campaign of Republican President Donald Trump has repeatedly made allegations of corruption between Joe and Hunter during Joe Biden's tenure as vice president in the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama.
The Trump campaign has repeatedly promoted recent New York Post articles alleging that Hunter sought to leverage Joe's vice presidential role to aid his business dealings in China and Ukraine. The Post's articles have been based on emails that haven't been authenticated by any mainstream journalistic outlet.
When asked about the allegations during the third and final presidential debate, Joe responded, "Nothing was unethical... Every single solitary person, when [Trump] was going through his impeachment, testifying under oath who worked for [Trump], said I did my job impeccably. I carried out U.S. policy. Not one single solitary thing was out of line, not a single thing."
Biden then noted that Trump was impeached by the U.S. House in January 2020 for abuse of power after Trump asked the Ukrainian president to open a corruption investigation into Biden, a move blasted as an attempt to injure a political rival rather more than root out corruption in the country.
