FIRST ON FOX: President Biden’s embattled son was invited to accompany his dad and aunt to Ireland this week, despite continued scrutiny over the Biden family’s foreign business dealings and dual investigations.
In 2011, Hunter’s partners at his now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners discussed making contacts to expand their energy investments in various state-owned investment funds, including in China, Ireland, Oman and Qatar, according to emails reviewed by Fox News Digital.
On March 8, 2011, Eric Schwerin, the firm’s former president, sent Hunter and then-CEO Devon Archer an email containing the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute’s (SWFI) current list of the top sovereign wealth fund, which are state owned, and their rankings at the time.
“Let’s discuss today what else we can be doing to connect with these groups,” Archer responded, adding that Rosemont Seneca was “already working” with several funds on the list, including two in China.
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
BIDEN’S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN
“China Social Security-following up with Jonathan Li to see if there’s viability,” Archer wrote to Schwerin and Hunter, referring to the National Social Security Fund in China, which had over $146 billion in assets at the time, according to the SWFI list, and Hunter’s Chinese business partner, Li, whom Biden briefly met in China more than 2 years later.
In December 2013, then-Vice President Biden traveled to Beijing due to a scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Hunter expressed interest in joining his father on the trip and ended up going, where he admitted to the New Yorker that he introduced his father to Li, who ran the Chinese private-equity fund Bohai Capital.
According to the report, Hunter arranged for a brief handshake in the lobby of the hotel where the U.S. delegation was staying and then Hunter met up with Li privately.
Archer’s March 2011 email to Hunter and Schwerin added he was scheduling a meeting for that April with the China Investment Corporation, China’s largest sovereign wealth fund that manages part of the government’s foreign exchange reserves.
“CIC- scheduling meeting for April 21st,” Archer wrote.
The SWFI list said CIC had over $332 billion in assets at the time of Archer’s email.
U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and his son Hunter Biden (2nd L) attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Another sovereign wealth fund mentioned on the SWFI list was the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) in Ireland, which had $33 billion in assets at the time. The NPRF was a public pension fund that later became the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) in 2014, according to Investopedia.
In March 2011, Devon Archer’s March 2011 email to Hunter and Schwerin added he was scheduling a meeting for that April with the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s largest sovereign wealth fund. (Fox News Digital)
Archer suggested that someone from Rosemont Seneca reach out to Dan Rooney, the then-U.S. ambassador to Ireland, who was appointed by Obama in 2009, in order to gain connections to the Irish government.
“Ideas we could follow-up on,” Archer wrote. “Ireland- ask for intro through Rooney.”
Schwerin then suggested to Devon and Hunter that an informal meeting with Rooney could be arranged during the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Washington, D.C., the following week.
Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner Eric Schwerin said in a 2011 email that he believed there may be “some opportunities to informally connect to Rooney,” referring to now-deceased U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, for some investment opportunities in Ireland. (Fox News Digital)
“Ireland – I assume there may be some opportunities to informally connect to Rooney, et. al. at the St. Patrick’s Day stuff next week and then formally follow up afterwards?”
Archer then joked that they should use a mashup video of comments by Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen as their “pitch.”
“We should use this in our pitch,” he said, linking to the video.
Fox News Digital asked the White House whether it was aware of the 2011 email before the Ireland trip, or whether it could guarantee Hunter would not use the trip to further his financial interests, but it declined to respond.
It is unclear whether Hunter and his now-defunct firm were successful with any potential business ventures in Ireland. Rooney passed away in 2017.
News of the email comes as Biden travels Ireland with Hunter, and his sister and former campaign manager, Valerie Biden Owens, on his first presidential trip to Ireland to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Bidens boarded Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Tuesday and headed for the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast for a four-day tour of the country in an effort to “keep the peace” in the region.
President Joe Biden gestures before he walked over to talk with reporters before boarding Air Force One, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden walks to board Air Force One, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, with his son Hunter Biden, left, and sister Valerie Biden at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Biden was asked by reporters on the tarmac whether any family members were accompanying him on the trip, but he didn’t give names.
“Just two of my family members who haven’t been there before,” he responded.