Romanian corruption paid Biden family $1M while Joe Biden pushed anti-corruption in Romania.

Romanian Businessman Funneled Over $1 Million to Biden Family During Anti-Corruption Campaign

A House Oversight Committee investigation has revealed that a Romanian businessman charged in a bribery scheme funneled more than $1 million to Hunter Biden and other Biden family members while then-vice president Joe Biden preached anti-corruption measures in Romania.

According to the report, Gabriel Popoviciu wired more than $3 million to the account of longtime Biden associate Rob Walker from November 2015 to May 2017. Of that, Walker wired $1,038,627 to the accounts of Hunter Biden, his uncle Jim Biden, and his late brother’s widow, Hallie Biden. Sixteen of the 17 wire payments were made while Joe Biden was in office.

This is not the first time a foreign national has been linked to paying Hunter Biden during his father’s White House tenure. Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company investigated for bribery, hired the younger Biden to serve on its board of directors in 2014, when Joe Biden was in charge of anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine.

Republicans are calling for a Justice Department investigation into what they are calling a massive money-laundering operation, in which more than $10 million in foreign money was funneled to the Biden family through a network of shell companies. In addition to the Popoviciu wires, Republicans detailed millions of dollars in wire transfers to Biden family entities from the Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC China Energy.

While Joe Biden was publicly pressuring Romanian leaders on corruption, his son was taking millions from a scandal-plagued businessman. Hunter Biden and his associates began working for Popoviciu in 2015, as Popoviciu faced an investigation for fraud and bribery. The younger Biden recruited former FBI director Louis Freeh, a longtime family friend, to work on the case. Freeh leaned on his FBI contacts, State Department officials, and Romanian officials to intervene in the case, according to emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.

Popoviciu was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of fraud and bribery in 2017.

The Oversight Committee subpoenaed bank records as part of its investigation into the Biden family’s foreign business deals. Republicans said they are also investigating Hunter Biden’s relationship with Vuk Jeremić, a former Serbian foreign minister who worked for CEFC China Energy. Jeremić contacted Biden in December 2015 to arrange a meeting with CEFC chairman Ye Jianming.