First son Hunter Biden invoked his father Joe’s position as vice president to help fend off charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission after it subpoenaed him in a 2016 fraud probe, according to a letter revealed Tuesday.
Ultimately, seven people, including Hunter’s associates Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, were charged with defrauding a Native American tribe — but not the younger Biden himself.
Now House Republicans involved in the impeachment inquiry of President Biden are demanding answers from the SEC.
At the time, the agency was investigating the sale of more than $60 million in fraudulent bonds for an Oglala Sioux tribal entity in South Dakota.
Trial testimony and emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop indicate that he was the vice chairman of Burnham Financial Group. Court records indicate the firm controlled Burnham Securities, which was the placement agent for the $60 million bond sale ripoff that defrauded the tribe.
On March 16, 2016, the SEC subpoenaed Hunter for all documents and communications “concerning Rosemont Seneca Bohai,” which was managed by Archer and owned a percentage of Burnham — and which Archer told congressional investigators last year had a “50-50 handshake” ownership structure between himself and Hunter.
More than a month later, on April 20, 2016, Hunter’s counsel responded to the subpoena and implored the agency to keep the matter on the down-low.
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“The confidential nature of this investigation is very important to our client and it would be unfair, not just to our client, but also to his father, the Vice President of the United States, if his involvement in an SEC investigation and parallel criminal probe were to become the subject of any media attention,” his attorney wrote in a lightly redacted letter released by the House Oversight Committee Tuesday.
“Mr. Biden’s response gratuitously invoked his father’s position as the Vice President in what could be interpreted as an effort to discourage further SEC scrutiny,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote in a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
“On May 11, 2016, the SEC published a press release—announcing the charging of seven individuals—with no mention or charging of Hunter Biden.”
“[Rosemont Seneca Bohai] was directly implicated in the tribal bond scheme,” Comer and Jordan wrote. “… The RSB bank account was used to funnel other foreign payments and benefits to Hunter Biden, including money from Ukraine and a new sports car from an oligarch in Kazakhstan.”
Galanis was sentenced in 2017 to 14 years in federal prison sentence in connection with the bond scheme.
In June 2018, Archer was convicted by a jury of two felonies and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, ordered to forfeit $15.7 million and pay restitution of $43.4 million.
Archer sought a shortened sentence in February due to his cooperation with the House GOP impeachment probe.
In addition to seeking a trove of documents — including any communications between the SEC and then-Vice President Biden’s office — Comer and Jordan are also demanding an interview with a former SEC staff attorney who led the probe and is now a principal enforcement adviser at the agency.
The SEC has until July 2 to comply with the voluntary requests.
“Chair Gensler will respond to Members of Congress directly,” an SEC spokesperson told The Post.
Earlier this month, the House GOP impeachment inquiry, which is comprised of three committees, sent a criminal referral against Hunter and James Biden to the Justice Department, accusing the relatives of making false statements to Congress back in February.
Last week, Hunter was found guilty on three charges related to illegal possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs.
Hunter is also slated to stand trial starting on Sept. 5 in Los Angeles for allegedly dodging $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
