DOJ Admits Hunter Biden was Unregistered Foreign Agent

The DOJ just proved that Hunter was an unregistered foreign agent while simultaneously stating they won't charge him for it

The DOJ’s complicity in protecting the Biden Family was just highlighted by an unusual source - the DOJ itself. A recent filing by DOJ prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s pending tax evasion case makes clear that Hunter Biden received special protective treatment. Hunter, who’s claiming [again] that he was an active addict and not responsible for his actions, was seeking to exclude any references to what he termed “alleged improper political influence and/or corruption” from his coming tax trial.

Hunter was trying to prevent the DOJ’s introduction of testimony - and evidence - from a former business partner (almost certainly Rob Walker). But in responding to Hunter, Weiss and the DOJ effectively revealed their role in protecting Hunter from the much more serious charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

The filing by Special Counsel David Weiss’s team highlights Hunter’s attempts to “influence U.S. government agencies to investigate the Romanian criminal investigation” of Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu - with the intent to “cause an end to the investigation of G.P. [Popoviciu] in Romania.” 

As Weiss’s filing notes, “the government provides a background summary of some of the evidence that will be admitted at trial related to the payments the defendant received from his foreign business dealings, which are relevant to the charges in this case.” 

Weiss goes on to state that “In reality, Business Associate 1 [again, almost certainly Rob Walker] and G.P. [Popoviciu] agreed that Business Associate 1 would receive compensation for work by Business Associate 1, the defendant, and Business Associate 2 [likely long-time associate James Gilliar], to attempt to influence U.S. government agencies to investigate the Romanian investigation of G.P., and Business Associate 1 would pass approximately 1/3 to the defendant as his compensation and approximately 1/3 to Business Associate 2 as his compensation.”

In other words, the DOJ laid out a scheme whereby Hunter intended to hide his work (and his payment) as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Popoviciu. Weiss also alleged that Hunter was “concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications” for his father Joe Biden. What Weiss left unsaid, however, is having the DOJ charge Hunter as an unregistered foreign agent would have caused an even larger political headache for Joe Biden.

We’ll get to Hunter’s actions in Romania momentarily but we want to stop for just a moment to appreciate how truly amazing it is to watch the DOJ prove that Hunter was an unregistered foreign agent while simultaneously stating they won't charge him for his actions. Don’t take our word for it. It’s literally in the filing by Weiss’s team:

"The introduction of that evidence, however, does not mean that the government will also reference allegations that the defendant violated FARA and that contacts with government officials were improper; such allegations are not relevant to the charges in this tax case."

The DOJ is openly admitting that Hunter Biden acted as an unregistered foreign agent in his dealings with Popoviciu (and others) but they’re unconcerned with this more serious charge because they are only pursuing Hunter on tax charges. It’s simply jaw-dropping to see this admission in a DOJ court filing.

As Tristan Leavitt, a representative for several of the FBI Whistleblowers notes, “Weiss was just using the Romanian payments as evidence of intent to evade taxes. But the evidence (not "allegations," as the filings point out) shows what Hunter Biden "did do for [Gabriel Popoviciu]"... violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

In other words, as we’ve always contended, Weiss’s office already had evidence of the crimes that Hunter committed but allowed the 5-year statute of limitations to expire, protecting the Biden Family in the process. It’s an astonishing admission of DOJ corruption. As Jonathan Turley observed, “ It is akin to saying that we know that he stole the car because he used it in the kidnapping. It leaves most people wondering why you did not charge on the kidnapping crime.”

As we’ve detailed in other posts, there's been a historical and repeated pattern of Hunter following his father into various countries where Joe Biden was conducting foreign policy business. China, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Romania. Mexico even makes it onto the list. And there’s been one particular characteristic that all of these countries seem to have in common - a high level of corruption. 

A pattern of opportunism also emerges. Although there's some overlap, the Bidens have a tendency to move into a new country just as their operations in another country begin to wrap up. Although sometimes, as they did with China, the Bidens circle back. But it appears the Bidens were always on the lookout for new areas in which to do business. New areas - populated by corrupt Oligarchs - in which Hunter could leverage his father’s name and foreign policy influence.

Which brings us to the Bidens’ activities in Romania. On May 21, 2014, then-Vice President Biden made a curiously timed trip to Romania and the island of Cyprus—the first visit by a senior U.S. official in 50 years. Just nine days earlier, Burisma had announced Hunter Biden’s appointment to their Board of Directors. Conveniently, Cyprus is where Burisma’s headquarters just so happened to be located. 

No real explanation has been given for that trip other than an odd White House statement that noted Biden’s intention to provide “strong support for a comprehensive settlement to reunify the island as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality.” During his stopover in Romania, just as he always did in Ukraine, Biden delivered a speech on the evils of corruption, calling it “a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy”

At the time of Biden’s speech, one of the most high-profile corruption prosecutions in Romania was already underway. The case revolved around Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu. The case against Popoviciu was set in motion years earlier in 2005 when a fellow businessman lodged a criminal complaint against him that revolved around the sale of a 550-acre plot of land near Bucharest, a transaction that would become the epicenter of a high-profile corruption scandal in Romania. 

The businessman alleged that Popoviciu had purchased the land for significantly less money than its actual worth, suggesting corruption was involved in the land sale. Furthermore, the complaint contended that the land did not legally belong to the supposed seller, the University of Agronomy, but was, in fact, government-owned property. Romanian prosecutors initially declined to investigate the matter, citing a lack of concrete evidence.

Popoviciu was the owner of the Baneasa Shopping City, one of the biggest malls in Bucharest. He also developed office buildings and the first IKEA store in Romania. All of this development took place on the land that he got in the corruption-laden deal. According to the prosecutors who investigated the case, at the time of the deal the land was highly undervalued with the sale price reportedly set at a tiny fraction of fair market value. 

Popoviciu’s total wealth is unknown as he controlled all of his Romanian businesses through off-shore firms, and it appears that nobody knew the full extent of his operations. Despite the lack of an initial investigation, in July 2008, the country's National Anti-Corruption Protection Service took over the case and Popoviciu was charged with bribery in 2009. Although the case would take a number of years , this decision would have far-reaching consequences, eventually drawing the Biden family into the investigation.

On September 2, 2015, Hunter Biden's name first appeared in connection with the Popoviciu case. At the time, Hunter was employed at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, and one of his colleagues, Chris Boies, reached out to him regarding Popoviciu. The subject line of the September 1st email read 'Popoviciu,' and the message contained an intriguing statement: "Let's discuss when convenient… One of my partners is best friends with the newly appointed Ambassador to Romania." 

Later that same month, a meeting between Vice-president Biden and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was suddenly (and conveniently) scheduled. Less than two weeks later the meeting took place in Washington DC, where Biden publicly stated his satisfaction with Romania’s efforts to combat corruption within the country. Mark Gitenstein, the former ambassador to Romania and Biden family confidant, facilitated the meeting between Joe Biden and the Romanian president. 

One month later, on November 5, 2015, Popoviciu began making deposits into the bank account of Robinson Walker, LLC - an entity owned by Hunter’s associate, Rob Walker.

Gitenstein played a significant role in the Popoviciu effort. He was not only a close associate of Boies but also had a long-standing relationship with Joe Biden. Gitenstein's contributions to Joe Biden's political campaigns dated back to the mid-1990s. In the 1980s he worked as Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1981 to 1989 — when Joe Biden was the top Democratic member. 

Gitenstein not not only facilitated meetings between then-Vice President Joe Biden and Romanian leaders, he also met with Hunter four times in 2015 and 2016. In June 2016, Gitenstein checked to see if a possible change to Romania law could help Popoviciu’s case. Gitenstein reached out to his diplomatic successor, the new Romanian Ambassador Hans Klemm. But the effort apparently failed.

Gitenstein wrote back to Hunter and his business associates stating, “Looks like this will not help your client because it is not retroactive.” Eric Schwerin responded for Hunter’s group, saying “Thanks, Mark. We'll keep this to ourselves.” Gitenstein appeared to remain within Joe Biden’s inner circle and is currently the U.S. Ambassador to the EU.

Within five weeks of Joe Biden’s meeting with the Romanian president, Popoviciu’s firm Bladon Enterprises Limited began making deposits into Robinson Walker, LLC’s bank account. Rob Walker, whose company was the recipient of the funds, has long-standing ties to Hunter Biden - and was also involved in the flow of money from China to the Bidens. During the time of Hunter’s association with Popoviciu, Walker received more than $3 million form Popoviciu’s firm.

The flow of funds took place between November 5th, 2015 to May 26th, 2017. Biden family accounts - including Hunter and Beau Biden’s widow Haille Biden - received at least $1 million from the Robinson Walker account in “side-pocket deals” after Popoviciu’s deposits. Additionally, despite claims to the contrary from Democrats, sixteen of the seventeen payments to the Biden family were made while Joe Biden was Vice President.

There’s another strange portion of this tale that’s worth mentioning - one that serves to further reinforce the circular level of corruption in Washington. In this case, we’re speaking of the involvement of former FBI Director Louis Freeh. Emails obtained from Hunter’s laptop show that Hunter reached out to former FBI Director Louis Freeh on June 18th, 2016 about the case of Popoviciu - who by now was facing imminent arrest and jail time. 

Hunter told Freeh that he believed Popoviciu was “a good man that’s being very badly treated by a suspect Romanian justice system … Time is of the essence and my client has never balked at bringing whatever team it takes together at whatever cost to obtain justice.” Although Freeh’s initial response was noncommittal, he was soon retained by the Romanian real estate tycoon.

At one point Freeh even suggested that Popoviciu might be able to horse trade with the FBI, telling Hunter, “I have had conversations with the head of the FBI’s Criminal Division and there is a sincere Bureau interest in meeting and debriefing Gabriel on other matters he may be willing to discuss.” Freeh did not elaborate on what those “other matters” were. 

Freeh also told Hunter Biden he would “like to make a small payment to you for this referral-and for your continuing work on this matter.” Freeh told Hunter “This is a standard practice … We would just need your bank information in order to make a remittance.” Hunter responded, “Thank you Judge Freeh … So honored that you agreed to take this on.” 

In regards to the “small gift” that Freeh mentioned in his email, we now know that Freeh made a $100K contribution to the trust for Hallie Biden’s children. In a follow-up email, Freeh told Hunter that he had recently spoken to Joe Biden as well, writing, “Thank you Hunter and I would be delighted to do future work with you. I also spoke to Dad [Joe Biden] a few weeks ago and would like to explore with him some future work options. I believe that working together on these (and other legal) matters would be of value, fun and rewarding.” The extent to which Joe Biden was briefed on matters by Freeh remains unknown.

Popoviciu was ultimately arrested in London in August 2017 and was quickly sentenced by a Romanian court in 2017 to seven years in prison. Popoviciu may not have benefited from his involvement with the Bidens. But everyone else - including the entire Biden family sure did. The final payment from Popoviciu to Rob Walker and the Bidens was made on May 26, 2017 - just five weeks before his arrest in London.