Newly released pictures show Joe Biden meeting Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners

By Marshall Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — Newly released pictures show then-Vice President Joe Biden meeting some of his son Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners during an official visit to the country, as well as Hunter meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials.

This is the first time these images have been made public, even though the photo ops and meetings they depict have been known about for years. The National Archives and Records Administration released the images after a public records request from a pro-Trump right-wing legal group.

The photographs are from Joe Biden’s visit to China in 2013. In one set of images, Hunter Biden is seen, along with his father, meeting and chatting with Xi. In another set of images, Joe Biden introduces his son to Li Yuanchao, who was China’s vice president at the time.

Another group of pictures shows Hunter Biden introducing his father to his Chinese business partners, some of whom were executives at the private equity firm BHR Partners. After handshakes and hugs, the Bidens posed for a group picture with a few of the Chinese businessmen.

These images are notable because they further undercut Joe Biden’s already-diminished unequivocal assertions that he never had any business-related contact with his son. In fact, the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden uncovered at least two dozen interactions between him and his son’s business partners from China and other countries.

However, Hunter Biden and others involved have testified that — despite occasional phone calls, meet-and-greets and dinners with Joe Biden — business was never substantively discussed. Hunter Biden’s former main US business partner later testified that Hunter was selling the “illusion” of access to his father, but “nothing of material was discussed” during these interactions.

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell criticized the Trump-aligned groups that fought to obtain and release the images, saying in a statement, “There is simply nothing new here.”

“The photos match perfectly to Hunter’s congressional testimony description of who he saw at this public event during a 2013 trip to China,” Lowell said, referring to Hunter Biden’s closed-door deposition in February, during which he was grilled by Republicans for six hours.

“These attacks trying to twist these images into something they are not is just more of the same old tired, misinformation spin from some Republicans who can’t let go of their ridiculous conspiracy theories and baseless accusations,” Lowell said in the statement.

America First Legal, a pro-Trump group, filed the records request in 2022 and later sued the National Archives to obtain the records. The group is led by Stephen Miller, who served in President-elect Donald Trump’s first White House and is set to return next year as deputy chief of staff for policy.

“These photos corroborate the House Oversight Committee’s investigative findings that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other BHR executives during the 2013 China trip, where ‘Mr. Li sought — and received — access to Vice President Biden’s political power,’” America First Legal said in a news release Monday.

Asked by CNN about the newly released images, a White House spokesperson said, “This trip — which occurred over a decade ago — is old news. House Republicans already wasted years and millions of taxpayer dollars proving that the President was not in business with his son. It’s past time to call it a day.”

Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals drew intense scrutiny from Hill Republicans and Justice Department investigators. Federal prosecutors charged him with tax crimes partly stemming from unpaid taxes from his overseas deals. He was never accused of corruption or illegal lobbying, despite GOP claims that he engaged in criminal influence-peddling.

In a controversial postelection move, Joe Biden pardoned his son for the 12 tax and gun crimes he was convicted of earlier this year. The sweeping pardon also shielded Hunter Biden from future prosecution for any potential federal crimes he may have committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.

“Even while President Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter, for anything and everything ‘he has committed or may have committed or taken part in’ going all the way back to the year 2014, more evidence comes out each day showing how his family leveraged Joe Biden’s even longer career in public office for private gain,” Michael Ding, counsel for America First Legal, said in a statement.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.

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