No. of Recommendations: 3
Here ya go BHM.
‘Shell’ companies
Comer often suggests that the Biden family used these so-called shell companies to launder money; in his telling, such companies served no legitimate function. But that claim is undercut by the list of 21 companies that appear in the second staff memo.
Virtually all of the companies (many of which now are defunct) had legitimate business interests. Others had clearly identified business investments. Digging through the records, we find only three whose business purpose remains vague; one (Rosemont Seneca Global Risk Services, LLC) may not even be related to Hunter Biden, according to an email found in Hunter Biden’s laptop. The memos do not list any payments that flowed through these three companies.
Companies founded by Hunter Biden
Seneca Global Advisors was a boutique consulting firm that Hunter Biden founded in 2008 to help small and midsize companies expand into markets in the U.S. and other countries, according to a 2019 interview he gave to the New Yorker. OpenSecrets.org identifies it as “a lobbying firm that was hired by 9 clients in 2008, for a total amount of $210,000.” All of the clients are identified.
Owasco PC was essentially Hunter Biden’s law firm and did legal work. One memo acknowledges it is “a professional corporation.” The memo also lists an Owasco LLC and Skaneateles, LLC, two of the companies whose purpose remains vague. Hunter Biden named his personal LLCs, used to handle payments like payroll, after towns in New York’s Finger Lakes region, where his mother was born, according to a former business partner.
Companies in partnership with Hunter Biden
Rosemont Seneca Partners, founded in 2009 by Hunter Biden, Devon Archer and Christopher Heinz. The third staff memo identifies it as “central to the Bidens’ later business ventures,” confirming that it is not a shell company. Many of the other supposed shell companies are offshoots of this firm.
Rosemont Seneca Advisors in 2017 had investment projects in West Africa and a 5 percent stake in Harves Amusement Parks and ownership in Harves Sports and Entertainment, both in China. A 2011 email in Hunter Biden’s laptop suggests most of his business was done through this entity.
Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) still exists under a different name, Pilot Growth Equity. As we have previously reported, Rosemont Seneca Partners had a stake in RSTP, which invested in emerging technology companies. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hunter Biden had been discharged that February from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine use. Biden had not disclosed the discharge to RSTP members and so in early 2015 he was eased out of the firm, which has since rebranded itself as Pilot Growth Equity and declined to comment.
RSTP II Alpha and RSTP II Bravo were related venture capital funds that registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investments included a genetics testing company called Counsyl, according to a 2014 Forbes article.
Rosemont Seneca Bohai, created in 2014 to invest in a Chinese fund generally known as BHR Partners, was a replacement vehicle for Rosemont Seneca Thornton, LLC, mentioned below.
RSP Holdings is described in an SEC document as the parent company of RSP Investments, which aimed to “provide private placement services, hedge fund marketing and capital introduction services.” The memo does not mention RSP Investments but has a listing for Rosemont Seneca Principal Investments, presumably the same company.
Hudson West III and Hudson West IV were involved in an energy investment deal with CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy conglomerate. Comer has decried the deal as “a scheme to try to get China to buy liquefied natural gas,” indicating he knows these are not shall companies.
Companies with a Hunter Biden connection
Rosemont Realty LLC, founded in 1991. Hunter Biden was not on the Rosemont Realty management team but was listed as part of the board of advisers of the firm, which was managed by Devon Archer. This was a substantial company; in 2013, its website showed it owned properties in 25 states, including Comer’s home state of Kentucky. Archer was recently interviewed by the Oversight Committee and he tried to explain that a wire transfer of $3.5 million from Elena Baturina, a Russian billionaire, that interested the committee was part of a $120 million investment with Rosemont Realty that was unrelated to Hunter Biden. “Rosemont Realty was completely out of his, kind of, portfolio,” Archer said.
Lion Hall Group and JBB SR are associated with Joe Biden’s brother James Biden. Lion Hall is a consulting group, according to a Washington Post investigation, while JBB SR has been described in Ben Schreckinger’s 2021 book “The Bidens” as managing two businesses that sold medical and agricultural products. James Biden hung up the phone when the Fact Checker identified himself.
Robinson Walker LLC, founded in 2008 by John Robinson “Rob” Walker, and CEFC Infrastructure Investment, once a subsidy of a Chinese energy company, are not Biden family companies at all but are listed because they transferred funds to Biden family members. Walker, who at one point was a managing director of Rosemont Seneca Advisors, could not be reached for comment.
One named ‘shell’ company
Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC is the one company specifically named in a staff memo as a shell company. As we have reported, this entity was created in 2013 to invest in BHR Partners, the Chinese fund. But almost as soon as Rosemont Seneca Thornton was created, the partners decided to dissolve it, according to a person with access to the board minutes. Thornton Group, one of the investors, was run by Jim Bulger, who brought expertise in investing in China. But the original structure had added unexpected regulatory burdens to Thornton, and so Bulger’s lawyers advised that the group split up, this person said. Archer, in his interview, confirmed this to committee investigators, saying the creation of the LLC was “a mistake.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/17...
