As former Vice President Joe Biden is campaigning to be the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nominee, scandals involving his son, Hunter, continue to be uncovered.
There is now evidence that Hunter Biden may have taken a bribe from a Chinese energy tycoon not long after his father — and former President Barack Obama — left office.
This new information comes by way of The New Yorker writer Adam Entous, who detailed the questionable doings of Hunter Biden — both while his father was in office and thereafter.
What did Hunter do this time?
Just after his father vacated the vice president’s office, Hunter Biden was a member of World Food Program USA’s board, Entous reports. In that capacity, Hunter sought to acquire a sizable donation from Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming.
Hunter and two associates, accordingly, took the mogul out to dinner at a restaurant in Miami, Florida, according to Entous. At the start of the evening, Hunter presented Ye with a gift: a bottle of Scotch that Hunter says was “worth thousands of dollars.”
The two men then had a meal during which they discussed the possible donation as well as business opportunities. Apparently, Ye was looking to invest in American liquefied natural gas projects, and Hunter agreed to be his ticket in.
The bribe
After dinner, the two men departed, according to Entous, with Hunter going back to his hotel room. There, he found a 2.8-carat diamond that Ye sent him expressing his gratitude for the meeting.
“I was, like, oh, my God,” Hunter Biden told Entous, who reported that the diamond is estimated at $80,000. Hunter claims it to be worth only $10,000.
Entous then asked Hunter whether the diamond was meant to be a bribe.
“What would they be bribing me for?” Hunter responded. “My dad wasn’t in office.”
Nonetheless, Hunter said that he “knew it wasn’t a good idea to take it. I just felt like it was weird,” he added. So he gave it to his associates.
Looking forward
Hunter Biden’s response to Entous’ question is less than convincing. It sure looks like a bribe, and Hunter seems to have acted like it was a bribe.
The question now is how this will affect Joe Biden’s campaign — but some say it likely won’t affect it at all.
Both before and after Biden announced his candidacy, Hunter Biden has been exposed as the problem child, and has involved himself in all kinds of scandalous activities. But it hasn’t had any measurable impact on his father’s campaign thus far.
Democrats just don’t seem to care about such behavior when it is carried out by one of their own. But if it were Ivanka Trump, for example — well, we all know how that would go.