Eurasia Press & News
This is a showdown at the top of American politics, between a Democratic administration in the White House and a Republican majority in the US House of Representatives. Earlier, the democratic majority accused President Trump, now the republican majority accuses President Biden, but that is their internal policy in which I have no desire and no obligation to interfere, Vuk Jeremić, the president of the People’s Party, told Danas.
This is how Jeremić responded to Danas’ inquiry to comment on the call to testify in the investigation conducted by the Congressional Committee on the affairs of members of the American president’s family.
“The USA is a serious country, and if there was any doubt about me, I would certainly not be invited to Congress through the media, but the invitation would come from the judiciary. This did not happen, nor will it happen, because this is exclusively a political conflict between the centers of power in the USA”, adds Jeremić.
“Of course, as a former president of the General Assembly and a candidate for UN Secretary General, I have contacts at the very top of the political and business establishment in America and China, as well as in Europe and many other parts of the world. Those ties will be useful when we lift Serbia out of the mire the current regime has pushed it into,” says the president of the People’s Party.
“Otherwise, I think hearings before the parliament are undoubtedly a good practice in democratic countries. Let’s imagine that in Serbia it is possible to organize an inquiry committee in the assembly in which, for example, Miroslav Aleksić or Vladimir Gajić could examine some of the affairs that shook the country and the public, such as the “Jovanjic” case or the connection of the top of the state with fan groups and their leaders convicted of serious crimes”, concluded Vuk Jeremić for Danas.
What’s been released so far about the Republican Oversight Committee’s investigation
Jeremic was given a deadline of March 7 to send all documents and information from 2014 to the present day with the son and brother of the US president Robert Hunter Biden and James Biden, then with Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer and James Gilliard, as well as documents and communications with by any associate of CEFC’s Chinese company, including President Le Jianming and Patrick Ho.
Schwerin, Archer and Gilliar are former business partners of Hunter Biden.
He was also asked to answer if he knew if the Department of Justice had redacted the name of Hunter Biden, the son of the US President, from Exhibit 2739R in the US v. Patrick Ho case.
Jeremic was given a deadline of March 14 to schedule an interview with the members of the Committee for Oversight and Accountability of Congress regarding all these issues.
The President of the Oversight and Accountability Committee of the US Congress, James Comer, requested, as reported by the American and Serbian media, from Vuk Jeremic to deliver to that body, in which the Republicans have a majority, all documents, records and evidence related to the involvement of the family Biden’s foreign business ventures, which included a person linked to the Chinese Communist Party and convicted of international bribery schemes.
In the Komer’s letter to Jeremic, published in the media, it is indicated that the Board is investigating the case of President Joseph Biden and his and his family and associates’ connections with certain international and domestic business transactions and practices.
According to reports, a review of the testimony in the US case against the former chief operating officer of the Chinese company CEFC China Energy, Patrick Ho, convicted of international bribery and money laundering in 2018, revealed that Jeremic has records and information related to the Biden family’s business dealings with foreign countries.
It is stated that through the aforementioned company, the Chinese Communist Party came into contact with the Biden family in order to expand its energy influence in the USA.
Jeremic’s testimony from 2018 before the court in New York is also mentioned.
“During the trial, you testified regarding your business dealings with certain CEFC officials, including Chairman Li Jianming and Patrick Ho, represented by Hunter Biden,” it added.
It is also stated that the Board is investigating whether President Biden knew or was involved in that case and that it was established that Jeremic developed a business relationship with Hunter Biden and his associates and communicated with them about CEFC.
“During the trial of Patrick Ho, you testified that CEFC paid you hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the work of a ‘consultant’, as well as that you mediated the introduction of Biden Hunter to representatives of the Chinese company,” Komer’s letter to Jeremic states.
Jeremic is said to have testified that he arranged a dinner between CEFC Chairman Li Jianming and another person in Washington on December 6, 2015.
In the news about the Committee’s request, the American media mention that Jeremic was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and the President of the UN General Assembly from 2012 to 2013, as well as that James Comer called him a “key witness in the investigation”.
The media also remind that Patrick Ho, convicted of international bribery and money laundering in 2018, was the head of operations of China Energy (CEFC) based in the USA.
The New York Post writes that in an email on November 30, 2015, found in Hunter Biden’s laptop, Jeremic told another Biden associate, Eric Schwerin, that he would have dinner in Washington with CEFC President Li Jianming.
“He is very young and dynamic (39), with top connections in his country. They have recently started investing billions of dollars abroad and plan to do much more. I would like to invite Hunter to join me for this private dinner party – this is not an event of any kind. I am convinced that in the future many interesting projects will emerge from this,” Jeremic wrote in that email.
Schwerin reportedly replied that Hunter would be on the road and might not be able to attend the dinner, but that he would be in touch.
Jeremic testified at Ho’s trial in 2018 that he tried to arrange a dinner between CEFC chairman Li Jianming and a person whose name has been redacted, Voice of America writes.
It also reports that Jeremic later told the Washington Post that he “did not participate in meeting Hunter Biden and Lee.”
Energy company CEFC declared bankruptcy in 2020, and is now owned by the Chinese Communist Party, VOA reminds.
The Chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee of the US Congress, James Comer, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, said that there are “concerning issues” regarding the business transactions of Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James, which require a deeper investigation.
Republican members of Congress have been analyzing messages and financial transactions found during the search of Hunter’s laptop for a year, and now they have the right to issue binding subpoenas and conduct a more aggressive investigation.
Hunter Biden’s taxes and foreign business transactions are already under federal investigation.
Hunter has never held a position on the presidential campaign or in the White House, but his board membership of a Ukrainian energy company and attempts to secure business deals in China have long raised questions about whether he used his father’s influence to do so.
President Biden said that he did not talk to his son about his affairs abroad, and there are no indications that the American president is also under investigation by federal authorities, Voice of America reports.
The White House maintains that there was no improper business activity and calls the Comer investigation a partisan “witch hunt.”
In February, the Government Oversight Committee already held a hearing with former officials of the social media company Twitter about Hunter Biden’s laptop. They told the board they “made a mistake” when they blocked tweets about Hunter’s laptop, but said government officials had no influence on their decision.
Republicans allege that Twitter worked with government officials and the media to suppress a New York Post article about content found on a laptop, two weeks before Biden’s 2020 election victory over Donald Trump.
What Jeremic said in court in 2018
In November 2018, Jeremić said in New York, at the trial of Patrick Ho, a businessman from Hong Kong, that he had never testified to “anything inappropriate” on charges of bribing government leaders in two African countries, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Jeremic said before the court jury that he opened diplomatic doors for Čajna Energži (CEFC), which plans business all over the world, and after leaving the court he said that these businesses never caused him concern.
“Never in my life have I seen the accused state anything improper,” said Jeremić.
Jeremić also showed the AP reporter a letter from the US Department of Justice stating that he was summoned to court as a witness, not as an accused.
“For me, it is very important to remove the stain from the name of Serbia,” Jeremic told American media.
In addition to Ho, the court in New York also accused Sam Kutes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the East African country of Uganda, of bribery, as well as Jeremic, the former president of the UN Assembly in 2014 and 2015, the media reported.
Jeremic and the legal team of the People’s Party then asked the editors-in-chief of certain media outlets to deny the “lots of lies and slander” published in previous months about Jeremic’s alleged involvement in international corruption, and threatened a lawsuit.
Narodna’s legal team said at the time that certain media in Serbia “in the last seven months, in a total of 205 publications, presented and transmitted the most brutal lies about the alleged involvement of the President of the National Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, in international corruption.”
“My testimony referred to the fact that I met Patrick Ho and the former head of diplomacy of Senegal, Tidian Gadi, and not to their further cooperation, because I did not participate in it,” Jeremić emphasized in his written statement.
