James Biden testifies to Congress that Joe received $40,000 from CCP-linked gas company CEFC in 2017

President Biden's brother, James Biden, confirmed to Congress that he used funds from his Chinese-government linked company to issue a $40,000 check to Joe Biden. 

The testimony was given to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee on Feb. 21 during a closed-door deposition into the Biden family's alleged illegal foreign business dealings. 

In addition, James Biden, 74, testified that he had received income from overseas business dealings as recently as last year, per the New York Post. 

James was asked about comments he had made in a 2022 interview with the IRS where he told the federal agency that first son Hunter Biden, who was his business partner, had described CEFC China Energy (CEFC) chairman Ye Jianming as a "protege" of Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

James Biden testified that he "misspoke" during the interview with the IRS. 

"Where did you believe the source of the money that was going into [Hunter Biden's company] Owasco, prior to being sent to you, was coming from?" an investigator asked James during the deposition.

"CEFC," James answered, which is a Chinese energy company. 

Paul Fishman, attorney for James Biden, argued to Congress that money is "fungible.” A House staffer interjected and explained that James "did not have sufficient funds" in his bank account to issue the $40,000 alleged loan repayment to Joe Biden before he received the cash from the Chinese company.

It was also revealed during the deposition that James Biden received $840,000 from Argentinian businessman Jose Luiz Manzano between November 2022 and July 2023. James testified that the money came from selling half of his stake in Manzano's holding of Metrogas, an Argentinian natural gas company. 

James Biden confirmed to investigators that the CEFC had been "in discussions" with Manzano about business-related matters. 

Additionally, James Biden testified that the $200,000 loan he had received from doing business with distressed rural healthcare company Americore was around the time he "was looking for investments from Qatar" for "infrastructure projects." The $200,000 was secured to repay funds from another alleged loan to Joe Biden in 2018, per the outlet. 

James Biden's bank account, which was the source of the $40,000 check to Joe Biden, had a balance of $46.88 just a few days prior before issuing the alleged loan to President Biden after receiving the $50,000 infusion on August 28, 2017, according to bank records that were subpoenaed. 

The $50,000 came from money taken out of Lion Hall Group, James' company, which on August 14 had received a $150,000 transfer from Owasco, Hunter Biden's company. The funds were taken out that same day. 

According to James' testimony, he investigated potential natural gas investments along the Gulf Coast for CEFC, however, the main proposals ultimately failed. This was despite the fact that he and Hunter Biden still earned millions from the partnership. 

James stated that he was repaying Joe a personal loan on September 3, 2017, when his wife, Sara Biden, presented now President Biden with a $40,000 check. He stated that no loan documentation or interest was due. 

Furthermore, Joe was allegedly in communication with multiple CEFC business partners which he has denied.

On January 26, former Biden family business associate Rob Walker testified that in March 2017, he received $3 million in funds from CEFC, of which approximately one-third went to the Bidens. This occurred shortly after Joe Biden met Ye at the Four Seasons hotel in Washington, D.C. 

Walker stated that the funds transferred just weeks after Joe Biden left the Obama White House were a "thank you" for preliminary services involving the procurement of business opportunities in a 2015-established relationship. 

James Gilliar, an associate of the Biden family, included in an email from May 2017 a reference to "big guy" Joe Biden receiving a 10 percent stake in a proposed joint venture with CEFC. 

Asserting that he was "sitting here with my father," Joe Biden was later referenced by Hunter Biden in a threatening text message to a China-based associate in July 2017, according to records provided to Congress by IRS case agent Joseph Ziegler.

Accounts associated with Hunter and James Biden received $5.1 million within ten days of the message, according to data in a 2020 report by Republican-led Senate committees.

Republicans argued that it is evident that the president gained from the business dealings of his relatives, as he engaged in numerous interactions with their associates, including in the CEFC venture while Democrats have said the president was just helping out his brother.