Gal Luft, the fugitive “missing witness” of the Biden corruption investigation, has supplied new proof to the Home impeachment inquiry about an FBI mole who tipped off Hunter Biden that his Chinese language companions had been named on 4 sealed indictments in 2017 by Manhattan federal prosecutors within the Southern District of New York.
The Israeli professor, and former Israel Protection Forces officer, has been on the run for six months, after skipping bail in Cyprus the place he was awaiting extradition to america on gun-running and foreign-lobbying charges, additionally introduced by the SDNY.
In an open letter to Reps James Comer, Jim Jordan and Jason Smith, the three Home committee chairmen operating the impeachment inquiry, Luft claims that the tipoff to Chinese language executives of CEFC got here on the identical day that the first son wrote a WhatsApp message shaking down another CEFC employee for hundreds of thousands of {dollars} over a “extremely confidential and time delicate” matter whereas claiming his father was within the room with him.
“I’m sitting right here with my father, and we want to perceive why the dedication made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter wrote to CEFC worker Raymond Zhao on July 30, 2017, in a WhatsApp message that was offered to Congress in June throughout testimony by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley.
“I’ll make sure that between the person sitting subsequent to me and each particular person he is aware of and my skill to endlessly maintain a grudge that you’ll remorse not following my course. I’m sitting right here ready for the decision with my father.”
Later that night time, CEFC govt Patrick Ho, who was staying in a lodge in Manhattan, acquired an pressing name from CEFC president Chan Chauto in Shanghai, who advised him to depart the US instantly, in response to Luft, who speaks to Ho commonly.
The subsequent day, Ho flew to Hong Kong the place he remained for 4 months.
Fairly a ‘downside’
Zhao advised Hunter in a follow-up WhatsApp on July 31, 2017, that “CEFC is keen to cooperate with the household. He thinks now the precedence is to unravel the issue talked about final night time.”
Luft believes the “downside” and “extremely confidential and time delicate” matter that Zhao and Hunter mentioned was the key SDNY indictments.
Inside 9 days of the WhatsApp shakedown, CEFC would wire $5.1 million to entities within the US to switch to Hunter.
Luft, who additionally had been incomes cash via a partnership with CEFC, flew to Hong Kong to see Ho on Aug. 14, 2017, two weeks after his sudden departure. Ho advised him in regards to the SDNY indictments, and that Hunter had a mole contained in the FBI who had tipped him off. The Chinese language nickname for the mole was “One-Eye.”
“The existence of a possible mole throughout the FBI and/or Justice Division who conveyed to Chinese language people details about sealed indictments has, apparently, to at the present time by no means been solved,” Luft wrote in his letter to Comer. “Maybe Congress ought to examine the difficulty as a part of its impeachment inquiry.”
The tipoff to CEFC executives got here at a vital stage of their negotiations to purchase into Russian state-owned power firm Rosneft and got here simply 10 days earlier than a curious assembly between a CEFC worker in Albania and disgraced G-man Charles McGonigal, then counterintelligence boss on the FBI’s New York Area Workplace, which had been surveilling Ho and his associates. McGonigal pleaded responsible Friday to concealing a minimum of $225,000 in money funds from a former Albanian intelligence official.
On Sept. 8, 2017, CEFC introduced its plans to accumulate a $9.1 billion stake in Rosneft.
On Sept. 9, 2017, McGonigal met Dorian Ducka, a CEFC worker and Hunter Biden affiliate, in Albania, in response to his indictment. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama additionally was on the assembly. At Ducka’s request, McGonigal urged Rama to watch out about awarding oil subject drilling licenses in Albania to Russian entrance firms.
On Sept. 10, 2017, Hunter signed an legal professional engagement letter to characterize CEFC’s Ho for a $1 million retainer.
In keeping with Luft, someday in September 2017, Hunter and Jim Biden flew to Hong Kong to satisfy Ho and requested him to purchase them two “burner” iPhones earlier than telling him the coast was clear to return to New York. However when Ho returned to the US on Nov. 17, 2017, he was arrested at JFK Airport on expenses of bribery and cash laundering.
Ho’s first name was to Uncle Jim Biden, searching for Hunter. Hunter then requested one other lawyer, Edward Kim, to do the authorized work. Kim requested Hunter in an e mail the afternoon of Ho’s arrest to “discover the names of the FBI brokers you spoke with, that will be useful.” Hunter replied: “Engaged on it.”
On Nov. 19, 2017, McGonigal had one other assembly in Albania with Ducka, in response to his indictment.
How McGonigal suits into the Biden-CEFC image continues to be to be decided, however he was answerable for FBI counterintelligence in New York on the time when the SDNY was surveilling Ho and his associates, so he will need to have been conscious of Hunter’s connection.
Comer described the knowledge contained in Luft’s letter Sunday as “useful” and mentioned he seemed ahead to investigating his allegations about an FBI mole. His committee nonetheless is considering interviewing Luft.
“We get a whole lot of suggestions, and the subsequent step is to confirm the accuracy of the claims,” he mentioned.
Shady characters
Luft’s timing is fortuitous as a result of the Biden corruption impeachment inquiry starting Thursday will refocus consideration on China. Comer is about to disclose two new tranches of proof this week, together with a brand new Chinese language wire to Biden relations and new paperwork offered by the IRS whistleblowers.
Comer additionally hit again at Democrats’ criticism of his inquiry for in search of to interview shady characters, saying: “That’s a mirrored image about Biden, not our inquiry.”
When Democrats first smeared him in June for desirous to interview Luft, whom they branded a “Chinese language spy” due to his affiliation with CEFC, Comer had a devastating comeback: “All I do know is that [Luft] was getting cash from the identical firm the Bidens have been getting cash from . . . Is the president’s son a Chinese language spy? They took cash from the identical firm.”
Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman interjected: “Who cares if that they had cash from the identical firm?”
And that’s most likely probably the most excellent summation of the Democrats’ untenable place of defending the indefensible because the impeachment inquiry kicks off this week.
