A Deep Dive Into Emails Between VP Biden and Rosemont Seneca

If you read this, I didn't waste the last two days!

Good evening, Screamers! I’ve FINALLY completed the long slog through the 800+ files released through America First Legal’s Freedom of Information Act request for records of emails between Hunter Biden or other Rosemont Seneca employees and the office of the Vice President Joe Biden. Here’s my report:

To start — just like the January 6th FBI emails — a lot of stuff was redacted or withheld completely. In one frustrating batch of files, 14 were readable emails and 104 were notices we aren’t allowed to read a particular e-mail. (To be fair, clearance to White House events often requires guests to supply a Social Security number, and blocking out that type of stuff is proper. Still, 14 to 104 is not a great ratio.)

Left: Stuff I’m allowed to read — Right: Stuff I am not allowed to read

And because a large portion of the files are withheld, what we’re left with is more mundane stuff. There’s no smoking gun proving payments between the Bidens or Joe admitting to being a communist — but that was never a goal of this deep dive. (That stuff is extremely unlikely to slip out during these drops.) What we’re looking to do is establish a relationship between Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter’s firm Rosemont Seneca.

For years, Biden has claimed he’s never discussed business with Hunter, and even these highly redacted files prove that statement is a lie. In the case below, Rosemont Seneca sends a request for a signed VP photo up the chain — explicitly saying Brandon Leach is a close friend of Hunter:

Excepting official yammering about seating charts and guest bios for official luncheons and dinners, this type of stuff was the most common correspondence between the White House and Rosemont Seneca. Person A needs a favor and gets in contact with Hunter or one of Hunter’s associates, and the request gets pushed to the White House. (In the case below, once again stressing that the request comes from a friend of Hunter.)

In this particular case, the answer came back 23 minutes later: “Sure” (18 days later, the photo was still unsigned but “at the top of the pile” according to Kellen Suber, executive assistant to Vice President Biden. You may remember Suber from this April story outlining her scandalous meetings with then-VP of Rosemont Seneca Joan Mayer.)

This is how the “Biden brand” works. You know a Biden, and he gets you special access to stuff — even at the last minute. This particular instance jumped out at me because favor recipient Doug Davenport specifically says the Apple employee getting into the tour group “has TONS of Apple products for you.”

I don’t think this was a bribe to get Hunter to do him the favor or anything, it’s just how these people work. “I have access to special stuff, and I reward my friends by sharing.”

That’s certainly how it worked for Hunter, who frequently got his friends into official White House events — like when he got tickets to the Easter Egg Roll for Edward Prewitt. (Yeah, that Edward Prewitt.) Of course, that doesn’t mean Hunter liked doing it:

But scattered throughout these communications were less frequent requests that seemed more suited for the official office of the Vice President. For example, when Wesley Clark invited Vice President Biden to speak at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, the request made its way up the chain through Hunter Biden to Steven Ricchetti (Joe Biden’s “right-hand man” and chairman of his 2020 election campaign).

Hunter was also looped in on information regarding Amtrak’s renaming ceremony of Wilmington Station to the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station, which struck me as odd. Why would an investment firm need to know that? (Answer: the firm was selling the “Biden brand”, so the event was a possible opportunity.)

At times, the White House played the role of Hunter’s PR firm — in one instance alerting officials about a newly published article covering Hunter that cast the Vice President’s son in a negative light. In another instance, Joe Biden's former executive assistant Kathy Chung AND Kellen Suber were provided this press-release-style article praising Hunter for “Taking the poverty challenge.”

Man, this really makes you feel for poor Hunter. Not able to spend any money on food for five whole days. I wonder how he managed to eat?

In a totally unrelated graphic, here’s the head table at the “State Department Lunch Honoring Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey”:

Good thing Hunter’s got his parents to invite him over to lunch to dine on:

• Rosettes of Smoked Salmon with Fava Beans (with Dill and Blood Orange Vinaigrette)

• Pan Seared Branzino (with Artichokes, Olives, Tomatoes)

• Basil Polenta

• Haricots Vert

…..followed by a desert of:

• Hudson Valley Apple Pie

• Sour Cream Ice Cream and Maple Caramel Sauce

• Artisanal Cheese

….to go along with his heartfelt compassion for those living below the global poverty line. #WeNeedToPrayForHunterToo

Hunter attending these type of state events was common. The “State Luncheon Held in Honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao” that I mentioned yesterday is an example. Another is a “State Arrival Ceremony for the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Angela Merkel” and yet another is the “State/Official Visit for the United Kingdom”. Nearly all these events were attended by the top of the top in DC — Obama, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Anthony Blinken — as well as high-level business executives such as Bill Gates and Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent. A-list celebrities were in attendance and people like John Legend were the live entertainment. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say tickets were one of the most sought-after commodities in DC at that time.

And Hunter could grant access with a quick email or two — we know because that’s exactly what he did. That was selling the “Biden brand” — access to those state events where you have the chance to rub elbows with the kind of people who can make your entire career.

This establishes a pattern of Hunter granting favors — small and large — to the people in his circle. Yet we’re supposed to believe that BEYOND invitations to the official state functions and lunches with Hunter’s business partners, Joe Biden wasn’t a part of the Biden brand? That idea is as silly as the idea that Democrats would rig their own primary but NEVER EVER cheat in the general election. It doesn’t hold up to even the slightest scrutiny.

And to be sure, while the bulk of the emails were small personal favors and a smaller portion were large favors, a very small portion of the emails are what I call ‘suspicious’ and require more transparency. First up, executive assistant to the VP Michele Smith (the job later held by Kathy Chung) e-mails Hunter about a “Next meeting of Outside Advisors”:

This obviously implies a (or more likely many) PREVIOUS meetings of the “Outside Advisors”. Why is Hunter involved in this group? Are other Biden family members included in this meeting? (Jim being most suspicious.)

Speaking of Kathy Chung, here she is setting up some sort of event involving Hunter. (Of course, the surrounding context is censored.)

In this exchange, Kellen Suber is directly coordinating some type of meeting involving Hunter:

All of this information leads to the same clear conclusion: Joe Biden (and his staff) WAS involved in Hunter’s business — in fact, Hunter’s entire “job” seems to be to forward e-mails to the White House requesting a particular level of access for somebody or another.

While there’s no “smoking gun” that such access influenced Joe Biden’s Vice Presidency in the files I dug into over the last couple days, that’s likely because Joe often used an alias when corresponding with Hunter — like when looping him in on Ukraine meetings:

Or, more recently discovered information about how Hunter wanted to speak with his father about filling a job at the White House with John McGrail, who was working at the Treasury and — just weeks after this email — became Joe Biden’s Deputy Counsel (and later Counsel).

Maybe it was a coincidence Joe Biden ended up hiring the guy suggested by Hunter. And maybe he “accidentally” sent the correspondence regarding the hire from an alias account. Or maybe he’s been selling political access his entire life and Hunter is just the bagman. It’s a mystery!

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