News President Joe Biden's family members received funds on Thursday from a business connected to the Chinese Communist Party, which might be grounds for impeachment under the Constitution, according to a report by Breitbart News. 

According to information from the House Oversight Committee, in 2017 China's State Energy HK Limited sent $3 million to a business run by a family friend named Robert Walker, who then gave the money to members of Biden's family, including his living son Hunter, his brother James, his daughter-in-law Hallie, and an unidentified "Biden." 

The chairman of CEFC China Energy, Ye Jianming, conducted business with Hunter Biden, and State Energy HK Ltd was connected to him. Also, CEFC was a part of an abandoned joint venture with the Biden family in which the "big guy," who was likely then-former Vice President Joe Biden, was to own a 10% stake.

The Venture

What products or services, if any, were given in return for these payments remains unclear.

As part of that joint venture, Hunter received his share of good faith seed monies, which he divided with his uncle, James Biden, and Hallie Biden, with whom he was involved at the time and sharing expenditures, according to a statement from Hunter Biden's legal team.

It was unclear what that "joint venture" actually was or how it was set up.

As early as 2015, Hunter Biden's international business endeavors have been identified as posing a conflict of interest for his father. Hunter Biden's nomination to the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where he paid $83,333 per month despite possessing the necessary qualifications, raised concerns among diplomats and journalists when his father was in office.

Yet the vice president's office dismissed those worries, and the problem was never rectified. Also, Hunter Biden connected his father with other overseas business partners, including Chinese partners.

Giving “anything of value" to an official in order to "influence" them into carrying out any "official act" is prohibited by law. There is proof that the older Biden benefited from his family's gains, thus the fact that the "thing of value" may have gone to his friends and family rather than to him personally does not exonerate him.

It is obvious that China wants to "influence" Americans, but it is less obvious what "act" Biden took or did not do.

Democrats Response

Yet, as Democrats repeatedly emphasized during the Trump impeachment investigations and trials, there need not have been a criminal statute broken in order to impeach and remove the president.

According to many academics, a president can only be impeached for actions taken after taking office. Democrats, however, undercut that standard by organizing a second Senate trial for Trump even after he left office in 2021 and by asserting that Trump could be impeached for "emoluments" as soon as he assumed office.

In this instance, it is quite plausible to say that Biden's foreign policy is an ongoing action influenced by prior financial gain. One of the two offenses specifically named by the Constitution as being subject to impeachment is bribery, along with treason. The proof was on Hunter Biden's laptop up until Thursday. But, the US Treasury has now provided evidence.

The House Oversight Committee should expand the scope of its inquiry into a formal impeachment investigation, complete with a legislative vote and all relevant subpoena powers. Anyone is subject to the law.