Multiple associates of Joe Biden called him the 'big guy' in emails – the latest in a mountain of evidence that the president was involved in his son's business dealings.
Even after the Washington Post and New York Times conceded the laptop is authentic a year after Daily Mail proved it, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki continued to claim the president has never spoken to his son about his overseas business dealings in a press conference on Tuesday.
But emails and documents on Hunter's laptop, many revealed by Daily Mail, show Joe Biden:
* Was referenced under the nickname 'big guy' as a potential 10% owner in Hunter's joint venture with Chinese oil giant CEFC, in an email by Hunter's partner in the deal
* Met with Hunter's foreign business associates at a DC restaurant, despite initial White House denials
* At his son's behest, met with an executive from the allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, where Hunter had a $1million-per-year board seat
* Met with Hunter and his Mexican billionaire business partners in the Vice President's official residence
* Flew Hunter and his business partner – a top political donor – on Air Force 2 to Mexico for a business meeting with those same Mexican billionaires
* Was issued keys for Hunter's proposed office to be shared with his Chinese business partners - though Hunter never picked the keys up according to the office manager
* Met with Hunter's now-jailed business partner Devon Archer, who was then appointed a Burisma board member alongside Hunter the same month Joe visited Ukraine as VP, according to White House visitor logs
* Shared a bank account with Hunter and paid each other's bills
* Spoke with former FBI director Louis Freeh who at the time was plotting establishing a DC consultancy with Hunter and Joe catering to foreign criminals
* Had Hunter's business partner file his taxes
* Wrote a college recommendation letter for the son of Hunter's Chinese business partner, Jonathan Li
On May 5 Gilliar texted Bobulinski: 'Think joe
may come Sunday. I'm hoping,' and a week later wrote: 'Man U are right
let's get the company set up, then tell H and family the high stakes and
get Joe involved.' He also added on May 20: 'Don't mention Joe being
involved, it's only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they
are paranoid'
'In light of the fact we are at an impasse of
sorts, and both James' lawyers and my Chairman gave an emphatic NO- I
think we should all meet in Romania on Tuesday next week,' Hunter wrote.
'Zhang [a CEFC executive] will be there and so will the completed
agreement if they stick to schedule'
Amid all the shocking messages involving Joe Biden, possibly the most important email of the 154,000 on Hunter's abandoned laptop is Hunter's business partner James Gilliar's 'big guy' email.
A search of Hunter’s emails for the term ‘big guy’ returns 41 hits, some not referring to Joe Biden but revealing at least two of Joe’s associates also referred to him as the ‘big guy.’
Gilliar’s now-infamous email suggested that the president was secretly involved in, and set to profit from, an alleged Chinese influence operation.
Gilliar wrote the message in 2017 saying Hunter would hold 10% of the equity in their multi-million-dollar deal with Chinese government-linked firm CEFC on behalf of 'the big guy'.
Although the White House has disputed the email was a reference to Joe Biden, others use the same moniker for him going as far back as 2013.
A trade union lobbyist referred to President Biden as the 'big guy' when he emailed Hunter trying to arrange a meeting between his union boss and the then-vice president in 2014.
And an executive at a wealth management firm used the moniker for Joe when he wrote to Hunter about the vice president's appearance at a 2013 private club dinner in Delaware.
Another recipient of Gilliar's infamous May 2017 email, Tony Bobulinski, has publicly stated that Gilliar was referring to Joe Biden, and that Joe not only knew about but was involved in Hunter's deal with CEFC.
The email appears to have gotten the attention of federal prosecutors investigating Hunter for alleged tax fraud, money laundering and illegal lobbying.
A witness testifying to a grand jury in Hunter's probe was asked who the 'big guy' was in the Chinese deal, a source told the New York Post.
The email being brought into evidence in the case raises the prospect that Joe could become embroiled in the criminal probe.
Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who launched an investigation into Hunter's business dealings with Senator Chuck Grassley in September 2020, claims the president is 'compromised'.
'That's some pretty strong evidence. That's a contemporaneous email that's been verified, the big guy was Joe Biden,' Johnson told Fox News.
'He repeatedly lied to the American public. He said that he never, ever discussed Hunter Biden's overseas business deals with Hunter. No, he was just photographed with his business partners.
'That's pretty good evidence something's amiss here. If you have nothing to hide if there's no wrongdoing you're honest. There's plenty of evidence,' he said.
'Joe Biden as president is compromised.'
The emails showing Biden was previously referred to as the 'big guy' are themselves controversial.
One email chain from December 2014 shows a trade union lobbyist emailing Hunter to arrange a meeting with Joe Biden, circumventing protocol for meetings with the VP and highlighting Hunter's role as a conduit for access to Joe.
Chuck Harple wrote to Hunter complaining that his client Sean McGarvey, then secretary treasurer and now president of the North American Building Trades Unions, had got no response from 'an official letter asking for a meeting with Vice President Biden.'
Hunter promised Harple he would ask his father for a meeting.
'I'll work on it- but is there any issue I should know about before I go around everyone and straight to him.' he said.
Harple replied, referring to Joe as 'the big guy'.
'What works best - for you and I - is for you to call Sean first. Say you talked to me and that you want to get all the facts before you talk to the big guy.'
In another email from March 2013, Geoff Rogers, the retired president and CEO of the Wilmington, Delaware branch of $37 billion wealth management firm the Glenmede Trust Company, appeared to refer to Biden as 'the big guy'.
Rogers forwarded Hunter a letter about a visit by VP Joe to a dinner by the Whitehall Neck Sportsman Club, a Delaware group patronized by political heavyweights including senators.
Rogers wrote: 'Hunt see below… I was not there but heard all about it. The big guy made them happy.'
In 2014 Biden entertained his son's business associates in the vice president's office, including Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco.
The then-vice president also flew Hunter and his partner Jeff Cooper on Air Force 2 to Mexico City in 2016 where Hunter arranged to meet Alemán's son for meetings over a 'flippin gigantic' business deal.
Hunter's former business partner, Tony Bobulinski, issued a statement ahead of the 2020 election calling out the Biden family for their alleged involvement in his Chinese deal.
'Hunter Biden called his dad 'the Big Guy' or 'my Chairman,' and frequently referenced asking him for his sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing,' he said.
'I've seen Vice president Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I've seen firsthand that that's not true, because it wasn't just Hunter's business, they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line.
'I don't have a political ax to grind; I just saw behind the Biden curtain and I grew concerned with what I saw. The Biden family aggressively leveraged the Biden family name to make millions of dollars from foreign entities even though some were from communist controlled China.'
Bobulinski, a Navy veteran and Democrat donor who set up the joint venture with CEFC, even alleged he met with Hunter, Joe and the president's brother Jim Biden in the lobby bar of Los Angeles' Beverly Hilton Hotel two weeks before Gilliar's 'big guy' email.
Bobulinski told author Miranda Devine, who wrote a book on Hunter and the scandals that emerged from his laptop, that during the 45-minute meeting Joe thanked him for 'helping my son.'
After the president's brother and son told him Bobulinski was 'working hard' on their behalf he allegedly replied, 'My son and my brother trust you emphatically, so I trust you.'
Biden was in Los Angeles that day for a speech at the Milken Institute Global Conference.
Texts from Bobulinski's phone appear to back up his account.
On May 2 2017 he texted Hunter: 'Mrng plse let me knw if we will do early dinner w your Uncle & dad and where.'
Hunter replied: 'Dad not in now until 11- lets me I and Jim meet at 10 at Beverly Hilton where he's staying.'
Later that day Bobulinski texted: 'Great to meet u and spend some time together, please thank Joe for his time, was great to talk.'
Other texts between Bobulinski and Hunter's other business partners further evidence Joe's involvement.
On May 5 Gilliar texted Bobulinski: 'Think joe may come Sunday. I'm hoping,' and a week later wrote: 'Man U are right let's get the company set up, then tell H and family the high stakes and get Joe involved.'
He also added on May 20: 'Don't mention Joe being involved, it's only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they are paranoid.'
In one text to Bobulinski Hunter referred to 'my Chairman' – which Bobulinski claims is Joe Biden.
'In light of the fact we are at an impasse of sorts, and both James' lawyers and my Chairman gave an emphatic NO- I think we should all meet in Romania on Tuesday next week,' he wrote. 'Zhang [a CEFC executive] will be there and so will the completed agreement if they stick to schedule.'
As Hunter made more demands of cash from the Chinese partnership and his relationship with Bobulinski frayed, the veteran sent an angry text venting to Gilliar on June 4 2017, appearing to refer to Joe Biden as 'JB'.
'He is out of his mind if he thinks I am going to work my a** off, travel around so he and JB can take 20% of things for being a f***up,' Bobulinski wrote. 'Will let u, rob and JB whip his ass into shape. Life is way too short.'
Gilliar replied: 'It will kill or cure him, could be the making of the man :), speak with jim of u can, I think JB will support.'
In an undated text Gilliar made it crystal clear why he believed the Chinese were willing to funnel millions of dollars into the partnership despite Hunter's increasingly erratic behavior.
'I ain't that stupid,' he wrote. 'I know why the wants the deal and what makes it enormous. It's the family name.'
A set of emails from 2015 show Joe Biden attended a dinner with Hunter’s foreign business associates at Café Milano in Georgetown. The White House has since admitted Biden did attend the Café Milano dinner, but claims he only attended briefly.
The guest list included an executive at allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas firm Burisma where Hunter had a board seat; corrupt, late former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov and his wife, Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina; and a Mexican ambassador.
'The reason for the dinner is ostensibly to discuss food security. Dad will be there but keep that btw us for now,' Hunter wrote on March 26, 2015 to Michael Karloutsos, son of the then-head of the Greek Orthodox Church, who was also invited.
Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi wrote an email the day after thanking Hunter for the 'opportunity to meet your father'.
Photos on Hunter's laptop dated November 19, 2015, show Joe Biden entertaining Hunter’s Mexican billionaire business partners at the Vice President’s official residence. Emails show the men also met Joe at the White House.
Hunter and Biden family friend Jeff Cooper hatched a plan in 2013 to invest in multiple businesses in Mexico and Latin America, using their relationship with the Mexican billionaire Alemán family whose late patriarch, Miguel Alemán Valdes, served as president of Mexico.
They were also plotting to help Burisma buy oilfields being sold by Mexican oil magnate Carlos Slim’s company Pemex.
While the deals were in progress, billionaire Miguel Alemán Velasco and his son Miguel Alemán Magnani as well as Slim were photographed with Biden at the VP’s residence at at Number One Observatory Circle in DC in November 2015.
In February 2016, Hunter wrote an email to Magnani revealing that in the midst of their Mexican oil deal, his father was flying him and his business partner on Air Force 2 to Mexico City, where he and Cooper would be sitting in on a meeting with the country's president.
Hunter outlined an apparent quid pro quo with Magnani, of access to the White House for villa trips and business deals.
‘I really appreciate you letting me stay at your resort villa...but I have brought every single person you have ever asked me to bring to the F'ing WHite House and the Vice President's house and the inauguration,’ he wrote.
Emails from 2016 reveal former FBI director Louis Freeh gave $100,000 to a private trust for Joe Biden's grandchildren and met with the then-Vice President in 2016. Freeh emailed Hunter at the time saying he wanted 'to explore with him [Joe] some future work options’ – including a plan to set up a DC consultancy with Hunter and the then-vice president.
Freeh’s clients included the now-jailed Malaysian prime minister who stole billions of dollars from his country and a Romanian real estate tycoon convicted of bribery.
'I also spoke to Dad a few weeks ago and would like to explore with him some future work options,' Freeh wrote to Hunter in July 2016, referring to Joe Biden. 'I believe that working together on these (and other legal) matters would be of value, fun and rewarding.
'I would like to talk with you and Dad about working together next year,' he said in another email a month later. ‘As you know, we have both a law firm and 'solutions/investigations' group with a very good brand, DC and DEL (and NYC) offices, and a profitable and interesting global practice (eg., I'm currently representing the Malaysian PM and his family).’
The emails, obtained by Daily Mail from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, show that around the same time Freeh was making overtures to the Bidens for business deals, he also gave $100,000 to a trust for Joe Biden's grandchildren.
'As you know, our family foundation made a $100K contribution to Hallie's children's trust last year,' Freeh wrote in an April 2017 email.
Other communications on Hunter’s laptop show he had keys made for Joe at his prospective new offices for his joint venture with Chinese firm CEFC.
In September 2017 Hunter was planning to open a new office for his multi-million-dollar joint venture with CEFC at the House of Sweden, a Georgetown building home to the Swedish embassy.
He wrote to a building manager: 'please have keys made available for new office mates: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Jim Biden, Gongwen Dong (Chairman Ye CEFC emissary).
The manager told the Washington Post the keys were made but Hunter never picked them up.
Hunter also had his father write a college recommendation for the son of the CEO of his Chinese investment fund BHR, Jonathan Li.
In a February 2017 email, Hunter’s business partner Eric Schwerin wrote to Li: ‘Hunter asked me to send you a copy of the recommendation latter that he asked his father to write on behalf of Christopher for Brown University.’