W.H. Adviser Says Beijing Sent Information On Hunter Biden Days After Donald Trump Urged China To Investigate

A White House adviser on China said that Beijing officials shared information on Joe Biden’s son with him the same week that Donald Trump publicly called on China to investigate him.

Michael Pillsbury, who serves as an informal adviser to Trump on Russia, told The Financial Times that China shared information on Hunter Biden’s business activities in the country just days after the president had publicly urged it. Pillsbury had visited China last week, saying that he was given “quite a bit of background information” on the son of the former vice president.

Pillsbury went on to say that getting the information was not easy.

“I tried to bring up the topic in Beijing,” Pillsbury said. “I’ve never seen them get so secretive in my entire life. They would discuss ICBM warheads sooner than talk about what Hunter Biden was doing in China with Vice President Biden.”

Donald Trump has pushed conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China, repeating unfounded claims that he was involved in corruption and that Joe Biden improperly helped to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company where his son worked. Investigations into Hunter Biden and statements from Ukrainian officials contradict those of the president.

Trump is now facing an impeachment inquiry related to his efforts to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on Hunter Biden. Trump raised the issue during a July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and withheld more than $250 million in military aid to Ukraine in what was reported to be an attempt to pressure the country into following through on an investigation of the Bidens.

While Trump denied any wrongdoing related to his pressure on Ukraine, he also made a public call for both China and Ukraine to launch investigations into the Bidens.

“Well, I would think that if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens,” the president told reporters on October 4. “It’s a very simple answer. Uh, they should investigate the Bidens because how does a company that’s newly formed, and all these companies you look at, and by the way, likewise China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”

Trump’s claim that Hunter Biden engaged in wrongdoing in China is said to be equally unfounded and has led to many questioning the ties between the president’s own children and the country.

A growing number of Republicans have also split with Donald Trump after his public calls for both China and Ukraine to investigate Biden, calling the actions inappropriate.