CNN’s Sept. 2020 fact check about Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina has been proven wrong by the House Oversight Committee.
CNN’s “Facts First” published a fact check responding to then-President Donald Trump’s assertion during a 2020 presidential debate that Hunter Biden received $3.5 million from the wife of Moscow’s mayor. (RELATED: Trump Was Right Again And Again About The Biden Family’s Foreign Business Dealings)
My latest: I looked through what Donald Trump said about the Biden family’s business dealings during the 2020 presidential campaign.
As it turns out, Trump was right about almost everything @DailyCaller https://t.co/bMVkeaAXFo
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) August 6, 2023
“Why is it, just out of curiosity, the mayor of Moscow’s wife gave your son $3.5 million?” Trump said, according to an official transcript.
“That is not true,” Joe Biden replied.
CNN’s fact check cited Hunter Biden’s attorney, George Mesires to conclude Hunter Biden was not tied to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, the holding company that took $3.5 million from Baturina in Feb. 2014, according to bank records released by the House Oversight Committee. Baturina’s late husband Yuri Luzkhkov is a former Moscow mayor, and her net worth is an estimated $1.3 billion, according to Forbes.
“Hunter Biden had no interest in and was not a ‘co-founder’ of Rosemont Seneca Thornton, so the claim that he was paid $3.5 million is false,” Mesires told the outlet. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (RELATED: These Are The Biggest Lies Joe Biden Told About Hunter’s Foreign Influence Peddling)
Baturina’s payment to Rosemont Seneca Thornton was described in a Sept. 2020 Senate report detailing Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. CNN’s fact check describes the report as a “partisan investigation” and states “the report did not provide further details about the transaction.”
“Hunter Biden was a co-founder and CEO of the investment firm Rosemont Seneca Advisors. But Mesires said Hunter Biden did not co-found Rosemont Seneca Thornton. It’s not clear what connection exists between Rosemont Seneca Advisors and Rosemont Seneca Thornton. Neither the Senate report nor Trump have provided any evidence that the payment was corrupt or that Hunter Biden committed any wrongdoing,” CNN’s fact check concludes.
House Oversight discovered Rosemont Seneca Thornton was a shell company created by Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer and Rosemont Seneca Partners, a firm chaired by Hunter Biden. Rosemont Seneca Thornton wired $2.7 million of Baturina’s payment to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, a holding company created by Devon Archer and Hunter Biden the day before Baturina’s payment.
BREAKING: House Oversight released a new memo showing the Bidens took millions from Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh oligarchs. The committee has found more than $20 million in payments from foreign partners to the Biden family and its associates @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/HrJAXD3ysp
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) August 9, 2023
Rosemont Seneca Thornton was a holding company established as part of a potential business deal involving Rosemont Seneca Partners, the Thornton Group and Chinese investment fund BHR partners, House Oversight found. Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop archive confirm discussions between the three parties were taking place at the time of the payment.
Archer confirmed the $3.5 million payment and the Rosemont Seneca Thornton arrangement when he testified to House Oversight in July, according to the transcript of his remarks. Archer also recalled a spring 2014 dinner with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Baturina, Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev and Kazakhstan politician Karim Massimov at Cafe Milano in Washington, D.C.
The Biden family and its associates received more than $20 million in payments from Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Romanian and Kazakh business partners, bank records provided by House Oversight show. The House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means are also investigating the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing case against Hunter Biden for alleged tax crimes.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.