James Biden, the brother of former President Joe Biden, hired a retired Secret Service agent to determine whether a Chinese client suspected of bribery had a warrant out for his arrest, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
Dan Pupillo, the Secret Service agent, served on the detail for President Biden, the Free Beacon said.
In February 2024, James Biden told House investigators that he had asked Pupillo to run a background check on Patrick Ho, an official with a Chinese energy conglomerate with which James Biden and his nephew, Hunter Biden, had a multimillion dollar consulting contract, the Free Beacon reported.
James Biden told investigators the background was simply “due diligence” and nothing else, the Free Beacon reported. But a new report from the Department of Justice inspector general says he asked Pupillo to determine if there was an FBI warrant out for Ho’s arrest.
Pupillo told the FBI that James Biden said, “We have information from China that Ho may be arrested,” according to the report. Ho had wanted to travel to America but was concerned he would be arrested, the report said.
The investigator was unable to find a warrant against Ho, and Ho eventually attended the event. But he was later arrested in November 2017 on charges he offered bribes to African officials for oil rights on behalf of his company, according to the Free Beacon. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, the Free Beacon reported.
