Bombshell affidavits: 'Of course, the name didn't hurt' when Jim Biden was hired to negotiate $140M deal with Saudis

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Jim Biden, the younger brother of Joe, was hired to negotiate a secret deal with the Saudi government on behalf of a U.S. construction company because of his family connection with the then-vice president. That’s not a rumor, that’s documented in bombshell affidavits.

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The more that comes out about Biden, Inc., the more corrupt the Biden family business dealings look. Jim Biden trades on the family name as Hunter Biden does. Jim Biden was selected to negotiate a $140 million settlement in a secret deal between Hill International and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012. Joe Biden was vice-president and Jim was chosen because Saudi Arabia “would not dare stiff the brother of the Vice-President who would be instrumental to the deal.” That tidbit is found in an affidavit.

The Daily Mail alleges that Jim admitted that the Biden name “didn’t hurt” in getting the job, even though he had no experience in the construction business. That sounds like Hunter getting the Burisma deal despite having zero experience in the oil and gas industry, right? It’s the last name and the proximity to Joe Biden that was appealing. Jim’s wife, Sara, an attorney, admits that Joe and Jim “told each other everything.” So much for the lie that Joe keeps telling about not knowing anything about the business dealings of his brother and son.

According to the documents, Jim told a former senior US Treasury official working as a private investigator that he was hired to negotiate with the Saudis ‘because of his position and relationship’ to VP Joe Biden – who led delegations to Saudi Arabia at the time.

In an affidavit the former Treasury official, Thomas Sullivan, described his sit-down interview with Jim Biden about being hired to negotiate with the Saudis.

Sullivan claimed the President’s brother told him: ‘Of course, the [Biden] name didn’t hurt’, and Jim’s wife Sara, who was present, allegedly said that Joe and his brother ‘told each other everything.’

‘[Biden] stated that he was often sent to meetings to represent Hill because ‘of course, the name didn’t hurt,’ and he was the former Vice-President’s brother, or words to that effect. He repeated this statement at least twice during the interview.

‘I asked specifically if he had attended a meeting with the Saudi Ministry of Trade in mid-February 2012 to receive the final payment for the work Hill had performed. He answered that, to the best of his memory, he had been at such a meeting, and that the reason he had attended was “because of his position and relationship” with his brother.’

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The Saudi government owed Hill $140 million for their work building desalination plants in the kingdom dating back to the 1980s. Hill hired three law firms, R.L. Walker & Co., Lankford & Reed, and Poblete Tamargo, in February 2011 to get the money. The negotiations were ongoing for years and part of the “Special Claims Process”, which is a U.S. government program to settle Saudi Arabia’s unpaid debt to American companies. Jim Biden’s role in this story came to light after a disagreement between Hill and their lawyers over a payout from the Saudis. Lankford & Reed claims Hill also hired Jim Biden around 2011 to fix a back-door settlement for $100 million, and failed to pay the lawyers their 40% cut after years of working on the case. Ah, yes, the double-cross.

In a May 2022 affidavit, a lawsuit, Lankord & Reed partner v. Thomas Lankford, described the alleged double cross.

‘After many delays, a meeting was finally scheduled for mid-February, 2012, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,’ he wrote. ‘The Professional Firms were excluded from this meeting. Hill, acting through [its CEO, Irvin] Richter, sent Jim Biden – the then sitting Vice President’s brother.

‘Richter confided that he selected Biden because KSA [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] would not dare stiff the brother of the Vice-President who would be instrumental to the deal.

The lawyer claimed that Jim later ‘admitted that KSA and Hill had secretly agreed to settle the claim through the award of future contracts.

‘Mr. Biden further confirmed that Richter used Biden as a settlement intermediary in order to capitalize on the influence and orchestration of the settlement by the then Vice-President,’ Lankford wrote.

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Jim Biden and his wife Sara admit to things that are not favorable to Jim’s business dealing. It sure looks sketchy. Lankford wrote that Richter admitted he used Biden as a settlement intermediary to capitalize on “the influence and orchestration of the settlement” by the then vice-president. The lawyers hired an investigator to interview Jim and Sara about the alleged back-door deal.

Sullivan’s affidavit shows that he interviewed Jim Biden at his home in Merion Station, Pennsylvania on July 16, 2017. Jim Biden described he was hired to do business development work for Hill International. ‘James stated that he was told that the final payment would be made in both cash and “a very large amount” of new future contract work.’

All that Sullivan would tell the Daily Mail was that he briefly spoke to Sara, Jim’s wife, who confirmed that “he doesn’t like us talking to people.” There is no specification in the affidavit on who “he” is but a source said it was Joe Biden. Sullivan didn’t press on further explanations out of concern over “two large men in dark suits, in a big black sedan parked on a side street looking directly into their house down the walkway I had just exited.” Sullivan thought they were security, possibly Secret Service. However, Joe Biden’s family wasn’t entitled to Secret Service protection at that time since he was no longer vice president.

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‘ Sara and I walked to my car. She told me that her husband and his brother were very close, and that they told each other everything. I reached inside to give her a card, and just as I did, a blue sedan, with a single male driving, pulled quickly into their driveway. She said ‘See what I mean?’

Jim and Sara were involved in Hunter Biden’s multi-million-dollar deal with oil giant CEFC, which is linked to the Chinese government. That deal is now under investigation by federal prosecutors. Joe Biden has denied knowledge o his family’s foreign business dealings but these affidavits show otherwise.

It’s reported that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has a copy of the affidavits and other case files. He is investigating them as part of the committee’s investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | December 16, 2024
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