Newly released pictures show Joe Biden meeting Hunter Biden's Chinese business partners

Newly released photos show then-Vice President Joe Biden meeting with some of his son Hunter Biden's Chinese business associates during an official visit to China. Additionally, Hunter Biden was photographed meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials. Although these meetings and photo opportunities have long been known, these images are being made public for the first time.

The photos were released by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration after a public records request from a right-wing legal group that supports Trump. The photos document scenes from Joe Biden's 2013 visit to China. One set of photos shows Hunter Biden with his father, meeting and speaking with Xi Jinping. Another set of photos shows Joe Biden introducing his son to then-Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao.

Another set of photos shows Hunter Biden introducing his father to his Chinese business associates, some of whom were executives at the private equity firm BHR Partners. After handshakes and embraces, the Bidens posed for photos with several Chinese businessmen. These photos are noteworthy because they further undermine Joe Biden's previous claims that he never had any business-related contact with his son.

In fact, the House Republican impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden found that he had at least two dozen interactions with his son’s business associates from China and other countries. However, Hunter Biden and other relevant individuals have testified that although they occasionally spoke on the phone, met, and had dinner with Joe Biden, they never discussed business matters substantively. Hunter Biden's former main U.S. business partner later testified that Hunter was peddling "the illusion of access to his father," but that "nothing substantive was discussed" during these interactions.

Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, criticized the Trump-linked group that campaigned to obtain and release the photos, saying in a statement, "There is absolutely nothing new here." Lowell said, "These photos are entirely consistent with what Hunter described in his Congressional testimony about his public activities during his 2013 trip to China," referring to Hunter Biden's six-hour closed-door hearing in February where he was questioned by Republicans. Lowell stated in the statement, "These attacks, attempting to distort these photos into something they are not, are just more of the same tired, false-information tactics of Republicans who cannot let go of their absurd conspiracy theories and baseless accusations."

America First Legal, a pro-Trump group, filed the records request in 2022 and later sued the National Archives to obtain the records. The group is led by Stephen Miller, who served in the first White House of then-President-elect Donald Trump and will return as deputy chief of staff for policy next year. The group said in a press release last week, "These photos confirm the findings of the House Oversight Committee that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other executives of BHR during the 2013 trip to China, where ‘Mr. Li sought and received the political power of the Vice President Biden.’”

CNN has contacted the White House for comment on the newly released photos. Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings have been under intense scrutiny from congressional Republicans and Justice Department investigators. Federal prosecutors have charged him with tax crimes, in part for failing to pay taxes on his overseas deals. Although Republicans have claimed he engaged in criminal influence peddling, he has never been charged with corruption or illegal lobbying. In a controversial post-election action, Joe Biden pardoned his son for 12 tax and gun charges he was convicted of earlier this year.

This comprehensive pardon also protects Hunter Biden from future prosecution for any potential federal crimes he may have committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.