Biden’s son to resign from Chinese company

Hunter Biden, facing increasing questions about his work for a Chinese investment company, will step down from his position as a board director this month and promised not to do any work for foreign firms if his father, Joe Biden, is elected president, his lawyer said Sunday.

The lawyer’s statement underscored how Hunter Biden’s foreign work has become a major issue in the presidential campaign, raising questions about whether Joe Biden failed to understand the potential for a conflict of interest with his son’s work and setting in motion a chain of events that have led to an impeachment inquiry about President Donald Trump.

Hunter Biden served, starting in 2014, as a paid board member for a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, at a time when his father was shepherding U.S. policy in that country, including advocating for increased gas production. He left that position when his father announced his presidential candidacy earlier this year but has retained his role as a director and part owner of the Chinese company.

Trump asked Ukraine’s president in a July 25 phone call to “look into” the Bidens, referring to allegations that Joe Biden pressured Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor who was looking into the company where Hunter Biden served as a director. Former Ukrainian and U.S. officials say the prosecutor’s investigation into the company was dormant.

Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry to determine whether Trump withheld military aid and a White House meeting with the Ukrainian president in a quid pro quo effort to get Ukraine to find dirt on a political opponent.

Trump has denied making a quid pro quo offer. In recent days, Trump has sought to highlight questions about Hunter Biden, asking on Twitter and at a campaign rally last week, “Where is Hunter Biden?”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, said in the Sunday statement that his client has been the subject of allegations that bear “little resemblance to the public record.”

Mesires did not say how much Hunter Biden earned in his work for Burisma. Some reports have said he was paid as much as $50,000 a month for a directorship that lasted for five years.