nittd tatts rn re WASHINGTON , DC 20510 February 5, 2020 VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION Mr. James M. Murray Director United States Secret Service Dear Mr. Murray: The Committee on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ("the committees") are reviewing potential conflicts of interest posed by the business activities of Hunter Biden and his associates during the Obama administration, particularly with respect to his business activities in Ukraine and China. In addition to several letters that the committees have sent to other agencies as part of that inquiry, 1 the Committee on Finance also has written to the Department of Treasury regarding potential conflicts of interest in the Obama-era CFIUSapproved transaction which gave control of Henniges, an American maker of anti-vibration technologies with military applications, to a Chinese government-oWfled aviation company and China-based investment firm with established ties to the Chinese government. That transaction included Rosemont Seneca Partners, a company formed in 2009 by Hunter Biden, Christopher Heinz, and others. 2 We write to request information about whether Hunter Biden used government-sponsored travel to help conduct private business, to include his work for Rosemont Seneca and related entities in China and Ukraine. In December of 2013, one month after Rosemont Seneca' s joint venture with Bohai Capital to form BHR, Hunter Biden reportedly flew aboard Air Force Two with then-Vice President Biden to China. 3 While in China, he helped arrange for Jonathan Li, 1 See, e.g., Letter from Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Hon. Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to Hon. Mike Pompeo, Secretary, Department of State (Nov. 6, 2019); Letter from Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Hon. Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to Ms. Karen Tramontano, CEO, Blue Star Strategies (Dec. 3, 2019); Letter from Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Hon. Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to Hon. David S. Ferriero, Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration (Nov. 21 , 2019). 2 Peter Schweizer, Inside the Shady Private Equity Firm Run by Kerry and Biden 's Kids , N.Y. POST (Mar. 15, 2018), available at https://nypost.com/2018/03/15/inside-the-shady-private-equity-firm-run-by-kerry-and-bidens-kids/; Peter Schweizer, The Troubling Reason Why Biden is so Soft on China, N. Y. POST (May 11, 2019), available at https://nypost.com/2019/05/11/thetroubling-reason-why-biden-is-so-soft-on-china/; Tom Llamas et al., Biden Sidesteps Questions About His Son 's Foreign Business Dealings but Promises Ethics Pledge, ABC NEWS (June 20, 2019), available at https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bidensidesteps-questions-sons-foreign-business-dealings-promises/story?id=63820806 (stating that Hunter Biden was a managing partner at Rosemont Seneca Partners). 3 Adam Entous, Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize his Father 's Campaign?, THE NEW YORKER (July I, 2019), available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07 /08/wil 1-hunter-biden-jeopardize-his-fathers-campaign. Mr. James M. Murray February 5, 2020 Page2 CEO ofBohai Capital, to "shake hands" with Vice President Biden. 4 Afterward, Hunter Biden met with Li for reportedly a "social meeting." 5 After the China trip, BHR's business license was approved. 6 Then, in 2015, BHRjoined with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) to acquire Henniges, which was the "biggest Chinese investment into US automotive manufacturing assets to date. " 7 In addition to business dealings in China, Hunter Biden also served as a board member for Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company. 8 In April 2014, around the time Hunter Bidenjoined Burisma, Vice President Biden reportedly became the "public face of the administration's handling ofUkraine."9 It is unclear whether Hunter Biden received government sponsored travel or a protective detail for these endeavors. Accordingly, to help the committees better understand Hunter Biden's travel arrangements to conduct business related to his dealings in Ukraine and China, among other countries, while he received a protective detail, please provide the following information no later than February 19, 2020 10 : 1. Please describe the protective detail that Hunter Biden received while his father was Vice President. 2. Please provide a list of all dates and locations of travel, international and domestic, for Hunter Biden while he received a protective detail. In your response, please note whether his travel was on Air Force One or Two, or other government aircraft, as applicable and whether additional family members were present for each trip. We anticipate that your written response and most of the responsive documents will be unclassified. Please send all unclassified material directly to the Committees. In keeping with the requirements of Executive Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain classified information, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Committees, and provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security. The Committees comply with all laws and regulations governing the handling of classified information. The Committees are not bound, absent their prior agreement, by any handling restrictions or instructions on unclassified information unilaterally asserted by the Executive Branch. 4 Adam Entous, Will Hunter Eiden Jeopardize his Father's Campaign?, THE NEW YORKER (July 1, 2019), available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/08/will-hunter-biden-jeopardize-his-fathers-campaign. s Id. 6 Id. 7 Chinese FD! in the United States: 3Q 20! 5 Update, RHODIUM GROUP (Nov. 12, 2015), available at https://rhg.com/research/chinese-fdi-in-the-united-states-3q-2015-update/. 8 Kenneth P. Vogel and luliia Mendel, Eiden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump Allies, N .Y. TIMES (May 1, 2019), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/0 I /us/politics/biden-son-ukraine.html. 9 Id. 10 According to 18 U.S.C. ยง 3056, immediate family members of the Vice President are eligible for a protective detail. Mr. James M. Murray February 5, 2020 Page 3 If you have any questions about this request, please contact Joshua Flynn-Brown of Chairman Grassley's staff at (202) 224-4515 or Brian Downey and Scott Wittmann of Chairman Johnson's staff at (202) 224-4751. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Charles E. Grassley Chairman Committee on Finance Homeland Security ental Affairs