The FBI's subpoena for a laptop and hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden is related to a money laundering investigation from illegal activities that took place in late 2019, according to documents obtained by Fox News.
It is unclear, at this point, whether the investigation is ongoing or if it is directly related to Hunter Biden.
Multiple federal law enforcement officials, as well as two separate government officials, confirmed the authenticity of these documents, which were signed by FBI Special Agent Joshua Wilson.
One of the documents, obtained by Fox News, was titled the FBI's "Receipt for Property," which details interactions with John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of "The Mac Shop," who reported the laptop's contents to authorities.
The document has a section called “Case ID”, which was given the number: 272D-BA-3065729.
According to the FBI website, “272” is the code the bureau assigns to cases involving money laundering, while “272D” refers to “Money Laundering from Unknown Illegal Activity . ”
The “BA” indicates that the case was opened in the FBI’s Baltimore office.
“The FBI can’t start an investigation without strong evidence, so they believe it’s highly likely that there was criminal activity,” a government official told Fox News. “That means there was sufficient evidence to believe there was criminal behavior.”
The FBI declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into the laptop or emails, as is its usual practice.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, however, confirmed this week that the laptop, allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden, and the emails on it “are not part of any Russian disinformation,” despite claims by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
The FBI, in a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, who is investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings as well as the laptop in question, said the bureau has "nothing to add at this time to the Director of National Intelligence's public statement made on Oct. 19."
The FBI, in its letter to Ron Johnson, wrote that “in accordance with longstanding Department of Justice policy and practice, the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation or persons or entities under investigation, including members of Congress.”
The emails in question were first obtained by the New York Post and, in part, revealed that Hunter Biden allegedly introduced his father, the then-vice president, to a top executive at Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings less than a year before he pressured Ukrainian government officials to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company.
The New York Post report revealed that Biden, at Hunter's request, allegedly met with Vadym Pozharskyi in April 2015 in Washington.
The meeting referred to an email that Pozharskyi sent to Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015 – a year after Hunter took his seat on Burisma’s board
Biden, before the emails surfaced, had repeatedly claimed that he had “never spoken to his son about his business dealings abroad .”
Hunter Biden's business dealings and his role on the Burisma board of directors came to light during the Trump impeachment investigation in 2019.
Another email, dated May 13, 2017, includes a discussion of “numbering packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy company . The email appeared to identify Hunter Biden as “President/Vice President pursuant to a deal with CEFC,” in an apparent reference to the bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co.
Although Biden has not commented on this email or his alleged involvement in deals with the Chinese energy company, the former vice president's tax documents and statements have also been released, which do not reflect any involvement in Chinese investments.
Fox News also obtained an email last week that revealed that a Burisma Holdings advisor, Vadym Pozharskyi, wrote an email to Hunter Biden on May 12, 2014, asking for “advice” on how he could use his “influence to convey a message” to “stop” what the company sees as “politically motivated.”
“We urgently need your advice on how you could use your influence to get a message, etc. to stop what we see as politically motivated actions,” Pozharskyi said.
