OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Republicans are saying that President Joe Biden may have committed an “impeachable” offense with his deal to send near a million barrels of oil to China to a firm that has links to his son Hunter Biden.
In April, The Department of Energy sold 950,000 barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Unipec America, the American arm of what is China’s biggest energy company owned by China Petrochemical Corporation, The Epoch Times reported.
Sinopec is a state-run Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing that has been tied to President Joe Biden’s second son, Hunter Biden, whose foreign business transactions have fueled growing scrutiny.
The sale, though little noticed at the time, is drawing heavy backlash from Republican lawmakers. As the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the world’s largest emergency supply of crude oil, tank to a historic low while Americans nationwide feel the pinch of soaring gas and diesel prices, such a move runs counter to American interests and is putting national security at risk, the officials said.
“The Biden Administration should not be sending our reserves, which we need for our country, to China. It is foolish and defies all common sense,” Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said.
Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Mike Loychik (R-Ohio) described the Biden administration’s sale of oil to China as “impeachable.”
“While you are paying FIVE DOLLARS a gallon at the pump and struggling to pay your electricity bill, Biden just sold one million barrels of our reserved oil to China so his family can make a buck. This is impeachable,” Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said.
While you are paying FIVE DOLLARS a gallon at the pump and struggling to pay your electricity bill, Biden just sold one million barrels of our reserved oil to China so his family can make a buck.
This is impeachable.https://t.co/tkxnr6jkD2
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) July 8, 2022
The Washington Free Beacon reported.
The Biden administration sold roughly one million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Chinese state-controlled gas giant that continues to purchase Russian oil, a move the Energy Department said would “support American consumers” and combat “Putin’s price hike.”
Biden’s Energy Department in April announced the sale of 950,000 Strategic Petroleum Reserve barrels to Unipec, the trading arm of the China Petrochemical Corporation. That company, which is commonly known as Sinopec, is wholly owned by the Chinese government. The Biden administration claimed the move would “address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump” and “help lower energy costs.” More than five million barrels of oil released from the U.S. emergency reserves, however, were sent overseas last month, according to a Wednesday Reuters report. At least one shipment of American crude went to China, the report said.
The Biden administration also claimed the Unipec sale would “support American consumers and the global economy in response to Vladimir Putin’s war of choice against Ukraine” and combat “Putin’s price hike.” But as the war rages on, Unipec has continued to purchase Russian oil. In May, for example, the company “significantly increased the number of hired tankers to ship a key crude from eastern Russia,” Bloomberg reported. That decision came roughly one month after Unipec said it would purchase “no more Russian oil going forward” once “shipments that have arrived in March and due to arrive in April” were fulfilled…
Turner also said the decision highlights the Biden family’s “relationship with China.” Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is tied to Sinopec. In 2015, a private equity firm he cofounded bought a $1.7 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing. Sinopec went on to enter negotiations to purchase Gazprom in March, one month after the Biden administration sanctioned the Russian gas giant.
And that comes as House Oversight Committee ranking member, Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, accused the Biden Treasury Department of running “cover” for Hunter Biden by imposing a new rule for financial document requests, Fox News reported.
“The Biden Administration changed the rules to severely restrict Congress’ access to suspicious activity reports in the dark of night and with no explanation,” he said.” We now know Hunter Biden and other Biden family members have racked up at least 150 suspicious activity reports for their shady foreign business deals.”
“The Treasury Department’s sudden change of longstanding policy appears to be a broader pattern by the Biden Administration to run cover for Hunter Biden and possibly hide information about whether Joe Biden benefited financially from the Biden family’s business transactions,” he said. “The American people deserve answers and the Biden Administration must comply with congressional oversight.”
