Senate investigators have connected another dot following the damning revelation of a WhatsApp message that showed Hunter Biden shaking down Chinese officials. In the message, the president’s son proclaims that his “father” is in the room with him and will exact retribution if their “commitment” is not honored immediately.

HUNTER BIDEN: I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.

What happened next? According to bank records uncovered by the ongoing investigation in the Senate into the Biden family’s alleged corruption, $5.1 million was wired to Hunter Biden within 10 days. Of that money, more than $1 million of it was then sent to a consulting firm run by James Biden, the president’s brother (who also has a long history of questionable financial dealings).

Within 10 days of Hunter Biden's WhatsApp message to the Chinese official associated with CEFC, a CEFC subsidiary sent 2 payments totaling $5.1M to accounts linked to Hunter, according to records cited in the Senate GOP investigation. https://t.co/myy4Xw8un2 pic.twitter.com/EEkb3sa6Y7

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) June 23, 2023

Even more shocking is that the money sent to James Biden was flagged by his bank. Sara Biden, his wife, was contacted about the activity from the unusual wire. She first tried to play it off as normal consulting fees, but when asked to provide supporting documentation, she refused. The account was then closed due to suspicions of money laundering.

The Senate report includes this evidence.

During the same period, there is also evidence that Hunter Biden moved large sums of money from his firm, Owasco, to James Biden’s consulting firm, the Lion Hall Group.389 Between Aug. 14, 2017 and Aug. 3, 2018, Owasco sent 20 wires totaling $1,398,999 to the Lion Hall Group, a consulting firm that lists James Biden and his wife, Sara Biden, on the bank account.390 This transaction was identified for potential criminal financial activity. These transfers began less than one week after CEFC Infrastructure Investment wired $5 million to Hudson West III and Hudson West III sent its first payment of $400,000 to Owasco. Most of the payments from Owasco to the Lion Hall Group had vague notes in the memo lines, 15 of which simply indicated that they were for further credit to James Biden; however, the memo line for one of the payments read “HW3,” which indicates some of the transferred money could be from Hudson West III.392 When the bank contacted Sara Biden regarding the overall wire activity, she stated that the Lion Hall Group and Owasco provide international and business consulting and that the Lion Hall Group was assisting Owasco with an international client through a contract that had since terminated.Sara Biden told the bank that she would not provide any supporting documentation, and she also refused to provide additional information to more clearly explain the activity.394 Consequently, the bank submitted the account for closure.

So if that’s what happened, the one gaping question left is why it all happened.

What exactly was Hunter Biden involved in with the Chinese that would pay him $5.1 million? What was the “commitment” that he claimed the Chinese had made to him and his father, Joe Biden? Everyone is focusing on the money itself, but I’m just interested in what the Biden family delivered for these Chinese officials (at least one of which is directly connected to Chinese intelligence) to demand so much cash. How is no member of the mainstream press even the slightest bit curious?

Then there’s the movement of money to James Biden. Why was that done? Was the money being laundered? Was it being sent through one of many subsidiaries in order to eventually reach Joe Biden? There’s just no reasonable explanation for any of this aside from rank, possibly criminal corruption. Senate Republicans need to keep digging because this feels like just the tip of the iceberg.