Headline RoundupApril 7th, 2022

Biden Reportedly Wrote Recommendation Letter for Son's Chinese Business Associate

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Reports from right-rated sources say Joe Biden wrote a recommendation letter in 2017 for the son of Hunter Biden's Chinese business partner.

According to emails from a laptop apparently belonging to Hunter, Joe Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for the son of Jonathan Li, the CEO of Chinese investment firm BHR, in which Hunter held a 10% stake as recently as last year. The president of Hunter's Rosemont Seneca investment firm emailed Li in Feb. 2017 saying that "Hunter asked me to send you a copy of the recommendation letter that he asked his father to write," and that the letter "is being FedExed" to Brown University's president. The news was first reported by Fox News; the alleged letter has not been made public. Joe Biden has denied having knowledge of or being involved in his son's business ventures.

No left- or center-rated news sources covered the letter as of Thursday. Conversely, the letter was a top story from many right-rated outlets. Reports from the right framed the letter as evidence that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business activities despite his denials. Some opinions from the right speculated about other potential instances of the president doing business favors for Hunter. Journalist Sam Stein of MSNBC (Left bias) tweeted that the report is "a bad look for the president" while highlighting reports that Fox News's Tucker Carlson (Right bias) had Hunter Biden write his son a college recommendation letter.

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