First up on Fox: One of President Biden’s top former advisers, who for nearly a decade has been a business partner of a wealthy Chinese businessman with multiple CCP ties, appeared in a Delaware courtroom on Monday alongside Hunter Biden’s friends and family to support him during the jury selection process for his gun trial, Fox News Digital confirmed.
Frances “Fran” Person, who served as a senior Biden adviser in the Obama administration and a special assistant to President Obama between 2009 and 2014, was seen sitting with Hunter Biden’s family and friends, including First Lady Jill Biden, his sister Ashley Biden, his wife Melissa, among others.
According to Jill Biden, Person was described in a 2014 Politico profile piece as a “confidant” of the elder Biden and “like a son to Joe and me”, having been close friends with Hunter for over a decade and often being his point of contact in the vice president’s office when Hunter was trying to contact his father. The elder Biden also praised Person in a profile piece highlighting his departure from the White House for South Carolina, saying, “People know he listens to me whenever he wants to.”
Less than six months after Person’s departure from the White House in the summer of 2014, Person helped launch Harveys Global Entertainment, a Washington, D.C.-based affiliate of the China-based Harveys Century Group, a multibillion-dollar real estate development firm.
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Fran Person, a former adviser to then-Vice President Biden, unsuccessfully ran for Congress from South Carolina’s 5th congressional district in 2016. (Fran Persson/YouTube Screenshot)
Person, whose sister worked for Hunter Biden’s now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Partners firm before joining Biden’s vice presidential office in 2014, frequently emailed Hunter and his longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, then-Rosemont Seneca president, in 2015 and 2016 about business deals involving Harvs Entertainment and other D.C.-based Harvs affiliates.
He also made several trips to the White House during that time, including attending a White House holiday reception with his Chinese business partner, Bo Zhang, in December 2015, according to visitor logs reviewed by Fox News Digital. Person previously told Fox News Digital that the White House trips were “personal in nature” and that he went to “visit old colleagues and friends.”
Person first introduced Hunter to the Harveys brand Detailed July 2015 email inviting him to China to meet Zhang and his family, saying, “They are a great family, very well respected and well connected in China.” Zhang is the son of “Chinese billionaires,” according to court records relating to an ongoing legal dispute between Zhang and a New York City designer who alleges Zhang has not paid the designer more than $4 million.
“I want you to get to know Bo. He’s a wonderful person — he’s been groomed to take over his family’s dynasty, but he’s very humble. He’ll do great things one day, but he needs good people around him,” Persson said in a 2015 email. “They’re very private, and won’t tell anyone about you visiting. Bo’s father-in-law is actually the governor of Hainan (Chinese Hawaii), which he doesn’t advertise at all.”
Fran Person sent an email to Hunter Biden in July 2015 describing how powerful Zhang’s family was in China and how strong his real estate empire was, and that Zhang was “being groomed to take over his family’s dynasty.” (Fox News)
Liu Cigui, a decades-long member of the CCP who has served in a number of leadership positions over the past 15 or so years, appears to be the father-in-law Person was referring to, based on the timeline of the emails and his leadership position. According to a recent article in the state-run China Daily media outlet, he is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). which is described as The “central part” of China’s united front system, which works to “co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)”.
Another of Zhang’s ties to the CCP was exposed in the December 2013 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Filing with the Department of JusticeZhang was listed as a “foreign principal.” The filing also noted his ties to Chinese government official Liu Guoqiang, vice chairman of the Liaoning Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
“This is not about a partnership or selling you anything,” Persson added in an email to Hunter. “We just want to grow that relationship, and there are a lot of great things we can work on going forward.
While it does not appear that Hunter was able to travel to China during the time period described by Person, Hunter and Eric Schwerin met with Zhang several times over the next few years, including at his office. Fox News Digital previously reported on Hunter and Schwerin working with Zhang during Person’s unsuccessful House race in South Carolina in 2016.
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Bo Zhang, left, Hunter Biden, center, and Fran Person, right. (Fox News)
Hunter and Zhang continued to communicate while Person was running for Congress. On May 6, 2016, Hunter described Zhang as his “good friend and business associate” in an email sent to Chinese Communist Party official and Harvest Fund Management CEO Henry Zhao, first verified by Fox News Digital, according to the New York Post. The Post reported that Zhao’s fund participated in a Chinese investment fund called Bohai Harvest RST, where Hunter served as a founding board member until October 2019.
The following year, an email from Schwerin to Hunter revealed that Rosemont Seneca Advisors, which holds a 75% stake in Hunter’s LLC, Owasco, has financial interests in several Harvs affiliates, including a 5% stake in Harvs Amusement Parks and ownership in Harvs Sports & Entertainment, both of which fall under the Harvs Group, according to a 2017 email found on Hunter’s discarded laptop.
Frain has repeatedly claimed that neither Hunter nor any of his associates ever owned equity in any Harves entity or affiliate, after Fox News Digital previously pressed him on multiple emails from Schwerin to Hunter that contradicted this claim. A Washington Post fact check previously confirmed that Rosemont Seneca Advisors owned “a 5 percent stake in Harveys Amusement Parks and an ownership stake in Harves Sports & Entertainment, both of which are in China.”
An email sent by Eric Schwerin to Hunter in March 2017 showed that Rosemont Seneca Advisors, in which Hunter’s LLC, Owasco, holds a 75% stake, has financial interests in several of Harveys’ affiliates. (Fox News)
In 2017, when Hunter was going through a difficult divorce, Person told Hunter in a WhatsApp message, released by the House Ways and Means Committee, that she and Zhang “wanted to help” him with expenses. Fox News Digital previously reported,
“100K will at least get me through the next month,” Hunter said. “I appreciate what (Bo) was comfortable with, but I’m very uncomfortable starting a Battle Modified partnership like this.”
“I first talked to Bo about 37K – he showed no hesitation. I will talk to him about 56K and possibly 100K,” Persson said, According to the messages First reviewed by Fox News Digital. “It really depends on their liquid assets in the US…I would ask. Their only problem is getting a large sum of money out of China (especially right now).”
The next day, Hunter asked Person if he knew if anything had been wired or if they were in a “holding pattern,” to which Person replied, “No holding pattern … He was going to the bank this morning. He’ll get in touch once it’s confirmed.” Fox News Digital could not confirm how much money Zhang sent Hunter or if it was even wired.
“He will help you with your needs. He also mentioned that you should travel to China sometime this month so you can relax for a week or two … just de-stress,” Persson added. An email from late August 2017 shows Hunter was scheduled to fly first class to Hong Kong, but it’s unclear if this was related to the trip with Bo.
According to online records, another WhatsApp message sent by Person to Hunter alleges that Zhang offered Hunter his home to live in, referring to a multimillion-dollar mansion located in McLean, Virginia. Person described the six-bedroom home as “unrealistic” and revealed that Zhang “won’t be living there for at least the next few years.” He added that Hunter Biden “should live in his house” and that it is furnished. Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Biden accepted Zhang’s offer.
Bo Zhang (pictured) met Hunter Biden and Eric Schwerin several times when his business partner Fran Person was running for Congress in 2016. (Harveys Investment Group/YouTube Screenshot)
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In an earlier text exchange, Person told Hunter Biden that he “selfishly wants to work with him” because “I know what you’re capable of, and I want to learn from you. I’m just putting myself out there, and I’m learning fast.” He added, “But I would love to be there with you doing some of this work. I mention the 500K increase to 10 million, because I’m about to start working on that, and I need your help. We can work it out together. I think that would help a little bit, and you wouldn’t feel like you’re being held back.”
“I have a loyal brother. He’s loyal to my family. He’s loyal to your family,” Persson added.
Persson did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for information on why he was present at the trial. It’s unclear if he plans to attend multiple days of the trial or attend on Tuesday or Wednesday.
