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Mel Monzack, 83, Joe Biden's personal lawyer who is authorized to act on the president's behalf in financial matters, is LINKED to Hunter's newly filed criminal indictment

11 months ago 56

A little-known lawyer has the power to handle all of President Joe Biden’s financial and business affairs – and is linked to Hunter Biden’s shady Chinese business dealings, documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal. 

Mel Monzack, 83, a close friend of the President, has held Joe’s ‘power of attorney’ since 1987, allowing him to control POTUS’s bank accounts and sign financial documents on Joe’s behalf.

And DailyMail.com can now reveal that Monzack may also be also linked to Hunter Biden’s suspect dealings with Chinese oil giant CEFC - dealings that are now part of a new criminal indictment filed on Thursday.

Monzack was not named in the indictment filed Thursday, nor were any other Hunter associates.

Corporate records show Monzack’s law firm is the registered agent for a company belonging to Hunter’s business partner that received $3 million from State Energy HK, a CEFC affiliate, in an alleged plot to buy influence with the President.

Monzack has been Joe’s close confidant and personal attorney for decades. He served as treasurer for his failed 2008 presidential campaign, and is the registered agent for Joe and First Lady Jill Biden’s companies that have recorded millions of dollars in income.

Monzack’s law firm, Monzack Mersky Mclaughlin and Browder, is also the registered agent for Robinson Walker LLC, a company that received $3 million from State Energy HK Limited and funneled the cash to three Biden family members as part of an allegedly corrupt energy deal.

Special Counsel David Weiss charged Hunter with nine tax crimes on Thursday, citing the payments that came via Robinson Walker LLC in the indictment filed in a Los Angeles federal court.

Pennsylvania-based lawyer Mel Monzack's deep ties to Joe and Hunter's business dealings may now make him a target of a dogged GOP probe into alleged corruption by the Biden family, records obtained by DailyMail.com reveal

 Pictures shared on Instagram by a Biden fan account include an undated photo of Joe Biden with his late son Beau (right) and power of attorney Mel Monzack

Corporate records reveal Monzack's law firm was the registered agent for Robinson Walker LLC, a company that funneled $3 million to Biden family members from an allegedly corrupt business deal with State Energy HK

Monzack’s potential ties to Hunter’s CEFC deal, currently under investigation by federal law enforcement, coupled with his control of Joe’s personal finances and affairs, could make him the key to uncovering the suspected financial links between the president and his son’s shady overseas schemes.

The Pennsylvania-based lawyer’s deep ties to Joe and Hunter’s business dealings may now make him a target of a dogged GOP probe into alleged corruption by the Biden family.

DailyMail.com has also uncovered offshore accounts linked to Monzack, attendance at a Chinese state dinner, and evidence he sent money to Hunter on Joe’s behalf, all drawing him closer to Congressional and federal probes of the Biden family.

Monzack handled an offshore trust in the Cook Islands for Joe's old law firm partner, used Joe's accounts to wire cash to Hunter, and was even found by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to have violated campaign finance laws while working for Joe.

Money from State Energy HK was sent to Hunter and Jim via Robinson Walker LLC, a firm belonging to their business partner and Biden family friend, Rob Walker (pictured) bank statements published by congress revealed

The attorney appears frequently in documents on Hunter's abandoned laptop, including an email showing Monzack received an invite to a 2011 White House state dinner for then-Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Monzack's links to the Bidens were first highlighted by right-wing nonprofit Marco Polo in its 645-page report on Hunter published last year. 

Marco Polo founder Garrett Ziegler told DailyMail.com: ‘Monzack provides Joe plausible deniability. He's been Joe's power-of-attorney for nearly 40 years and has managed offshore trusts. The fact that Monzack has not been subpoenaed by Congress is unconscionable.’

Apart from his mention in Marco Polo's report,  the president's close friend has otherwise largely flown under the radar.

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who investigated Hunter's alleged corruption for four years with his colleague Senator Chuck Grassley, urged GOP-controlled House committees with subpoena powers to investigate Monzack, in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'Mr. Monzack should have first-hand knowledge of Biden family financial transactions that are central to their corrupt activities,' Johnson said. 

'I assume House investigators will take action to obtain his records and testimony.

'Unfortunately, Democrats in the Senate have turned a blind eye toward Biden family corruption that becomes more obvious with each passing day and revelation.'

Joe's working relationship with Monzack dates back over half a century to 1970, when the two men set up a law firm in Wilmington, Delaware called Biden & Walsh.

Documents filed with the state's New Castle County recorder show Joe named Monzack as his power of attorney in 1987.

This role in Joe's personal affairs continued for three decades, evidenced by a document from Hunter's abandoned laptop showing Joe and Jill's car insurance for a 2018 Ford vehicle addressed 'care of Mel Monzack' at his Wilmington law office.

When Joe unsuccessfully ran for president in 2008, Monzack acted as treasurer for his campaign fund.

The FEC investigated Monzack and the fund, Biden for President, Inc and in 2012 it found that they violated campaign finance laws and fined them $50,000. 

Earlier this year, House Oversight Committee Republicans released a report tracing hefty payouts to the Biden family back to close associates, including Robinson Walker LLC and Hunter's Chinese business partners 

Documents filed with the New Castle County, Delaware recorder show Joe named Monzack as his power of attorney in 1987

A document from Hunter's abandoned laptop shows Joe and Jill's car insurance for a 2018 Ford vehicle was addressed 'care of Mel Monzack' at his Wilmington law office

A report by the Commission said Biden for President of which Monzack was the treasurer, failed to keep records to show $1,092,899 of campaign contributions that exceeded federal limits were returned.

Monzack also acted as treasurer for the president's late son Beau Biden's 2006 Delaware Attorney General campaign, and remained closely involved with Joe's political career.

Filings for Joe's company, CelticCapri Corp, and his wife's, Giaccopa Corp, list Monzack's law firm as their registered agent.

The couple earned $22.5million between 1998 and 2019, including reported millions for lucrative speaking engagements and book deals routed through their S-corporations after Joe finished his term as Vice President in 2017.

In April 2022 DailyMail.com published an analysis showing a $5.2million discrepancy in income between the Bidens' IRS filings for their corporations, and Joe's governmental transparency reports – as Republicans investigated whether Joe secretly received cash from Hunter's alleged influence peddling overseas.

Congress has since released FBI paperwork showing a trusted informant told his handlers in 2020 that the owner of Ukrainian gas firm Mykola Zlochevsky boasted he had bribed Joe with $5million to kill a criminal investigation into his company.

According to the informant, Zlochevsky disguised the payments through a complex network of offshore accounts. 

Monzack helped run an offshore trust based in the Cook Islands, owned by Joe's former law firm partner David Walsh, according to documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

And an email from Hunter’s laptop shows that Monzack’s law firm partner, Michael Hochman, even discussed the gas firm Burisma with Hunter.

‘Went running with Beau yesterday and we were talking briefly about Burisma,’ Hochman wrote in May 16 2014, just weeks after Hunter joined the Burisma board.

‘Good news. I’m pretty familiar with this industry (at least domestically) – my father-in-law is heavily involved in the Marcellus shale gas play in Pennsylvania – the largest source of natural gas in the United States. He is extremely knowledgeable and well- connected in those parts. He’d love to discuss with you; would you be willing to talk with him?’

Monzack helped run an offshore trust based in the Cook Islands, owned by Joe's former law firm partner David Walsh I, according to documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

In 2012 the Federal Election Commission unanimously voted that there was 'reason to believe' Monzack had violated campaign finance law in his role as treasurer for the Biden for President campaign fund, and fined him $50,000

Filings for Joe's company CelticCapri Corp (top) and his wife's Giaccopa Corp list Monzack's law firm, Monzack Mersky Mclaughlin and Browder, as their registered agent

Monzack and his colleagues were not named in the FBI documents about Burisma’s alleged bribery scheme, and no evidence has emerged that links the Cook Islands-based Penndel Investment Trust to any of Hunter’s dealings.

The lawyer is, however, directly linked to a company at the center of Hunter’s dealings with criminal Chinese businessmen.

Hunter and Joe’s brother Jim Biden partnered with Chinese oil giant CEFC on an energy deal that earned them millions of dollars, and was set to pay a further $10 million per year before it collapsed in 2018 following the arrest and conviction of CEFC executives.

Money from the deal was sent to Hunter and Jim via Robinson Walker LLC, a firm belonging to their business partner and Biden family friend, Rob Walker, bank statements published by congress reveal.

The statements show CEFC affiliate State Energy HK wired $3million to Robinson Walker on March 1 2017, just two months after Joe left public office. 

Robinson Walker then sent on a total $1,065,692 to Hunter, Jim, and Hallie Biden, who was the widow of Joe's late son Beau and Hunter's lover at the time.

Company documents show Monzack's firm is the registered agent for Robinson Walker.

And evidence is mounting that links Joe Biden to Hunter's CEFC deal.

A now-infamous email by Hunter's other business partner in the deal, James Gilliar, suggested that the First Son would hold 10% of their equity on behalf of 'the big guy' – allegedly referring to Joe Biden.

Texts shared with congress by IRS whistleblowers who investigated Hunter show that he demanded $10million from his Chinese business partners in July 2017, telling them Joe was sitting next to him and involved.

'I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,' Hunter wrote. 

Photos from his laptop show he was at Joe's house that day.

Other texts between Hunter's business partners explicitly refer to Joe's alleged involvement in the scheme – which the President has repeatedly denied.

Hunter texted Monzack on December 6 2018, asking for the lawyer to wire him money from his father's account

Emails from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop show Monzack advised the President's son and brother Jim on their tax affairs

Documents obtained from Hunter’s laptop and congressional subpoenas reveal an apparent flow of cash between Biden family members and Joe’s accounts controlled by Monzack.

Records from Hunter's laptop show he texted Monzack on December 6 2018, asking for the lawyer to wire him money from his father's account.

'Hey Mel did dads wire go out today? To my account? Or do you need some other type of confirmation beyond his personal request?' Hunter wrote. 'I'm under the gun until the 22nd with tuitions etc.'

Banking records obtained by CNN show the President’s brother Jim wrote a $40,000 check to Joe in September 2017, with a note on the back identifying Monzack as Joe’s ‘attorney-in-fact’ – meaning a lawyer with power of attorney.

According to CNN, the check appears to have been deposited in an attorney trust account at Monzack’s firm, used by lawyers to hold clients’ money.

The banking records reportedly show Jim later received a $200,000 wire transfer on January 12 2018 from the same attorney trust account – likely a loan from Joe that he later repaid.

DailyMail.com has previously revealed how Joe and Hunter paid each other’s bills, including Hunter funding a phone line and home improvement for Joe, and Joe footing the bill for several of Hunter’s stints in rehab. 

There are 10 calendar entries on Hunter's laptop for meetings or calls with Monzack, often with Hunter's business partner and Joe's tax manager Eric Schwerin, between 2009 and 2014. Emails also refer to other meetings and calls.

One email from November 2010 lists attendees for a 'China State Dinner' including Monzack and his wife. That dinner held in January 2011 was in honor of President Hu.

Hunter was also invited, and in the email he discussed with Schwerin which of his business associates would be most advantageous to bring along.

Emails show Monzack helped advise Hunter and Jim on tax issues in September 2010. 

His firm appeared to still be involved with Hunter's company Rosemont Seneca Advisors as late as September 2017, when they filed the firm's Delaware corporate records according to an expense report on Hunter's laptop

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