Gov't Bailout of SVB May Help Chinese Communists Party and Even Biden Family - GOP Congressmen Investigate
House Republicans are seeking answers about the extent to which a federal bailout of Silicon Valley Bank could give the Chinese Communist Party a fiscal shot in the arm and whether any funds might end up with the Biden family.
The bank’s collapse earlier this month sent tremors through the financial sector, leading the Biden administration to become involved in how the bank will be restructured.
But a group of House Republicans led by Rep. David McCormick of Georgia is concerned that what might superficially be efforts to help the companies with which the bank dealt might end up helping Chinese firms.
And that, according to a letter McCormick and other Republicans sent President Joe Biden, raises the issue of where any bailout funds might go next, including to the coffers of the Chinese Communist Party, which taps private businesses to fund the government, or to members of the Biden family enmeshed in business deals with Chinese companies, according to Fox News.
“The American people deserve to know whether their government is bailing out companies connected to the Chinese Communist Party,” McCormick said.
“Joe Biden should answer whether his family has received large payments from companies in China, and whether his judgment was influenced as a result. American tax dollars should not go to our global adversaries, period,” he said.
The role of the bank in helping China was touched upon by CNBC earlier this month.
“Having a bank account with SVB allowed China-based startups to tap funding from U.S.-based investors, with an eye to a public offering in the U.S.
“Regulatory pressure from both Beijing and Washington, D.C., has restricted the growth of that China-to-U.S. IPO pipeline in the last two years,” CNBC wrote.
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The connections are even closer. A report by China Briefing said that Silicon Valley Bank and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank created a partnership called the SPD Silicon Valley Bank.
That venture, which McCormick dubbed SSVB in the letter to Biden, is what raised Republican eyebrows.
“In August 2012, SSVB was founded as the first Sino-American collaborative banking institution, with a primary emphasis on extending loans to Chinese tech startups,” the letter said.
“The fact that both SSVB and SVB have played an indispensable role in financing China’s innovation economy, serving over 2,000 clients and advising CCP government regulators is extremely concerning and raises serious questions,” the letter said.
“SVB is reported to assist Chinese businesses in obtaining American investment or going public abroad, thereby circumventing restrictions on raising funds and listing outside of China,” the letter said.
This led Republicans to demand to know whether Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation funds are propping up Chinese companies enmeshed in the tendrils of the Chinese Community Party.
“The Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC cannot afford to be asleep at the wheel while the CCP finances its companies with the support of U.S. venture capitalists at the expense of American taxpayers,” the letter said.
Republicans were worried about another far-reaching group — the Biden family. Congressional investigations have indicated that Hunter Biden and other family members have had, and continue to have, financial connections with Chinese companies.
The letter noted concern over “recent revelations that members of the Biden family have received payments from Chinese companies through an intermediary associate” and said it is a “matter of vital national interest to determine which institutions aligned with the CCP stand to benefit from the U.S. government’s support of SBV, and what influence they may have on Executive Branch policymaking as a result.”
To that end, the letter asked whether Biden family members were being paid by companies that would benefit from the federal intervention in the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
Also signing the letter were: Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona; W. Gregory Steube of Florida; Barry Loudermilk, Austin Scott, Rick Allen and Mike Collins of Georgia; Rick Crawford of Arkansas; Ryan Zinke of Montana; Troy E. Nehls of Texas; Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin; Mark Amodei of Nevada; Doug Lamborn and Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Andy Ogles and Tim Burchett of Tennessee; Ralph Norman and Joe Wilson of South Carolina; and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming.
The letter gave Biden until next month to reply; a full investigation could be possible, depending upon the answers.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
