Penn Biden Center Held Event Encouraging Closer U.S.-China Ties

Tim PearceJanuary 24, 2023

The Penn Biden Center, Washington A think tank that contained classified documents was hosting an event encouraging closer U.S.-China ties.

The event took place at University of Pennsylvania received Tens of millions of dollars were received anonymously from Chinese entities. The Penn Biden Center, which was home to a large collection of classified U.S. documents, served as the repository until President Barack Obama took office. Joe Biden’s personal attorneys found the papers in the president’s office on November 2.

According to a source familiar, the center hosted a two days event for congressional staffers in June that encouraged closer cooperation with China on issues like clean energy and academia. The Washington Free Beacon. There was no security at the event, but staff were available to provide information and assistance.

The Center for the Study of Contemporary China and the Penn Project on the Future of U.S. China Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies facilitated the event.

The Hudson Institute’s Rebeccah Heinrichs, an expert on national security, said the security failures associated with having the sensitive U.S. papers stored in the same building where such an event took place are “shocking.”

“The fact that [the documents] were not secured, [were] open and uncared for, and also that you had this other activity going on inside this facility, with individuals that may not have the best interests of the American people at heart, is shocking,” Heinrichs gave the Free Beacon.

“I would like to know more about … who was going in and out of these specific workshops, these discussions, who has been through this facility,” She went on. “The American people deserve a full accounting of who may have had easy access to these documents.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill have taken notice of the University of Pennsylvania’s financial ties to China and other foreign countries. James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, is the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. He has pledged that he will lead an investigation into Penn, its foreign donors and any ties they might have to the Penn Biden Center.

The chairman also plans to investigate the buyers of artwork by Biden’s son, Hunter. Hunter Biden, an amateur painter, has created pieces that have been valued at hundreds of thousands.

“We’re trying to trace the money,” Comer said. “We’ll be looking at bank statements. We’ll be looking at bank violations. That’s the next phase of our investigation because we’re trying to figure out who these anonymous sources are that are sending so much money to the Biden family schemes — the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Hunter Biden’s artwork.”