Biden’s brother denies being hired to broker secret $140M Saudi deal

Despite sworn affidavits saying he admitted otherwise, first brother James Biden has denied he was hired to help resolve a $140 million dispute between a US construction company and the Saudi Arabian government because of his family name.

The court papers, which surfaced Tuesday, stated that the now-73-year-old told a private investigator in July 2017 that he was often picked to attend meetings with Riyadh on behalf of Philadelphia-based Hill International because “the name didn’t hurt.”

“Mr. Biden never negotiated with the Saudi Government on behalf of Hill or any other entity,” a rep for James Biden told The Post in a statement.

“This entire story is yet another attempt to smear Jim Biden.”

The first brother’s purported role with Hill was referenced in two affidavits from May 2021 that were filed as part of a dispute with one of three law firms Hill had hired to get back the millions it was owed by the Saudis for a desalinization plant constructed in the Middle Eastern country during the 1980s.


Jim and Joe Biden
President Biden’s brother James has denied sworn affidavits that say he was hired to broker a $140 million dispute between a US company and the Saudi government because of his family name.
Corbis via Getty Images

The law firm, Lankford & Reed, claims in court documents — first obtained by DailyMail.com — that Hill International also hired James Biden in 2011 to help secretly settle the dispute and get out of paying Lankford the 40% cut outlined in their contract.

Lankford ended up hiring Thomas Sullivan, a former Treasury Department official-turned-private investigator, to go to James Biden’s suburban Philadelphia home in July 2017 to ask him about his alleged involvement in the Hill deal, according to one of the affidavits.

During their conversation, Sullivan said in his sworn statement, James Biden recalled attending a February 2012 meeting with Saudi officials “because of his position and relationship” with his older brother — who at the time was Barack Obama’s vice president.


Jim and Sara Biden
A private investigator said he spoke to Jim and Sara Biden at their Pennsylvania home in July 2017 about the Saudi deal.
AP

According to Sullivan’s affidavit, James Biden said the Saudis told him during that meeting that Hill would receive “final payment” for the desalination plant in the form of “both cash and ‘a very large amount’” of future business.

After the interview, Sullivan alleged, James Biden’s wife, Sara, walked him to his car — and revealed that her husband and his older brother Joe “were very close, and that they told each other everything.”

Sara Biden also told Sullivan that “he doesn’t like us talking to people,” according to his affidavit.

Separately,  Lankford & Reed partner Thomas Lankford alleged in a sworn statement that Hill International CEO Irvin Richter had told him that he’d retained James Biden because the Saudis “would not dare stiff the brother of the Vice-President who would be instrumental to the deal.”


New York Post cover Wednesday, February 15, 2023 featuring Joe and Jim Biden
“Mr. Biden never negotiated with the Saudi Government on behalf of Hill or any other entity,” a rep for James Biden told The Post in a statement.
rfaraino

His affidavit didn’t elaborate on why Richter believed Joe Biden would be “instrumental” in settling the dispute.

President Biden has long denied having any knowledge of his family’s foreign business deals — including those involving James and first son Hunter Biden.

The sworn affidavits emerged as the GOP-led House Oversight Committee continues probing the first family’s influence-peddling dating back years.

“Evidence continues to mount that the Biden family used Joe Biden’s name to secure deals around the world to enrich themselves,” committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told The Post Tuesday.

“The Treasury Department must provide the suspicious activity reports generated for the Biden family and their associates to inform our investigation about the Biden family’s business schemes and Joe Biden’s involvement. If Joe Biden is compromised by his family’s deals, this is a national security threat.”