California Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent defense of Hunter Biden against allegations of nepotism and shady business deals follows emails from Biden's infamous laptop showing the president's son donated thousands of dollars to Newsom's gubernatorial campaign and lent his name to multiple fundraisers on his behalf.
Newsom, who is expected to attend Wednesday's GOP debate on behalf of the Biden campaign, brushed off allegations of Hunter Biden's corrupt business dealings last week, saying it is "hardly unique" for people to use their family members to get ahead, as reported by Fox News.
A Series of Emails
Following Newsom's recent remarks, a review of dozens of emails between Hunter and Newsom and his associates over the course of nearly ten years was conducted by Fox News Digital.
Newsom had officially agreed to participate in a Fox News debate in November against Gov. Desantis, with Sean Hannity as the moderator.
As "usual suspects" to try to connect with when he is in California's Bay Area, Hunter Biden's business colleague Eric Schwerin floated then-San Francisco Mayor Newsom and his sister, Hilary, in October 2010.
A month or two later, Schwerin proposed that Newsom and other people be invited to a state dinner in China. But it doesn't seem like he went to the dinner.
In an email sent earlier that year, Hunter mentioned how much "fun" he had during the summer in California and enquired whether Newsom's sister would be "interested in White House Easter Egg Roll tickets" for her and her family.
The White House invitation was respectfully declined by Newsom's sister, who stated that she had been "invited to join some friends on their boat in St. Lucia" even though neither she nor her sister had ever gone to St. Lucia or been on a boat.
When Hunter visited San Francisco, Schwerin advised him to meet with Gavin Newsom, among others, and that he should be "asking any of them to bring together potential other investors in Real Estate." Schwerin made this recommendation in an email from March 2011.
On June 11, 2014, a woman who collaborated with Jennifer Siebel Newsom on her documentary films contacted Hunter Biden and informed him that she had obtained his contact information from the office of the lieutenant governor and that Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, was looking for his advice on how to market a couple of her documentaries in Washington, D.C.
On June 23, a little more than ten days later, Lee thanked Hunter for the conversation and outlined how to contact one of Hunter's contacts.
The email also implied that they had discussed hosting a screening of the documentary "The Mask You Live In" at the White House. Uncertainty surrounds the existence of any more communication between Hunter and Lee.
Two days later, Newsom sent Biden an email with the subject line "Here's my direct email" from his personal account.
In response to hearing that Biden had been found in possession of cocaine and was being expelled from the Navy Reserve, Newsom wrote him encouraging words in October 2014.
The lobbyist Eve O'Toole, whom Newsom described as his "best friend and trusted adviser," sent Hunter an email in April 2015, according to a report on a Newsom fundraiser.
She was informed that although he could not attend the event in Washington, DC, Newsom could "count on" a $5,000 donation from him. Although it doesn't seem like the donation was made, it's possible that Hunter bundled $5K from his network.
A week later, Hunter asked lobbyist Mike Manatos to contribute to Newsom's run for governor of California by referring to him as a "good friend" in an email.
Hunter responded to an invitation to the event from the then-mayor of San Francisco, Ed Lee, in a different email from a week earlier.
In the email, Hunter requested that Howard Krein, Schwerin, and Joan Mayer, who served as vice president of Hunter's now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Advisors investment firm and her husband, be added to the guest list for Newsom's celebration.
Hunter Biden can be seen assuring O'Toole in another email from June 27, 2018, that he owes her "big time" and that his uncle, Jim Biden, will provide money to the cause.
Frequent Communication
According to her Linkedin page and the website for her firm, O'Toole and Hunter communicated by email frequently, particularly in relation to Newsom events in D.C.
Less than a month later, according to campaign finance reports, Hunter gave Newsom's campaign $10,000. But it doesn't seem like Hunter's Uncle Jim gave the $10,000. A week after the gift, Hunter got an email from Newsom's finance department explaining how to meet state reporting requirements because he had given $10,000 or more during the year.
