A US think tank chief who accuses Joe Biden of China-related corruption involving his son, Hunter Biden, and who was introduced by Republicans as a ‘disappearing’ witness against the president, has been charged with offenses related to China, including failure to register as a foreign agent, arms trafficking and sanctions violations against Iran.
Gal Luft, 57 and dual American-Israeli nationality, is co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), based in Maryland, near Washington.
A November indictment was unsealed on Monday, with Luft described as a fugitive, having skipped bail in Cyprus in April pending extradition.
Announcing the charges, Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Luft “engaged in multiple serious criminal schemes.
“He overturned US foreign agent registration laws to seek to promote Chinese policies by acting through a former senior US government official; he acted as a broker in dangerous arms deals and Iranian oil; and he told several lies about his crimes to law enforcement.
News of the charges seemed guaranteed to infuriate Republicans in Congress who sought to use Hunter Biden’s troubled personal life and business dealings in attacks on his father, potentially including attempts to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Last Friday, James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the right-wing network Newsmax Luft was “a credible witness whom the FBI traveled all the way to Brussels to interview and sent several agents to interview”.
Earlier, in a video posted by the New York Post, Luft denied any wrongdoing. He was arrested, he claimed, to prevent him from testifying before Comer’s committee about alleged China-related corruption involving the Bidens.
“I’m not a Republican,” Luft said. “I am not a Democrat. I have no political motive or agenda…I did so out of deep concern that if the Bidens came to power, the country would face the same traumatic collusion scandal with Russia [the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Donald Trump and Moscow] only this time with China.
To say that he “warned the [US] government on the potential risk to the integrity of the 2020 elections,” Luft added: “Are you asking who is the real criminal in this story?
He skipped bail, he said, “because I didn’t think I would get a fair trial in a New York court.”
In New York, prosecutors allege Luft “agreed[d] secretly recruiting and paying, on behalf of China-based principals, a former senior US government official…including in 2016 when the former official was an adviser to the then president-elect [Trump]to publicly support certain policies towards China.
The former official and an alleged Chinese co-conspirator have not been named.
Luft is also accused of “conspiring…to negotiate illicit arms transactions with, among others, certain Chinese persons and entities”; of conspiring with a Chinese energy company “to negotiate deals over Iranian oil – which he ordered an associate to label as ‘Brazilian’ oil in an attempt to… evade sanctions”; and of having made “multiple false declarations” to the police.
The SDNY listed the maximum prison terms for the charges against Luft, ranging from five years for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act to 20 years for arms trafficking offenses and sanctions violations. .
Noting Luft’s “fugitive” status, SDNY asked anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact the FBI or the nearest US embassy or consulate.
In a statement, IAGS said: “Gal is a man of complete integrity and honesty. We are satisfied of his innocence.
Tim Miller, a Republican agent turned “Never Trumper”, said: “So the guy who was supposed to expose Biden by taking payments from strangers was actually paying Trump administration officials himself on behalf of China!! Could that be more on the nose?