A think tank director and energy analyst hailed by Republicans as a Hunter Biden whistleblower illegally advanced Chinese interests in the U.S., including by brokering deals for weapons and Iranian oil, Manhattan federal prosecutors say.
Gal Luft, 57, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, has been out of the U.S. since November 2017, according to an indictment filed last November and unsealed on Monday.
He was arrested in Cyprus in February, the feds say — but while the terms of his extradition were being negotiated, he skipped bail. His current whereabouts are not known.
Republican lawmakers in recent months have hailed Luft as a key witness in their various probes of President Biden and his family, and claim Luft went missing before he was to provide evidence about the Biden family’s alleged business dealings with China.
But the Justice Department says it has been investigating Luft for years and that he’s a serial liar. He faces an eight-count indictment that includes charges of making false statements, failing to register as a foreign agent, and violating federal laws related to arms dealing and economic sanctions against Iran.
The most serious charges carry a 20-year prison sentence.
Luft “subverted foreign agent registration laws in the United States to seek to promote Chinese policies by acting through a former high-ranking U.S. Government official; he acted as a broker in deals for dangerous weapons and Iranian oil,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “And he...
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