CNN
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US prosecutors unsealed an indictment on Monday charging the co-director of a think tank with illegal arms trafficking, violating US sanctions laws, and other charges, five months after he was arrested in Cyprus and fled from the authorities.
The US-Israeli citizen, Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, also a person that House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a top Republican, is described as an informant who claims to have incriminating Hunter information. Biden.
Luft tweeted denying the allegations, who said in February, “I was arrested in Cyprus in a politically motivated extradition request to the US. The US, claims that I am an arms dealer. Funny if not tragic. I have never been an arms dealer. The DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe, Jim&Hunter Biden.
An attorney for Luft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN reached out to the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.
Luft is a fugitive, prosecutors said.
Luft has been accused of failing to register as a Chinese agent in the US, including in 2016 acting through a former high-ranking US official who once advised President-elect Donald Trump. He is also accused of acting as a middleman to help Chinese companies buy weapons. The indictment also alleges that Luft violated US sanctions by attempting to sell oil to Iran.
House Republicans are investigating the financial dealings of the Biden family and are seeking information from the Justice Department about its investigation into Hunter Biden, who has agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors. At least one Republican, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, has claimed that Luft is a key witness in the investigation.