By Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal |March 20, 2024
Two former Biden family business associates testified Wednesday before a House committee conducting an impeachment inquiry into influence peddling by the president and close relatives.
Tony Bobulinski, who was a business partner to Hunter Biden, accused his one-time ally of lying under oath to congressional investigators about his father’s involvement.
“Joe Biden was more than a participant and a beneficiary of his family’s business,” Bobulinski testified to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. “He was an active, aware enabler who met with business associates such as myself to further the business despite being buffered by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability.”
The Navy veteran added: “I ask this big question: If there’s no evidence of corruption here today, if Joe’s conduct and the conduct of his family are fully legal and proper, then why are they so dishonest about it?”
Another witness, former Biden business partner Jason Galanis, testifying remotely from federal prison, described Joe Biden’s role in helping secure family business in China and Russia.
Democrats on the committee called convicted felon Lev Parnas to testify, and he blamed Russia.
The impeachment inquiry into the president’s role in family business dealings is being conducted jointly by three House committees: Oversight and Accountability; Ways and Means; and Judiciary.
Wednesday’s public hearing was significant since it was among the first to include fact witnesses who were involved in Biden family business ventures. The chairmen of both the Ways and Means and the Judiciary committees participated in the hearing convened by Oversight and Accountability.
The hearing follows months of closed-door depositions of Hunter Biden and former Biden family business associates, which later were released in transcripts.
An empty seat at the witness table awaited the president’s absent son, who declined to testify after insisting weeks ago that he would testify only in public. The younger Biden was deposed by committee investigators in late February, thus avoiding being cited for contempt of Congress.
Before making his opening statement, Bobulinski jokingly asked: “Should I allow Hunter to give his opening statement first?”
Here are six takeaways from the House hearing.
1. ‘Perjury’ and ‘Blatant Lies’
Bobulinksi accused the president’s son, Hunter, and the president’s brother, Jim, of lying during their depositions to House investigators.
Neither Biden has been charged with lying under oath, and Bobulinski was giving his opinion.
“Hunter Biden gave his transcribed interview on Feb. 28 and lied throughout his testimony,” Bobulinski told the committee, before going on to name CEFC China Energy, a major Chinese energy conglomerate.
“Here is just one egregious example of Hunter’s perjury,” Bobulinski added. “He lied to the committee on important details concerning money demands and threats to CEFC in text messages on July 30 and 31, 2017. He leveraged his father’s presence next to him in that infamous text to strong-arm CEFC [into] paying Hunter immediately.
CEFC China Energy, which the president’s son was doing business with, had known connections to the Chinese Communist Party. As first revealed by two IRS whistleblowers, the younger Biden demanded money from a CEFC official in a text message that asserted: “I am sitting here with my father.”
Bobulinski went on to talk about the president’s younger brother, Jim Biden.
“On page 100 of his transcript, Jim is asked specifically: ‘Do you recall having a meeting with Hunter Biden, Tony Bobulinski, and Joe Biden? Jim’s response, ‘Absolutely no,’” he testified.
“The committee was so shocked by [Jim Biden’s] perjury that they asked him the same question multiple times. Each time, he denied meeting with me and Joe Biden,” Bobulinski said. “After the committee showed him text messages confirming [that] I met with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Jim Biden at the Beverly Hilton in May 2017, Jim Biden, with a former U.S. attorney lawyer sitting next to him, still denied that meeting took place. “
“Hunter Biden in his own transcribed interview confirmed that that meeting took place,” he added. “Hunter confirmed his uncle perjured himself.”
Later, Bobulinski talked about what he called “blatant lies” and recalled information about his meeting with Joe Biden, then a former vice president, at the 2017 Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.
Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., asked: “Mr. Bobulisnki, was Hunter Biden telling the truth when he testified under oath that his father was never involved in any of his business dealings?”
Bobulinski replied: “No, he was not. Those are all blatant lies.”
Smith noted that the IRS whistleblowers turned over 327 emails regarding Hunter Biden and his business associates.
“Mr. Bobulinski, do you have any personal experience that leads you to believe that Joe Biden was involved with Hunter Biden’s business dealings?” Smith asked.
Bobulinski answered affirmatively.
“If Joe Biden was not involved in his son’s business dealings, why after flying all the way across the country to the Milken Conference, next to Davos probably the biggest conference in the world, why would he take 45 minutes out of his night–it wasn’t a 10 a.m. meeting—it was a 10:40 in the evening meeting,” Bobulinski said. “He’s an elderly man, [yet] flew all the way across the country to sit with me for 45 minutes to an hour to discuss my background, the business we were doing with the Chinese, [and] his family’s background.”
2. ‘Across the Finish Line’
Galanis, another former business partner of Hunter Biden’s who testified remotely from federal prison, said he anticipated problems with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons because of the testimony he was giving.
“I believe I am putting myself at great risk within the BOP for providing information on these matters concerning the president and his son,” Galanis testified.
He is serving a 14-year prison sentence for fraud, a crime that he said Hunter Biden also was involved in. The two worked together from 2012 to 2015.
In 2014, Hunter Biden’s business associates sought a merger with Burnham and Co. and Harvest Fund Management.
Galanis brought up Henry Zhao, a Harvest Fund director.
“Mr. Zhao was interested in this partnership because of the game-changing value add of the Biden family, including Joe Biden, who was to be a member of the Burnham-Harvest team post-vice presidency, providing political access in the United States and around the world,” Galanis testified.
He said he was present for a conference call with then-Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and another of his son’s business partners, Devon Archer.
“I recall being with Hunter Biden and Devon Archer at the Peninsula Bar in New York, where Hunter took a call from his father and told him things were going well … and that he might need a little help getting across the finish line,” Galanis told the panel.
He also talked about a May 2014 conference call including Joe Biden, then vice president to Barack Obama, along with Hunter Biden, Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, and her husband, former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
“The vice president said hello, some pleasantries, said safe travels, and then said, ‘You be good to my boy.’ Hunter responded by saying everything is good and we are moving ahead,” Galanis testified. “The vice president said something about being helpful and Hunter ended the call saying he is going to call his father later.”
Galanis alleged that Hunter Biden was involved in the same illegal activity as he was yet wasn’t charged. He told the committee he faced sexual assault in prison.
“I’m profoundly sorry for committing these crimes. I deserve the lengthy sentence I’ve received,” Galanis testified.
But, he later added, referring to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York: “I believe the SDNY prosecutors did not indict Hunter Biden on the same deal for political reasons despite then-available documentation that we were partners, were involved in decision-making that involved illegal self-dealing, and all of us had financially benefited from these schemes.”
3. Raskin, Goldman ‘Continue to Lie’
During the hearing, Bobulinski called out Oversight’s ranking member, Jamie Raskin, D-Md., as well as Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., both unflinching defenders of the president’s conduct.
“They continue to lie to the American people without hesitation and remorse,” Bobulinski said. “Rep. Dan Goldman and Jamie Raskin—both lawyers and Mr. Goldman a former prosecutor with the SDNY—will continue to lie today and then go straight to the media to tell more lies.”
He also accused Hunter Biden’s defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell, of lying.
Raskin jumped in at this point.
“He called members of this committee liars and I just want to know if the rules of order and decorum of House Rules 11 apply to witnesses appearing before the committee?” Raskin asked.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., conferred with a staffer.
“There is no language that I’m aware of pertaining to a witness,” Comer said, then added: “Mr. Bobulinski, I’m sorry for the disruption.”
4. Democrats Blame Russia
Several committee Democrats insisted that negative news stories about the president are the result of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Democrats’ lone witness at the hearing, Parnas, had almost nothing to do with Biden family businesses and was not a fact witness. Rather, they relied on Parnas, once an ally of both Trump and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who sought dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine.
Parnas was convicted in 2022 of charges related to campaign finance, and sentenced to 20 months in prison. He was released in September.
“In nearly a year traveling the world, interviewing officials in different countries, I found precisely zero evidence of the Bidens’ corruption in Ukraine,” Parnas testified. “No credible source has ever provided proof of criminal activity, not the FBI, CIA, nor the NSA. No respectable Ukrainian official has ever said the Bidens did anything illegal.”
“The only information ever pushed on the Bidens has come from one source and one source only. Russia and Russian agents,” Parnas said. “The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated on false information spread by the Kremlin. Everyone involved knew they were sharing lies.”
Alex Smirnov, an FBI informant, claimed on a standard FBI form that a Ukrainian energy executive said he paid Joe Biden a $5 million bribe.
Smirnov was indicted in February for lying to the FBI. The president and other Democrats then said his indictment meant the House impeachment probe should be shut down.
However, Smirnov was never a witness for the three House committees.
5. ‘1,000% Sure’
Hunter Biden’s infamous abandoned laptop included a message from another business partner, James Gilliar, saying that 10% of the CEFC China Energy deal would be “held by H for the big guy.”
During the hearing, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked Bobulinski, “Who’s the big guy?”
Bobulinski replied: “Joe Biden.”
Jordan: “You sure?”
Bobulinski: “I’m 1,000% sure.”
6. ‘It’s All Fake’
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., challenged Comer and any other committee Republicans to make a motion to impeach Biden.
“I just think we should do it today. I want to help you out,” Moskowitz said. “I’ll make the motion, you can second it; [I] make the motion to impeach President Biden. Go ahead, your turn; you second it.”
No one responded.
“I want to, with my last couple of minutes, show the American people they are never going to impeach Joe Biden,” Moskowitz continued, referring to Republicans. “It’s never going to happen because they don’t have the evidence. This is a show. It’s all fake.”
Several House Republicans recently expressed uncertainty to The Daily Signal that the inquiry ultimately would result in impeachment of the president.
“They just want to do these hearings. It’s not leading to impeachment. They are lying to their base, Newsmax and Fox, leading these people to believe that they are going to eventually impeach the president,” Moskowitz said. “It’s not going to happen at all, ever, period. They don’t even have the votes; even if they had it in committee, they don’t on the floor. They know that. They’ve got members resigning.”
Ken McIntyre contributed to this report.
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