House holds public hearing on Biden family 'influence peddling' with ex-Hunter Biden associates
Ex-Hunter Biden associates testify Wednesday at a public hearing following a series of closed-door depositions conducted as part of the House's impeachment inquiry into President Biden
Coverage for this event has ended.
House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. James Comer said he'll invite President Biden to testify on payments his family received from foreign companies.
"In the coming days, I will invite President Joe Biden to the House Oversight Committee to provide his own testimony and explain why his family received tens of millions of dollars from foreign companies with his assistance," Comer posted on X Wednesday, following a hearing on the Biden family's alleged "influence peddling."
Following the hearing, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said "That hearing was embarrassing for House Republicans. A total waste of time. It’s time to move on from this sad charade. There are real issues the American people want us to address.”
Wednesday's joint House Oversight and Judiciary Committee hearing investigating the Biden family finances broke down in chaos as two of the witnesses began lobbing accusations at each other.
The exchanged began after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., slammed Democrats for inviting former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas as their witness, referencing his past criminal convictions, and asking GOP witness Tony Bobulinski for his reaction.
"I think it's laughable that the Democrats are asking Lev Parnas to weigh in on my credibility. A convicted felon, who served jail time. I have an impeccable record," Bobulinski said.
Bobulinski added that Parnas "warned" him earlier in the hearing that Democrats were coming after him, to which Parnas responded, "I didn't warn you. I said just keep talking, you'll be there soon."
"I look forward to that, Mr. Parnas," Bobulinski responded.
"Keep lying, you'll be there soon," Parnas hit back.
Bobulinski then asked if that was "a threat," to which Parnas answered, "No, it's just the truth."
"Did you say they were coming for me?" Bobulinski asked.
"No, I said if you keep lying, you will end up in prison," Parnas responded.
"I'm not lying. You're the one who is lying. You're the one that went to prison for lying," Bobulinski said.
"Tell me what I'm lying for, Mr. Bobulinski. You don't even know what you're talking for," Parnas said.
Then two continued going back and forth until Parnas turned on Gaetz and criticized him for not asking him a direct question, to which Gaetz responded that he did ask him about his "illegal business dealings" earlier in the hearing.
A House Republican elicited laughter after quipping about Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell's questions about Chinese influence in the U.S. during a Congressional hearing on the Biden family's alleged influence peddling.
"I find it incredibly rich for Mr. Swalwell was going to come to this committee and lecture us about how China penetrates our government. I think that's something he may know a thing or two about," Republican Rep. Mike Walz, R-Fla., said.
Swalwell for years has denied any wrongdoing despite his office having ties to a suspected Chinese spy alleged ties known as "Fang Fang."
Swalwell had questioned witness Tony Bobulinski about whether he ever saw the Chinese government give grants to Biden family members. Bobulinski has said the alleged corruption through CEFC, which had contracts with entities where Hunter Biden was a partner, was part of Chinese communist influence campaigns.
Swalwell, however, said in an effort to discount the entire hearing said "another key witness has been indicted as a Chinese agent."
He quipped that the Biden impeachment inquiry was dead, and pronounced the time of death at 5:16 p.m.
One of the Republican members fired back at Swalwell: "say that in Chinese."
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., a member of the House Oversight Committee , taunted committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., as well as Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to hold a vote on impeaching President Biden, claiming they would do so if they had truly found enough evidence he committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
The exchange happened during Moskowitz's allotted time to question the committee's witnesses, in which he began by asking former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski if he felt Biden had committed high crimes and misdemeanors and should be impeached.
"I believe with all the evidence he's gathered, yes, he's proven that Joe Biden has committed high crimes and misdemeanors," Bobulinski said.
"Okay. And so I assume you believe Joe Biden should be impeached," Moskowitz then asked.
"Well, that's up to you guys," Bobulinski responded before later saying he did believe Biden should be impeached after being pressed by Moskowitz.
Moskowitz then asked if he felt Comer and Jordan had proven Biden committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
"I know that he committed high crimes and misdemeanors. I was involved and saw them happen," Bobulinski responded.
"I assume you believe he should be impeached. But my my point is that the chairman has not yet moved for that. And so look, chairman, we got we got like three and a half minutes here. I mean, let's just do the impeachment," Moskowitz asked facetiously.
"I mean, why continue to waste millions of dollars of the taxpayers money if we're going to impeach because you believe you've shown he's committed a high crime and misdemeanor?" he added.
Moskowitz went on to mockingly motion for a vote, asking Jordan or Comer to second that vote, but neither did.
Jordan retorted that the committees under Republican leadership don't do "snap impeachments," referencing the one Democrats undertook against then-President Donald Trump in 2019.
Moskowitz continued to taunt the chairmen until his five minutes expired.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Wedensday that lawmakers will eventually "try to determine whether Jared Kushner has a real business" when it further investigates influence peddling and the Democrats' alleged wrongdoing between former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and the Saudi Arabian government.
Comer's comments on the matter came after the issue was raised by Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, during his allotted time of questioning at the House Oversight Committee's public hearing on the Biden family's alleged "influence peddling."
"We've spent countless hours talking about Hunter Biden, investigating every person that seems like he's ever shaken hands with. We've not found a shred of evidence that connects it to the president of the United States or anyone with any say over U.S. policy, but someone who has worked in the White House did accept money from a foreign power," Casar said.
"Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, received a staggering $2 billion from Saudi Arabia for his brand new private equity firm. And while Hunter Biden never had any say over U.S. policy, Mr. Kushner got this $2 billion six months after working in the White House as a senior adviser on Middle East policy," he continued.
Casar went on to claim that if Hunter Biden "had accepted $2 billion from the Saudi government I'm sure we would be looking into that today."
Casar pressed Comer on the issue, pointing to recent comments he made about dealing with influence peddling in the House and looking into Kushner.
"Mr. Comer, I would love to hear from you. Can we fulfill our responsibility as an oversight committee and determine if Saudi Arabia bribed or unduly influenced Jared Kushner or other White House officials. Is that something that we would be willing to look into?"
Responding, Comer said: "I'm gonna answer your question one time. Mrs. Porter and I have pledged to work on influence peddling legislation. We'll take up all the people who've been accused and we'll try to determine whether Jared Kushner has a real business."
"So can we expect to subpoena Mr. Kushner's correspondence with the Saudi government or his firm's financial records, or his firms financial transactions between Mr. Kushner and his father-in-law. Is that something we would consider doing as part of that hearing we just discussed," Casar responded.
"I think it's important to see if they were real, legitimate businesses," Comer responded.
But he added that Hunter Biden's businesses themselves did not appear to be legitimate. "We haven't been able to find a real business that the Bidens have had yet," Comer said at one point.
Former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski testified Wednesday that President Biden's brother, Jim, admitted to him during a 2017 meeting that the Biden family was able to conduct its business despite the president's high-profile because of "plausible deniability."
Bobulinski testified that his conversation with Jim took place at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles immediately following a conversation with Joe Biden, in which the president "thanked me for the work I was doing with his son and his brother and asked me to keep an eye on them."
"It's my understanding that you asked him how the Biden family does the business that they do. While Joe Biden is such a prominent political figure. What was Jim Biden's response to you?" Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kan., asked.
"Correct. I was actually concerned and asking from a position of concern, and Jim Biden's response to me was plausible deniability," Bobulinski responded.
"Plausible deniability. And by that, you mean Joe Biden would be kept in the loop. But you weren't supposed to talk about it, especially in writing," LaTurner said.
Rep. Nancy Mace , R-S.C., used her allotted time during Wednesday's joint House Oversight and Judiciary Committee hearing firing off an intense round of "yes or no" questions aimed at President Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's business dealings.
Mace directed her questions to GOP witnesses and former Hunter business associated Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, asking them to verify various interactions with Biden, Hunter and the business associates concerning various deals and transactions.
Those interactions included Biden taking calls from Hunter where he updated his dad on certain business deals, confirming a reserved board seat for Biden at a company, that Biden lied when he denied meeting with Hunter's business partners, and that the family received money from Chinese business interests.
Bobulinski and Galanis answered "yes" to each of Mace's questions.
"Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that he was not involved Hunter Biden's, Jim Biden's, or any other Biden family business deals. Today our witnesses have proved otherwise," Mace said at the conclusion of her questioning.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel's "America Reports," Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn explained the importance of the investigation into the Biden family's business dealings after Hunter Biden skipped a Wednesday hearing by the House Oversight Committee.
"I don't know that anyone has any doubt that Hunter Biden was selling his dad's name because Hunter didn't have the experience or the connections on his own to have gotten the business deals that he did," Urbahn told host John Roberts in response to a string of questions.
"Your second question on whether influence peddling is illegal, look, just because something is dirty or doesn't fell right doesn't make it illegal and it certainly doesn't necessarily rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, which is why we're here in the first place," she added.
Urbahn also said she believes Republicans have some work to do when linking President Biden to some of the claims that have been made.
"What the Republicans have been trying to establish is a direct link between, you know, what were foreign nations seeing as a payoff for doing business with the vice president's son. Obviously it's critical for that to have happened while Biden was vice president or if they offered him, say, some kind of direct payoff for a foreign policy decision once he left office. I don't think we've gotten there yet."
Urbahn said she believes the ongoing conversations surrounding alleged wrongdoings by the Biden family are still prominent because President Biden "has just continued to lie about what he knew or didn't know about his son's business dealings."
A Republican lawmaker on the House Oversight Committee said it was “disappointing” that Hunter Biden and his former business associate Devon Archer did not appear at Wednesday’s hearing.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., also did not answer definitively when asked by Fox News Digital whether he believes the House GOP will move to hold a full impeachment vote.
Grothman said the “most damning” testimony he heard involved President Biden allegedly bragging about getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired, and said his son Hunter Biden “was directly benefitting” from that due to his former employment at Burisma.
However when asked about whether he thought the hearing was swaying his GOP colleagues who may still be on the fence, he said, “I think we’re going to want to get a little bit more.”
On whether there will be an eventual vote at all, he said, “To be honest, I think most of us, at least me, are more focused on what's going on at the border and all this race baiting stuff than this. But every time we have a hearing, a little more information is exposed.”
Tony Bobulinski, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, said during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday that he "begged" Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and his staff to sit down with him to review the text message evidence he had on his Blackberry cellphone regarding the alleged wrongdoings by members of the Biden family.
Khanna exited after his time of questioning, in which he did not address any questions to Bobulinski.
"If you noticed, Congressman Khanna scurried out of here very quickly, and I'm actually disgusted as I sit here that he didn't address me based on the fact that I'm sitting here in front of the world trying to testify to the truth," Bobulinski said shortly after Khanna's time expired.
"I have messages I'm willing to produce to both the Democrats and the Republicans that Ro Khanna sent to me saying you have always demonstrated to me that you're nothing but honest with the highest integrity individual," Bobulinski said. "I was begging for him to go CNN and tell the world in October 2020."
"I have extensive emails with Congressman Ro Khanna in 2021 and 2022, where I begged him and his staff to sit down with me and look at my BlackBerry phones that the Democrats are so focused on, to hire forensics experts and go through all of the factual information I had," he added. "So the fact that he did not even address me and then scurried out of here is disgusting to me."
Bobulinski's comments came after Khanna refused to question him and spoke only to the Democratic witness who was called to testify.
In a statement to Fox News Digital about the matter, Khanna said, "I have reviewed extensive information presented to the committee on this matter. I have always respected Tony's past service to our nation as I value anyone who wears the uniform, and I will continue to take my duty seriously on the committee and review all the evidence."
Regarding Bobulinski's claim that he had spoken to the California lawmaker about the evidence, a Khanna spokesperson told Fox, “Tony reached out a few times and Rep. Khanna was always gracious because he respects Tony’s service, but made it clear that any evidence would have to be reviewed through committee procedure."
A Republican on the House Oversight Committee is convinced the panel’s Wednesday hearing will not sway his fellow lawmakers into supporting President Biden’s possible impeachment, he told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., emphatically said "no," when asked if he thought the committee’s second impeachment inquiry hearing would change any minds.
He also accused his fellow Republicans of telling Washington lobbyists and their constituents back home two different opinions about impeaching Biden.
"Everybody's gonna vote how they know they're gonna vote. What a lot of people are worried about [is] if we do have a vote. I want to vote on it up or down," Burchett said.
When asked why they could be worried, he said, "They told some of their K Street buddies, ‘I'm not going to vote for this thing,' because they don't think they're gonna have to vote on it…. They told people back home, ‘Oh, yeah, I'm gonna impeach.’ But the reality is, they don't have the guts to do it."
House Republicans are investigating Biden over accusations he used his former position as vice president to enrich himself and his family. Of particular concern are foreign business dealings by his son, Hunter Biden, with companies in China and Ukraine.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind.
Getty Images
Democrat and Republican members of the House Oversight Committee sparred during Wednesday's hearing over which party's witnesses were more credible.
Democrat Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents Washington, D.C., began by noting former Hunter Biden associate and GOP witness Jason Galanis' conviction for financial crimes and that he is currently serving a lengthy sentence at a federal prison.
She was followed by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who also noted Galanis' convictions, but also attacked Tony Bobulinski for offering "a lot of rhetoric and a lot of hot air, but absolutely no facts" that would warrant impeaching President Biden.
"Nobody on their side can even tell us what is the impeachable high crime and misdemeanor which suggests that they are moving in the direction of criminal referrals, and they should start by looking at their own witnesses," Raskin said.
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pushed back by reminding Norton and Raskin that "the witness, Mr. Galanis, was partners with Hunter Biden."
"That's why he's here. We have their partners. You could have invited partners, but you invited this guy," Comer said, motioning toward former aide to Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, the Democrat witness.
The members began speaking over each other inaudibly before Comer moved on to Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., for his questioning.
Grothman began by noting that Parnas was also convicted of crimes and sentenced to federal prison.
Tony Bobulinski, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, said Wednesday during a House Oversight Committee hearing that the "big guy" referenced in a 2017 email was Joe Biden, refuting a claim made by the president's son that he wasn't aware who it was.
During the hearing, Bobulinski was asked by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, "Who's the big guy?"
"Joe Biden," Bobulinski responded.
"You sure about that," Jordan replied.
"I'm 1,000% sure," Bobulinski said.
"Because when Hunter Biden did his deposition under oath, he said, I don't know who it is, even though he was copied on an email that said H will hold 10% for the big guy. You sure the big guy is Joe Biden," Jordan asked.
"One thousand percent, and there's other text messages that back that up that the brave whistleblowers [Gary] Shapley and [Joe] Ziegler have produced – not from my phones, not from my BlackBerry that I took screenshots from. They took them from subpoenas directly from Apple's iCloud that back up the fact that Hunter knew the big was Joe Biden," Bobulinski responsed.
Asked by Jordan whether the big guy was "the one who showed up at golf outings, who took phone calls in meetings and lunches and dinners with Hunter Biden and his business associates," Bobulinski said, "Correct."
Bobulinski has, since 2020, said "the big guy" was Joe Biden.
Key GOP witness and former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski notably upset the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
During his opening statement Bobulinski accused Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., as well as Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., a fellow member of the committee, of lying pertaining to the committee's investigation into the Biden family finances.
"We keep hearing from certain corners that our democracy is at risk and democracy is on the ballot in [20]24. Yet the same people preaching this mantra know better. They continue to lie directly 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 from New York, will continue to lie today in this hearing and then go straight to the media to tell more lies," he added.
Raskin then interrupted Bobulinski to chide committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., over allowing the witness to make such accusations. Comer attempted to allow Bobulinski to continue, but Raskin interrupted again.
"But he called members of this committee liars. And I just want to know whether the order and decorum requirements of House Rule 11 apply to witnesses appearing before the committee," Raskin said, appearing upset. "Does it apply or does it not?"
Comer conferred with an aide before telling Raskin that the rule did not apply to witnesses
"Make sure we didn't waste any of his time on the opening statement. Mr. Bobulinski, I'm sorry for the disruption. Please continue your opening statement," Comer said.
Former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski said Wednesday during testimony before the House Oversight Committee that the president's son lied under oath while speaking to lawmakers earlier this year about his father's involvement in his business dealings.
Questioning Bobulinksi, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., said, "During his deposition, Hunter Biden repeatedly testified under oath that his father was not involved in his business in any capacity and that there wasn't even a connection between his father and his businesses. Here is just one example, quote 'I just state for the record one more time, under oath and under penalty of perjury, my father has never been involved in my business. I have never asked my father to be involved in my business. My father has never benefited from my business, and I have never asked anyone or my father to do anything for the benefit of anyone I've ever done business for.'"
"Yet the Ways and Means Committee released a WhatsApp message that were provided by the IRS whistleblowers showing that Hunter Biden wrote on July 30, 2017, quote, 'I'm sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. I'm sitting here waiting for the call with my father.' Moreover, you testified that Hunter was not shy about his ability to get his father on the phone, and Devin Archer testified that there were multiple instances in which Hunter placed his dad on speaker phone," Smith added.
"Mr. Bobulinski, was Hunter Biden telling the truth when he testified under oath that his father was never involved in any of his business dealings," Smith asked.
Bobulinski responded, "No, he was not. Those are all blatant lies."
Tony Bobulinski, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, said Wednesday the president's son committed perjury during a hearing before the House Oversight Committee.
Bobulinski, who claimed that Hunter Biden "lied throughout his testimony" in a transcribed interview to the House Oversight Committee in February, provided what he believed to be one example of Hunter Biden's "perjury."
Hunter Biden "lied to the committee on important details concerning his money demands and threats to [the] CEFC in text messages on July 30 and July 31 in 2017, according to Bobulinski.
"He leveraged his father’s presence next to him in that infamous text to strong-arm CEFC to paying Hunter immediately," Bobulinksi said.
Additionally, Bobulinksi claimed Wednesday that James Biden, the president's brother, "also lied extensively throughout his transcribed interview on February 21 and perjured himself."
"An example of that, on page 100 of his transcript, Jim is asked specifically, 'Do you recall having a meeting with Hunter Biden, Tony Bobulinksi and Joe Biden?'"
"Jim's response: 'Absolutely not,'" Bobulinski added.
A Republican on the House Oversight Committee is convinced the Wednesday hearing will not sway his fellow lawmakers into supporting President Biden’s possible impeachment, he told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., emphatically said “no,” when asked if he thought today’s hearing will change any minds.
He also accused his fellow Republicans of telling Washington lobbyists and their constituents back home two different opinions about impeaching Biden.
“Everybody's gonna vote how they know they're gonna vote. What a lot of people are worried about if we do have a vote. I want to vote on it up or down,” Burchett said.
When asked why they could be worried, he said, “They told some of their K Street buddies, ‘I'm not going to vote for this thing’ because they don't think they're gonna have to vote on it…. They told people back home, ‘Oh, yeah, I'm gonna impeach.’ But the reality is, they don't have the guts to do it.”
Getty Images
In testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Tony Bobulinski , Hunter Biden’s former business partner, will insist President Biden's "foreign influence peddling operation" extended from "China to Ukraine and elsewhere."
"I want to be crystal clear: from my direct personal experience and what I have subsequently come to learn, it is clear to me that Joe Biden was 'the brand' being sold by the Biden family. His family’s foreign influence peddling operation – from China to Ukraine and elsewhere – sold out to foreign actors who were seeking to gain influence and access to Joe Biden and the United States government," Bobulinski will tell lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to a draft of his opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.
"Joe Biden was more than a participant in and beneficiary of his family’s business; 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," he is expected add.
Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden as CEO of the energy company Sinohawk Holdings, has long maintained that President Biden has been involved in his son’s business dealings. In 2020, Bobulinski came forward in a press conference where he claimed he was in possession of various “emails, WhatsApp chats, agreements, documents and other evidence,” that attempted to demonstrate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden flaunting his family name and former status as vice president to profit off of his son’s businesses.
During his opening remarks to the GOP-led committee, Bobulinski is expected to ask, "If there is no evidence of corruption – if Joe’s conduct and the conduct of his family were fully legal and proper – then why are they so dishonest about it? Not just slight misrepresentations of fact but deep untruths about the entire corrupt enterprise."
A seat for Hunter Biden was placed at the public hearing Wednesday (Fox News Digital/Liz Elkind)
House Oversight Committee Republicans have left an open seat at today’s Biden impeachment inquiry hearing for the president’s son, Hunter Biden, after he turned down their invitation to appear.
The Oversight Committee's GOP majority is investigating accusations that Biden and his family enriched themselves by using his political connections, particularly when he was vice president.
Much of the investigation has focused on Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings in Ukraine and China. Both he and the White House have denied accusations of influence peddling using Biden, who was vice President when most of the alleged interactions took place.
The committee is instead hearing from Hunter Biden’s former business associates. One is Tony Bobulinski, who has personally told investigators that the Biden family was selling access to the now-president. The second is Jason Galanis, who is in prison after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Galanis will be appearing remotely.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote to the committee last week, “Your blatant planned-for-media event is not a proper proceeding but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended.”
Jason Galanis, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, will testify Wednesday about his time working with President Joe Biden's son, and that the latter interacted with those they sought to do business with.
Galanis, who is serving a 14-year sentence for securities fraud, previously testified from prison that Joe Biden was allegedly considering joining the board of a joint venture created by Hunter Biden and his business associates with ties to the Chinese Communist Party after he left the vice presidency.
Galanis also said that the words "lean in" were "used often by Devon and Hunter in our business dealings as a term for access to then-Vice President Biden’s political influence."
"The entire value-add of Hunter Biden to our business was his family name and his access to his father, Vice President Joe Biden," Galanis is expected to say as he testifies remotely from prison on Wednesday, according to a draft of his opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.
Galanis is also expected to testify that he experienced abuse in prison and was denied home confinement because of the investigation into Hunter Biden.
Lev Parnas was sentenced to prison for charges linked to soliciting foreign donations for US elections (AP Photo)
Indicted Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s second impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.
Parnas only briefly spoke with reporters before entering the hearing room, declaring, “I’m just here to tell the truth.”
Parnas previously claimed that he worked with Rudy Giuliani in his effort to pressure Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into the Biden family in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.
In June 2022, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison for charges linked to soliciting foreign money for U.S. elections, wire fraud and making false statements, among others. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams had accused him of "pumping Russian money into U.S. elections and lying about the source of funds for political contributions."
Parnas was invited to be a witness by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement about Parnas’ attendance, “Lev Parnas can debunk the bogus claims at the heart of the impeachment probe and, in the process, explain how the GOP ended up in this degraded and embarrassing place.”
A 2011 letter from then-Vice President Biden, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, to Devon Archer underscored how involved the elder Biden was with Hunter Biden’s business partners.
Following a January 2011 luncheon honoring then-Chinese President Hu Jintao at the State Department, Biden sent a letter to Archer apologizing for not getting a chance to speak with him at the luncheon.
"I apologize for not getting a chance to talk to you at the luncheon yesterday," Biden wrote to Archer. "I was having trouble getting away from hosting President Hu. I hope I get a chance to see you again soon with Hunter. I hope you enjoyed the lunch. Thanks for coming."
Biden then included a handwritten note: "Happy you guys are together."
Hunter was also at the State Department luncheon that Archer attended, and Fox News Digital previously reported that Hunter used that event as a networking opportunity to help one of his firm's clients secure an event at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall contributed reporting.
Jason Galanis, who worked with associates of Hunter Biden, is now serving a federal prison sentence (Facebook|AP)
Former Hunter Biden business associate Jason Galanis is one of several people who testified during investigations into the potential corrupt business dealings of Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden.
Galanis, who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to securities fraud, was responsible for orchestrating what he called the “Biden lift.”
“‘The 'Biden lift’ that we talked about was access. Access meant to us at the time, being in the business of acquiring other businesses, to persuade third-parties to do business with us,” Galanis explained during closed-door testimony from prison in March 2024.
“Part of our business plan was to use the family's contacts with the unions that historically had been developed through, I guess, political relationships by his father,” Galanis added, elaborating on the role Hunter Biden played within the company.
Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden (Getty)
Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, is one of several men under scrutiny related to potential corrupt business transactions involving Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden.
Archer is not expected to testify Wednesday in the public hearing hearing about Biden family business dealings.
In 2009, Hunter Biden and Archer, who met via former Secretary of State John Kerry’s stepson, Christopher Heinz, co-founded Rosemont Seneca Partners and had conducted business in Russia, China, and Ukraine.
It was Archer who brokered a deal, alongside Hunter Biden and Chinese financier Jonathan Li, to form the private equity firm BHR Partners and introduce the former vice president to Li in a meeting that would later be heavily criticized by Republicans for its appearances of impropriety.
Optics only grew worse when in 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden was photographed golfing with Archer and his son at a resort in the Hamptons. At the time, Archer served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company where Hunter Biden was also involved. Republicans have used that photo as evidence of President Biden's involvement in his family's business dealings, despite his denial in any activity of the sort.
Archer was convicted in a case involving the defrauding of a Native American tribe for a “year and a day,” in addition to being ordered to pay $43 million in restitution.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Rob Walker, confirmed to House Oversight investigators last month that President Biden met with CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming in 2017, months after he left office as vice president.
"I don’t remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, D.C., and the former vice president stopped by. We were having lunch," Walker testified, according to a transcript of his interview reviewed by Fox News Digital.
"I’m certain—I’m certain Ye was there," Walker said, noting there were nearly a dozen CEFC business partners in attendance.
Walker said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss "ways we could work together."
"I don’t think we had structured a deal on how to work together at this point," Walker said, noting the meeting lasted "probably an hour and a half," but said Biden "was not" there for the entirety of the meeting.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed reporting.
Tony Bobulinski (AP Images)
Tony Bobulinski, a Navy veteran, has been a key witness in the various testimonies and investigations against President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. He is expected to testify Wednesday in the House hearing into Biden family businesses.
Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden as CEO of the energy company Sinohawk Holdings, has long maintained that President Biden has been involved in his son’s business dealings. In 2020, Bobulinski came forward in a press conference where he claimed he was in possession of various “emails, WhatsApp chats, agreements, documents and other evidence,” that attempted to demonstrate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden flaunting his family name and former status as vice president to profit off of his son’s businesses.
Bobulinski was reportedly the first to assert that President Biden was the anonymous “Big Guy” who held stake in the company and was “plainly familiar” with Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China.
Bobulinski’s claims have yet to be verified – and several ex-partners of Hunter Biden have come forward to contest his claims. In recent weeks, Bobulinski has testified in front of House Republicans and has publicly slammed Hunter Biden for avoiding similar opportunities to testify.
"I was disappointed to see the news today that Hunter is running away from his chance to tell the American people the truth,” Bobulinski told Fox News Digital. “He’s been adamant in wanting to go before the American people, and [the] Oversight [committee] is now giving him that opportunity. Now is the time to step up, Hunter, as you have said you want to do. Don’t cower in the face of accountability."
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan previewed an upcoming hearing on the investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden and railed against the "double standard" he says President Biden was the benefactor of in the investigation into his handling of classified documents.
"We'll see," the Ohio Republican told Fox News Digital on Saturday when asked about Hunter Biden previously expressing willingness to testify openly before the House before his legal team recently backtracked and objected to doing so.
"I think Chairman Comer, we're going to have this hearing this week, this upcoming week with three of Hunter Biden's business partners, Mr. Galanis, Mr. Bobulinski and Mr. Archer and what's interesting, all three of those individuals tell a different story, and their story seems to match up with the three of them versus what Hunter Biden told us when we deposed him," Jordan said. "So we'll see if Hunter Biden comes in. But we’ll go through this here and get information out to the American people."
"It's going to be the comparisons between what these individuals said and what Hunter Biden said and the contradictions that exist in this testimony from both sides," Jordan told Fox News Digital when asked for a preview of what this week’s hearing on the Hunter Biden scandal will entail.
Jason Galanis, Tony Bobulinski and Devon Archer, all former associates of Hunter Biden, were invited to participate in a House hearing on Wednesday as part of the investigation into an alleged corruption scandal that Republicans are suggesting could eventually lead to an impeachment vote for President Biden.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hunter Biden's legal team for comment but did not receive a response.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, on Friday, that an Oversight Committee hearing on alleged influence peddling and the Biden family's business dealings "will proceed forward — with or without Mr. Biden" next week, after Lowell said the president's son would not attend.
Comer had invited Biden and business associates Tony Bobulinski, Devon Archer and Jason Galanis to testify at a public hearing at 10 a.m. on March 20.
But on Wednesday, Lowell said he would decline the hearing, calling it and the investigation a "carnival side show."
"Your blatant planned-for-media event is not a proper proceeding but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended," Lowell said, adding that Biden couldn't attend anyway because he is scheduled to be in California for a hearing on March 21.
All four individuals have already testified behind closed doors as part of the impeachment inquiry – during which Hunter Biden repeatedly denied his father, President Biden, was involved in his foreign business deals – but Comer said the public hearing would, "examine inconsistencies among the witnesses’ testimonies in order to get the truth for the American people."
Lowell reminded Comer of a statement he made in January when he said: "All we need are people to come in for the depositions and then we’ll be finished. We just need people to show up to the depositions and we’ll wrap this up. Nobody wants to wrap this up more than I do."
Lowell said his client, the president's son, "did just as you asked and, as you did when you announced that witnesses could choose depositions, you want to ignore what you said."
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Brie Stimson
President Joe Biden has repeatedly denied having any involvement in his son Hunter Biden's business dealings, despite interacting with his son’s and brother's foreign business associates while serving as vice president. Over the years, the White House has mainly repeated blanket denials.
In April 2022, a reporter asked then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki if the president still maintains that "that he never spoke with his son about his business dealings."
"He maintains his same statements that he's made in the past," Psaki said.
Again, in June 2023, a reporter asked White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby about Biden's claim that "he never once discussed his son's overseas business dealings.”
"No, and I'm not going to comment further on this," Kirby responded. "Let me save you some breath if you're going to ask about this: I am not going to address this issue from this podium."
One month later, in July, the White House was again pressed on the issue, with questions posed to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre answered: "So, I've been asked this question a million times. The answer is not going to change. The answer remains the same. The president was never in business with his son. I just don't have anything else to add.”
Republicans in the House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden after several members expressed growing concerns over any involvement he may have had in his son’s business dealings. But a slimming GOP majority, a loss of momentum, and a crucial election year have resulted in skepticism over whether an impeachment is actually possible.
The House committees on Oversight, Ways & Means and the Judiciary have been investigating Biden's potential involvement in his son's and brother’s business dealings and whether or not he used his vice presidency to enrich his family.
The House officially voted to formalize its impeachment inquiry in December, which passed on a 221 to 212 vote.
While the probe has shined a light on Biden's behavior both in and out of office, House Republicans recently revealed they are beginning to think that an impeachment vote might not be reachable anytime soon.
"I don't think we have the will to impeach Joe Biden… We just don't,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “We’ve got a two-seat majority. You've got some guys in these tough districts that don't want to alienate maybe independents or moderates.”
During Devon Archer’s closed-door testimony last summer with House Oversight investigators, he confirmed that then-Vice President Biden was in attendance at two separate dinners at the upscale Washington, D.C. restaurant Cafe Milano.
Archer told investigators that the elder Biden "had dinner" with him and several others, including "Vadym P. from Burisma,” which refers to Burisma board adviser Vadym Pozharskyi. When Biden arrived, Archer said Biden "shook everybody's hand" and joined their conversation, torpedoing the narrative that the Biden campaign pushed during the 2020 campaign.
"That dinner was — I think we went over it before, but it was Vadym, Hunter, Joe, myself, Karim Massimov, a Greek Orthodox priest, maybe someone from World Food Programme," Archer said.
Archer also testified that in the spring of 2014, then-Vice President Biden attended a business dinner with his son, Hunter, and his associates at Café Milano in Washington, D.C. Elena Baturina, a Russian oligarch who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, attended the dinner.
That dinner took place just weeks after Baturina wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, an LLC linked to Hunter Biden and his associates.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed reporting
Former Hunter Biden business partners Tony Bobulinski and Devon Archer conveyed to House investigators that the president’s son was offering “the brand” of his father, Joe Biden, when he made business deals abroad.
In February, a House Republican source told Fox News Digital Bobulinski gave testimony specifically claiming now-President Biden’s influence was being marketed by Hunter overseas. According to the source, Biden "was the brand.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., claimed Bobulinski confirmed in his testimony the significant involvement of Biden in his son’s business activities, noting that he and the then-vice president spoke "numerous times."
Last year, Archer attested to a similar idea, that Biden, who was vice president at the time "brought the most value to the brand."
In fact, he claimed certain business ventures may not have come to fruition without the prominent position of Hunter’s father.
"I think Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn't have the brand attached to it,” he said.
Hunter Biden has been locked in a battle with congressional Republicans over a planned hearing and deposition regarding allegations of corrupt business dealings potentially involving his father.
In December 2023, Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena on the grounds that he would only testify in public. The following month, under the threat of contempt of Congress charges, he agreed to a private deposition to be held on Feb. 28. After this deposition, Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee invited Hunter Biden to publicly testify on March 20.
Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell called the Republicans’ impeachment inquiry a “carnival side show” in a letter stating that his client wouldn't be able to attend the public hearing.
March 20 hearing with former associates of Hunter Biden, Lowell said, is "not a serious oversight proceeding."
"Your idea of congressional ‘fact-finding’ is, amazingly, to have Mr. Biden appear with the discredited ‘witnesses’ you continue to promote."
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., offered a response, stating: “Hunter Biden, for months, stated he wanted a public hearing, but now that one has been offered alongside his business associates that he worked with for years, he is refusing to come.”
Before formally inviting ex-Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas to Capitol Hill, House Democrats on the Oversight Committee had considered inviting Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s ex-lawyer, as a witness.
Democrats on the panel hope that a potential Cohen appearance could turn the spotlight at the highly-publicized event onto Trump, according to the source.
They "believe Cohen could help focus the hearing on Donald Trump by delivering first-hand testimony on Trump’s foreign business deals while he was president," the source said.
The source said Democrats think Cohen’s appearance and testimony could also force Republicans to respond in real time, and on camera, to criticism that they ignored allegations that Trump profited from countries like China while in office.
But another source who spoke to Fox News Digital about the ultimate decision on Tuesday said the committee would invite Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani
President Joe Biden once proudly claimed that he personally put pressure on former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to fire former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who at the time was investigating the energy firm where Hunter Biden sat on the board.
During an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in January 2018, then-Vice President Biden described how he aided in the firing of Shokin by telling Ukrainian officials the U.S. would withhold up to $1 billion in aid money earmarked for their country if Shokin remained in his position.
Shokin told Fox in August 2023 that he believes he was fired because the president and Hunter Biden were bribed.
"I have said repeatedly in my previous interviews that Poroshenko fired me at the insistence of the then Vice President Biden because I was investigating Burisma," Shokin said in an interview with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade.
"[Poroshenko] understood and so did Vice President Biden, that had I continued to oversee the Burisma investigation, we would have found the facts about the corrupt activities that they were engaging in. That included both Hunter Biden and Devon Archer and others," he said.
Although President Joe Biden has consistently denied having any involvement in his son Hunter Biden's business dealings during his time as vice president and in the years since, his press secretary has gotten caught tongue-tied when asked about the true nature of his role when taking questions from reporters.
President Biden once told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that he has "never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings."
President Biden has maintained this position for years, but more questions were raised after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre diverted from denying the president ever spoke to Hunter Biden about his business dealings to saying that he "was never in business with his son."
In July 2023, Jean-Pierre was asked about the House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family business dealings ahead of the testimony of Hunter Biden's former business partner Devon Archer. A reporter asked whether "the president still stand behind his comment that he's never been involved and has never even spoken to his son about his business?"
"So, I've been asked this question a million times,” Jean-Pierre responded. “The answer is not going to change. The answer remains the same. The president was never in business with his son. I just don't have anything else to add.”
To Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy, that appeared to be a substantial shift.
"I think it's significant that they're looking you in the eye and saying, 'I've said this a thousand times,' and then they say something that they're actually saying for the first time," McCarthy said.
During closed-door depositions, Biden's brother, James Biden, and son Hunter Biden, both denied any involvement by now-President Biden in their businesses. They downplayed significance of any interactions between their foreign business partners and Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden has been charged in two jurisdictions stemming from a years-long investigation run by now-Special Counsel David Weiss.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine federal tax charges in January after Weiss alleged a "four-year scheme" when the president's son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.
Weiss filed the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.
In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter "engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020."
Separately, in Delaware, Weiss charged Hunter Biden with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
The first son pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. His attorneys are seeking to dismiss that case altogether.
Live Coverage begins here