House Republicans on Thursday interviewed a former associate of Hunter and James Biden, who told Congress before the interview that he had “no contact” with the president. Joe Bidenaccording to a letter obtained by CNN.
The letter sent Wednesday to House Oversight Chairman James Comer is the latest example of a witness denying Republican allegations related to their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The investigating committees subpoenaed Mervyn Yan in November for testimony, saying he may have known whether the president had been involved in his family’s business dealings, an unproven allegation that is at the heart of their investigation.
But Yan’s lawyer wrote to Congress on Wednesday to refute the allegation.
“Throughout his interactions with Hunter and James Biden, Mr. Yan never met, spoke, did business, or had any personal or professional communication with President Biden, who was then the former Vice President of the United States- United,” said Yan’s lawyer, Soumya. Dayananda wrote to Comer, a Republican from Kentucky.
“He has never heard of President Biden in relation to any of the transactions conducted by Hudson West III and is unaware of any involvement of President Biden in his son’s business activities,” Dayananda added.
As a result, Dayananda wrote: “Mr. Yan does not possess any documents or information regarding President Biden’s alleged involvement in his family’s business dealings.”
Dayananda also mentioned that Comer never responded to a letter she wrote to him last year, emphasizing that her client was a private citizen who had never worked with the president and therefore should not be the target of congressional control.
“He is not a public official and he himself is not a valid target for investigation. He has had no professional contact or communication with President Biden at any time,” Dayananda wrote in May to Comer.
Dayananda’s letter in May followed a separate subpoena from the House Oversight Committee regarding a wide range of documents related to his business dealings.
Yan, a Chinese-American businessman, worked with Hunter and James Biden, the president’s son and brother, on a joint venture involving a Chinese-backed energy company that was dissolved in 2018, when Joe Biden did not was not in power. Yan worked as an “independent consultant” on the joint venture, known as Hudson West III, between Hunter Biden and a Chinese leader named Gongwen Dong, according to Dayananda.
Under the joint venture agreement, the president’s son received monthly compensation of $100,000 and the president’s brother received monthly compensation of $65,000, Yan’s lawyer added. Yan, according to Dayananda, does not know where the funding for the initial $5 million operating budget came from.
Hunter Biden began ‘investigating potential infrastructure projects’ with China-backed energy company CEFC in 2015, when Joe Biden was vice president, according to recent indictment in federal tax case against the president’s son.
An aide to the House Oversight Committee told CNN that Republican members of the panel are concerned about the veracity of the letter sent by Yan’s lawyer based on the facts and information obtained during the investigation and this is why Yan is being cross-examined on the allegations contained in the letter.
Following the interview, Comer said in a statement provided to CNN: “Mervyn Yan admitted on record that the Bidens had no experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors and were unsure about this. that they brought to the table. His testimony raises many questions about the Bidens’ relationship with the Chinese government-linked energy company.”
“We will soon release the transcript of Mervyn Yan’s interview,” Comer added.
Meanwhile, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said in a statement about after the interview, “Mervyn Yan testified before the Committee today that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden and that, to his knowledge, President Biden was not involved, did not benefit from it and took no official action in relation to his family’s business dealings.
Republicans continued to look into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and raised concerns about transactions resulting from the joint venture with Yan.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
