WASHINGTON — At today’s House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuses of Public Office“, witnesses confirmed that Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings and their attempts to sell him access.
Below is the transcript of Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis’ exchange with Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).
Chairman Comer: During the 118th Congress, the Oversight Committee investigated Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence peddling around the world. So let’s start with that. Mr. Bobulinski, was Joe Biden involved in any of your business dealings with Hunter Biden and James Biden?
Mr. Bobulinski: Yes.
President Comer: Was Joe Biden involved in his family’s attempts to sell him access?
Mr. Bobulinski: Yes.
President Comer: You decided to start a legitimate business with the Bidens. Have you discovered that the Biden family has no interest in doing real business?
Mr. Bobulinski: Yes.
Chairman Comer: Mr. Galanis, are you aware of any instances where Hunter Biden used Joe Biden – to Joe Biden’s knowledge – for the benefit of his business associates?
Mr. Galanis: Yes.
President Comer: Which partners?
Mr. Galanis: Elena Baturina, Russian oligarch. Chinese fund manager Henry Zhao. Mykola Zlochevsky, Ukrainian oligarch.
Chairman Comer: Now that we have established that Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings, I would like to turn to the financial documents we have subpoenaed. A major point that my fellow Democrats are downplaying is the amount of money the Bidens have accumulated through foreign companies in such a short time. We traced more than $24 million to the Biden family and their business associates from 2014 to 2019.
Mr. Bobulinski, there came a time when you were trying to get $10 million from the Chinese to do a real trade deal. But it wouldn’t be accurate to say it was a “$10 million deal,” would it? What did the Bidens think about trade with the Chinese?
Mr. Bobulinski: The Chinese were committing millions of dollars to infrastructure projects here in the United States and around the world.
Chairman Comer: Mr. Galanis, what was the financial goal that you, Mr. Archer and Hunter Biden set for yourselves? Was it millions of dollars? Or billions?
Mr. Galanis: Billions of dollars.
Chairman Comer: I would now like to turn to some of the statements that Joe Biden has made during his presidency regarding the findings of this investigation. Mr. Bobulinski, Joe Biden said he never interacted with his family’s business associates. Has he met you?
Mr. Bobulinski: He did it several times.
Chairman Comer: In fact, did you know that Joe Biden also met with Rob Walker, Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer?
Mr. Bobulinski: I am generally aware of that.
President Comer: Mr. Galanis, as you discussed earlier, regarding Yelena Baturina, you were present when Hunter Biden called his father, then Vice President, in the presence of Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, correct not ?
Mr. Galanis: That is correct.
President Comer: You were also present during Hunter Biden’s conversation with his father about a seat on the board of a Chinese company, correct?
Mr. Galanis: I was present on a call where Chinese transactions were discussed, yes.
Chairman Comer: So Mr. Galanis, it wasn’t true when Joe Biden said he didn’t interact with his family’s business associates, was it?
Mr. Galanis: I believe that would be misleading, to the point of becoming a lie. President Comer: Hunter Biden has chosen not to attend today’s proceedings. I gave Mr. Biden exactly what he asked for before his deposition. It’s clear that Hunter Biden knows his testimony would not stand up to public scrutiny. Joe Biden has not told the truth about his participation in schemes to sell access and influence, and today’s witnesses will show the American people a side of the story the president is so eager for to hide.
