Republicans clear path for key Joe Biden impeachment witness Jason Galanis to testify from PRISON after Hunter refuses to participate in the public hearing

In an unusual setup, former Hunter Biden associate Jason Galanis will testify remotely from prison in a congressional hearing as part of the Biden impeachment inquiry. 

Oversight Chairman James Comer wrote to Majority Leader Steve Scalise asking for permission to have Galanis testify virtually and Scalise's office told DailyMail.com they will approve the request. 

The Bureau of Prisons has already agreed to allow Galanis to give his testimony by video camera at a hearing entitled 'Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden's Abuse of Public Office.' 

Galanis will testify alongside former Hunter business partner Tony Bobulinski, in a hearing Hunter himself was invited to but declined to participate. Devon Archer was also invited to give public testimony but has not confirmed his attendance yet. 

Jason Galanis will testify in a hearing Wednesday by video while he is incarcerated in Alabama  

Galanis is currently doing time in an Alabama prison for defrauding a Native American tribe. 

He has told Republican impeachment investigators that the 'Biden lift' was why he did business with the first son, claiming it helped close deals they believed would make them billions. 

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 in transcripts made public recently. 

Galanis has alleged that he has been targeted by the justice system and denied home confinement that 'would have allowed full and free access to congressional investigators.' 

Hunter Biden was unlikely to ever appear beside his former associates who have since turned on him.  

Abbe Lowell, Hunter's attorney, wrote to Chairman James Comer Wednesday, saying the invitation is 'not a serious oversight proceeding.' 

'It is your attempt to resuscitate your Conference's moribund inquiry with a made-for-right-wing-media, circus act,' he added.

Hunter also has a court hearing in California the next day, but the scheduling conflict is the 'least of the issues,' says Lowell. 

'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 continued. 

All four men have already given transcribed interviews to Congress where members probed them on Hunter and Joe's alleged influence peddling. 

Meanwhile, Comer says his committee has 'called Hunter Biden's bluff' and the hearing is moving forward as scheduled next week.

During Hunter's private deposition, he insisted his dad did not profit at all from his business dealings and they were all earned of his own merit - not his last name

Tony Bobulinski was in business with Hunter Biden, and has claimed that Joe Biden was also involved in a May 2017 deal with China

'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,' Comer told DailyMail.com.

He says the hearing is critical to understand why parts of Hunter's testimony 'contradict' those by Archer, Galanis and Bobulinski.

Hunter at first insisted he would only testify to Congress publicly for fear that Republicans would twist his words behind closed doors. But after threat of a criminal contempt proceeding, he agreed to come in to give a transcribed interview last month that last six hours. 

Hunter and Bobulinski have beef after his ex-partner came forward with allegations that Joe was involved in their deal with Chinese company CEFC in 2017.

He also admitted putting his father Joe on speakerphone and inviting him to lunches many times over the years with business associates and 'friends,' but insisted he was not involved in his shady dealings with the Chinese, Ukrainians and others. 

Republican James Comer say the hearing will 'examine inconsistencies' between all four witnesses' testimonies behind closed doors to 'get the truth.' Devon Archer (far left) is seen playing golf in the Hamptons with Hunter (far right) and Joe (next to Hunter)

'I'm surprised my dad hasn't called me right now, and if he did, I would put him on speakerphone to say hi to you and to Congressman Raskin and everybody else in the room. It is nothing nefarious literally,' Hunter said. 

Meanwhile, Bobulinski unequivocally claimed Hunter profited off his last name and Joe was involved. 

In 2020, Bobulinski publicized a May 2017 email detailing a proposed equity split for a Chinese investment - the 10 percent for the 'big guy' note - and first claimed the 'big guy' was Joe. 

He also told impeachment investigators that 'it is also not a coincidence' that CEFC used the Biden family's 'weakest link' Hunter to funnel in tens of millions of dollars. 

But Hunter disputed last week that his father is the 'big guy' referenced and slammed Bobulinski for spewing lies about his family.

'It did not involve my dad,' he stated. 

'I think that it was pie in the sky. Like 'Joe Biden's out of the office. Maybe we'll be able to get him involved,' Hunter testified.

'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,' Bobulinski said in opening remarks.

He continued to say Joe was 'more than a participant' in his family's business, but rather 'an enabler, despite being buffered by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability.'

'The Biden family business was Joe Biden, period,' he said. In addition, he detailed how Chinese energy company CEFC 'successfully sought to infiltrate and compromise' the Obama-Biden White House.

Bobulinski also previously suggested that he testify publicly before Congress along with Hunter, Jim Biden and Joe Biden. 

Archer testified about Hunter's role on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, which he was paid over $80,000 a month for.  

Archer testified last summer that Burisma CFO Vadim Pozharskyi and CEO Nikola Zlochevsky put 'constant pressure' on Hunter in 2015 to get his father to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma.

Hunter Biden, along with Zlochevsky and Pozharski, reportedly 'called D.C.' to discuss Shokin. 

In March 2016, Joe Biden is alleged to have threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine if Shokin was not fired for corruption.

Galanis and former Hunter associate Devon Archer were both convicted of fraud for convincing a Native American tribe to issue economic development bonds and then diverting the funds for personal use. Hunter Biden was never indicted in the scheme. 

Galanis is a part of a notorious crime family in New York. His father, John Galanis, was a target of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani during his crime crackdown in the 1980s. At 76, the elder Galanis is also currently incarcerated for his involvement in his son's scheme. 

Galanis is currently pushing for home confinement, claiming he has been sexually assaulted in prison. 

'I pleaded guilty. I have had eight years in federal custody to reflect on my actions, and I am profoundly sorry for my role,' he said. 

Galanis has already been denied home confinement once, claiming he had been assaulted by a member of the prison staff. 

Galanis told investigators that in February 2023 he was approved for home confinement under the Covid-era CARES Act by the Pensacola warden, and on June 9, 2023, 'the Bureau of Prisons California staff confirmed their approval of my home confinement in an email to FPC Pensacola staff.'

Days later on June 12, the Oversight Committee announced it would subpoena Devon Archer, Galanis' associate, 'which would, undoubtedly, in my mind expose the dealings of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, and me.'

One day later, he says his home confinement approval was reversed. 

Galanis said: 'I formally appealed the reversal. With each appeal stage, the BOP reason for my denial changed. For example, first, it was that there was too much time left on my sentence. This is not a valid reason for the denial. 

Next, it was that the CARES Act expired on May 10, 2023. This rationale is contrived and is contradicted by the approval on June 9th, a date after the purported May 10th expiration. Moreover, the BOP policy is that all CARES Act applications submitted before May 10th were to be processed, which I witnessed firsthand with fellow inmates being released well into late summer. I was being treated differently.'

By March 19, Oversight Chairman James Comer, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of both committees, asked the BoP director Collette Peters and assistant US Attorney Negar Tekeei to turn over all documents related to Galanis' application for home confinement and the subsequent approval and reversal of it, as well as all documents and communications related to his sexual abuse allegations.