Hunter Biden accused of lying under oath about China deals and using his dad's name to make deals at wild impeachment hearing with Tony Bobulinski and a former associate testifying from prison

Former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski said he believes Joe Biden is lying about his involvement in his son's business dealings based off a meeting he had with him in 2017. 

Bobulinski told impeachment investigators on Capitol Hill about a May 2017 meeting between Hunter, Joe and him at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. 

'The sole reason Hunter wanted me to meet his father was because I was the CEO of Sinohawk,' he said, referring to the China-affiliated venture Hunter would later be a part of. 

Bobulinski said the meeting lasted '45 minutes to an hour.' 

Empty seat at center for Hunter Biden 

'If Joe Biden was not involved in son's business dealings ... why would he take 45 minutes out of his night to sit with me for 45 minutes to an hour to discuss my background, the business we're doing with the Chinese and his family's background?' 

James Biden, Joe's brother who was also present had said he did not recall such a meeting taking place, leading Republicans to accuse him of lying. Hunter Biden had attested that the meeting at the hotel bar did take place, but no business was discussed. 

'They talked about ... I don't know whether it was Tony's father was suffering from cancer, and his sister was suffering from cancer,' Hunter said in his transcribed interview with the committee. 

And while Bobulinski claimed he was 'not a political person,' Democrats tried to chip away at that assertion. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., pulled out photos of Bobulinski at a debate between Trump and Biden as a guest of Trump. 

'We didn't rely on [Hunter] for any deliverable product other than delivering the Biden lift,' said former Hunter associate Jason Galanis, who testified from prison. 

Both Galanis and Bobulinski said Joe Biden is 'lying' when he says he did not interact with Hunter's associates.  

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter said the hearing should instead have just focused on influence peddling more broadly - noting that lawmakers can get paid 'down payments' by lobbying firms and become lobbyists only one year after leaving public office.

'Both parties have let us down on fighting influence peddling and tackling corruption,' the California Democrat said, before noting 495 former members of Congress work for lobbying firms and 278 members violated the STOCK Act with improper stock trades last Congress. 

In a rare bipartisan moment, Comer said to Porter: 'I think you are sincere and I look forward to working with you on that legislation.' 

The hearing had  kicked off with fireworks as GOP witness Bobulinski called Democrats on the Oversight Committee 'liars' and a Democrat called him a 'fool.' 

'Should I allow Hunter to give his opening statement first?' Bobulinski joked - as a seat for Hunter Biden sat open next to him. Hunter had declined an invitation to testify before the committee. 

Bobulinski called Joe Biden a 'serial liar and fabulist,' his brother Jim Biden a '75 year old man who cannot keep his lies straight' and Hunter a 'chronic drug addict facing two indictments with twelve counts.'

'Representatives Dan Goldman and Jamie Raskin, both lawyers, and Mr. Goldman a former prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, will continue to lie today in this hearing and then go straight to the media to tell more lies,' Bobulinksi said. 

Jason Galanis testifying from prison 

Raskin took issue with being called out and there was a brief pause. 

'Keep going you fool! You're such a fool!' said Rep. Jared Moskowitz. The Florida Democrat had showed up to the hearing wearing a Vladimir Putin mask to tie the allegations against the Biden family to Russia. 

Raskin called House Republicans' impeachment inquiry a 'flabby, Hail Mary pass three weeks after the Super Bowl's over.'

The hearing came three weeks after Hunter Biden gave transcribed testimony to the committee and claimed his father was not involved in his business deals - as the inquiry's next steps appear unclear. 

'Keep going you fool! You're such a fool!' said Rep. Jared Moskowitz. The Florida Democrat had showed up to the hearing wearing a Vladimir Putin mask to tie the allegations against the Biden family to Russia 

Comer claimed in opening remarks that the Biden family did not provide 'any work product' as Hunter Biden's former associates are expected to testify about how he profited off his last name. 

'The Committee has identified no legitimate value or document or even one single hour of work that the Bidens have provided their business partners,' Comer, R-KY., said in his opening remarks at the 10 a.m. hearing. 

'Joe Biden is the family's closer.'  

While Hunter's associates have given testimony demonstrating Hunter's connection to his father opening doors for him, Republicans are seeking to further find evidence that Joe Biden was complicit in the scheme. 

'All President Biden can do is control his own actions, and that is what we are here today to discuss with the witnesses,' Comer said.

Whether the impeachment inquiry will lead to a vote on President Biden's impeachment is unclear. With the narrowest of majorities, House Republicans do not appear to have enough evidence to get their entire conference on board with impeaching the president. 

In an unusual setup, Galanis testified remotely from an Alabama prison where he's been for eight years of his 15-year sentence for defrauding a Native American tribe. 

He teared up as he discussed how he'd been sexually harassed in prison, and talked about a phone call that seemed 'pre-arranged' with Joe Biden as they were meeting with Russian business partners. Joe at one point said to the business partners, 'Be good to my boy.' 

'Hunter responded by saying, “Everything is good, and we are moving ahead,"' said Galanis. 

Democrats brought in former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas. 

Hunter Biden turned down an invitation to testify, as did former associate Devon Archer. 

Parnas has said he worked with Giuliani to influence Ukrainian officials to open an investigation into the Biden family before the 2020 election. He was eventually sentenced to 20 months in prison in June 2022 after being convicted on fraud and campaign finance crimes.

He has since turned on Giuliani, calling him an 'evil man' who he was 'very, very sad' to have worked with.

Comer called Parnas a 'distraction witness' who would 'talk about nonsense.'

'In my travels, I found precisely zero proof of the Bidens’ criminality. Instead, what I learned in that timeframe was the true nature of the conspiracy that the Kremlin was forcing 5 through Russian, Ukrainian, American, and other channels to interfere in our elections. Ultimately this was meant to benefit Trump’s re-election, which would in turn benefit Vladimir Putin.

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. 

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

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. 

Bobulinski had said he is '1,000 percent certain' the 'Big Guy' referred to in one of Hunter's Chinese business deals, where an email outlined '10 percent for the Big Guy,' is Joe Biden and claimed the Biden family made approximately 'eight to nine million dollars' from China. 

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 previously.

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.

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.