The first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden laid out the next steps for House investigators to take in order to gather more information about Joe Biden’s alleged role in Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and potential crimes committed by Hunter Biden.
House Republicans used the first impeachment inquiry hearing to lay out the existing evidence connecting Joe Biden to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and ask expert witnesses to evaluate the existing evidence. (RELATED: Here’s All The Evidence Connecting Joe Biden To Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business Dealings)
In their rounds of questioning, Republican members of the House Oversight Committee demonstrated the likely next steps in the Hunter Biden investigation. Below are the potential next steps laid out by the impeachment inquiry hearing.
Subpoena Hunter and James Biden’s personal and business bank records
Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced at the end of the hearing he would be sending subpoenas to Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden for personal and corporate bank records.
“Therefore, today I will subpoena the bank records of Hunter Biden, James Biden and their affiliated companies,” Comer said. House Oversight later posted the subpoena and a press release with the announcement.
🚨 @RepJamesComer Subpoenas Hunter and James Biden’s Personal and Business Bank Records pic.twitter.com/Dj2Tcu8wIT
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 29, 2023
Comer, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan circulated a memo to members Wednesday showing the Biden family and its associates received more than $24 million from individuals and businesses based in Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan.
Comer said during the hearing that the bank records with over $24 million worth of payments came from suspicious activity reports sent by banks to the Treasury Department related to the Biden family’s business dealings. In August, the House Oversight Committee released bank records showing the Biden family and its business associates brought in more than $20 million from foreign business partners.
Prior to the hearing, House Oversight disclosed two payments sent in the summer of 2019 to Hunter Biden from two different Chinese business associates with Joe Biden’s address as the beneficiary address. Hunter Biden had been living in California at the time the payments were sent, according to his failed guilty plea with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for two tax misdemeanors.
Jonathan Li, one of the Chinese business associates, previously met with then-Vice President Joe Biden for coffee in Beijing and got a college recommendation letter for his daughter from Joe Biden, Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee in July. Li wired $250,000 to Hunter Biden for a “personal investment” with Joe Biden’s residence as the beneficiary address, House Oversight found.
Wang Xin, the second Chinese associate, sent a $10,000 wire to Hunter Biden labeled as a loan, Comer said during the hearing. Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell has said the payment from Li was a loan from a private individual.
Forensic accountant Bruce Dubinsky, one of the expert witnesses, said loan payments would be supported by documentation laying out the terms of the loan in response to a question from Comer. Dubinsky encouraged the committee to “follow the money” to determine the purpose of the two payments.
Identify the terms of Kevin Morris’ alleged financial assistance to Hunter Biden
Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris was identified by the New York Post and New York Times in May 2022 as the wealthy individual who paid roughly $2 million of Hunter Biden’s overdue taxes. The first son’s failed guilty plea confirms a third party paid off around $2 million of Hunter Biden’s tax burden in what Hunter Biden’s attorney has called a loan agreement between the two parties.
An internal memo created by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley in May 2021 identified potential “campaign finance criminal violations” that were ignored by Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, a prosecutor working on the Hunter Biden case. Shapley’s memo indicates Wolf did not want the DOJ’s public integrity until to get involved with the investigation,
“And, then ultimately, in late 2019-2020, a Kevin Patrick Morris comes into the picture. And he was described as meeting Hunter Biden at a campaign finance event. And he paid off several different tranches of tax due and owing, to include Federal and D.C. tax due and owing,” Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in May.
.@RepJasonSmith: “Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf ordered investigators NOT to pursue leads into possible campaign finance violations.
We know that over $2 million of Hunter Biden’s tax liabilities were paid off by a big Democrat Party donor and Hollywood lawyer.” pic.twitter.com/6ybkDWIhjT
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 28, 2023
Smith questioned two of the hearings’ expert witnesses about the Shapley memo and the implications of Kevin Morris’ alleged payment.
“So, how would such payments, that essentially pushed under the rug the president’s son’s tax problems, at least for one year, be considered a campaign-finance violation on part of the Biden campaign?” Smith inquired.
Former Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Tax division Eileen O’Connor, an expert witness, responded by questioning Wolf’s decision making and asserted that Wolf’s concern regarding the public integrity unit indicated she was looking beyond Hunter Biden.
O’Connor said if Morris’ payment was a loan, it would not have to be reported on tax records. It’s unclear if Morris’ payment was a loan and it’s unknown if it was intended for campaign finance purposes.
An IRS memo outlining an interview with James Biden indicates he thanked Morris “on behalf of the family” for helping Hunter Biden after Morris requested a thank you from Hunter Biden. The IRS memo also states James Biden did not know why Morris was assisting Hunter Biden.
Gather additional evidence of potential FARA violations by Hunter Biden
Republican Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan detailed $3 million worth of payments sent by Romanian oligarch Gabriel Popoviciu to Hunter Biden’s then-business associate Rob Walker’s company Robinson Walker LLC while Romanian authorities were investigating Popoviciu for alleged corruption. Walker sent more than $1 million of the payments to Biden family members, bank records released by House Oversight show.
McClain said Hunter Biden met in November 2015 and March 2016 with the U.S. Ambassador to Romania despite not being registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Joe Biden was vice president when 16 of the 17 payments from Walker’s account to the Biden family took place, McClain said.
.@RepLisaMcClain: “You previously said that Hunter Biden could be charged under the Foreign Agent Registration Act…”@JonathanTurley: “The question is – Should he have registered…looking at the Paul Manafort indictment – considerable overlap.”
MCCLAIN: “Perhaps, there’s a… pic.twitter.com/8U0mLNdhdE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 28, 2023
“Professor Turley … you previously said that Hunter Biden could be charged under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, can you explain why,” McClain asked expert witness Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and Fox News contributor.
“Some of this does appear to be that type of lobbying on the part of Hunter Biden. The failure to register as an agent of course helped conceal that but that’s not necessarily the motivation behind it,” Turley said. He added that Hunter Biden’s conduct resembled that of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort who was sentenced for conspiring to violate FARA, among other charges.
Hunter Biden’s business associates visited the White House over 80 times when Joe Biden was vice president, Fox News reported. The younger Biden also took an estimated 15 flights with his father on Air Force Two, the outlet found. House Oversight has requested records of the apparent flights and White House meetings with Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates. Devon Archer testified that Joe Biden spoke with his son’s business associates on more than 20 occasions and recalled multiple dinners Joe Biden attended with his son’s foreign business associates.
Hunter Biden warned Devon Archer about potential FARA violations in the spring of 2014 when the pair became board members of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, an email from his laptop archive shows. Hunter Biden received more than $80,000 per month from Burisma even though he lacked experience in the energy sector and Ukrainian affairs, bank records demonstrate. Archer told House Oversight the Biden family “brand” represented by Joe Biden protected Burisma from scrutiny and kept the firm in business.
In 2017, Hunter Biden brought in more than $600,000 from Chinese firm CEFC China Energy and roughly $1 million from Hudson West III, a business entity he formed with James Biden and a CEFC associate, his failed guilty plea states. The House Oversight Committee discovered in June a $100,000 payment Hunter Biden received from CEFC the day after he allegedly texted a CEFC associate “the Biden’s [sic] are the best” at doing what his boss wants.
Ye Jianming, the chairman of CEFC was linked to the Chinese Communist Party before he was arrested in China on suspicion of bribery, according to the House Oversight Committee. IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler confirmed the $100,000 payment from CEFC and said Hudson West III brought in $3.7 million for its partners when he testified publicly in July.
The DOJ indicted American-Israel Gal Luft in July for numerous alleged offenses including “willfully” failing to register under FARA for taking payments from CEFC and attempting to influence U.S.-China policy. Luft received an estimated $700,000 from CEFC through his foreign policy think tank, the DOJ stated.
Determine whether CEFC had a relationship with Joe Biden during his vice presidency
Rob Walker told FBI investigators that Joe Biden met with CEFC associates in May 2017 after his vice presidency concluded, according to a transcript of his interview released Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Likewise, Walker recalled instances where Hunter Biden said he was setting up a meeting between his father and CEFC while Joe Biden was vice president. Shapley told the Ways and Means Committee in May about the contents of the Walker interview prior to the transcript being publicized.
Tony Bobulinski, another one of Hunter Biden’s former business associates, told the FBI that CEFC used the Biden name to advance the company’s interests abroad, according to a memo summarizing Bobulinski’s interview released by the Ways and Means Committee.
“CEFC had used its relationship with HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN – and the influence attached to the BIDEN name – to advance CEFC’s interests abroad,” the memo reads.
“HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN did not receive any compensation because JOSEPH BIDEN was still VPOTUS during this time period. There was a concern it would be improper for payments to be made to HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN by CEFC due to its close affiliation with the Chinese government. HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN both wanted to be compensated for the assistance they had provided to CEFC’s ventures; in particular, they believed CEFC owed them money for the benefits that accrued to CEFC through its use of the BIDEN family name to advance their business dealings,” the document adds.
Furthermore, Bobulinski described a meeting he had with Joe Biden at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel in May 2017 the night before Joe Biden spoke at a conference held by the Milken Institute, the memo states. Bobulinski said he discussed a potential joint venture known as “Sinohawk” with Joe Biden at the meeting and attended the speech as Joe Biden’s guest the next day. A page on the Milken Institute’s website confirms the date and location of the speech.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace went through the Bobulinski memo during her round of questioning at the impeachment hearing. Mace said CEFC’s payments to the Bidens after Joe Biden left office were “back pay” and displayed an August 2017 text message where Hunter Biden appeared to say Joe Biden wanted to “say hello” to Jianming.
.@RepNancyMace: “Hunter knew Joe Biden hanging out with CCP businessmen would be a bad look, so he tried to pull a genius move on us with this whole ‘my uncle’s BROTHER’ bulls*it” pic.twitter.com/PmBSaPMAO2
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 28, 2023
“Why was Hunter so secretive about his father? I’m gonna tell you why. It’s because Joe Biden didn’t want the American people to know he and his family were getting paid millions and millions of dollars from a company closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party,” Mace asserted. She ended her allotted time by questioning Turley on why Hunter Biden would conceal the nature of his foreign business dealings.
Turley stated that influence peddling is typically concealed to prevent the public from finding out and potential crimes such as failing to pay taxes and registering as a foreign agent can be committed in the act of concealing alleged influence peddling.
“Part of the purpose of an inquiry is to see if there is a linkage between those acts and more importantly a linkage to the president,” Turley added.
The House Ways and Means Committee released the Walker and Bobulinski documents as part of a trove of documents substantiating the whistleblower testimony from Shapley and Ziegler. The Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees continue to investigate the IRS whistleblower allegations alongside House Oversight’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Democratic lawmakers repeatedly expressed dismay at holding the hearing right before a potential government shutdown and compared the impeachment inquiry to the 2019 impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump.
House Democrats also demanded former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and his former associate Lev Parnas testify before the Oversight Committee. Giuliani was indicted in August as part of the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case against Trump and his associates for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Parnas was sentenced in June 2022 to 20 months in prison for various campaign finance offenses stemming from his attempt to launder funds from a Russian oligarch to influence candidates and support a cannabis business.