Former business associates of Hunter Biden are expected to testify publicly on Capitol Hill Wednesday as congressional Republicans begin the next phase of the impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is expected to open the hearing by explaining that throughout the impeachment inquiry, investigators have “found no credible evidence of the Bidens providing any work product” and has “identified no legitimate value or document or even one single hour of work that the Bidens have provided their business partners.”
“What is apparent, after over a year of investigation, is that the Bidens do not work in any traditional sense of the word. They do not work as consultants. Or lawyers. Or advisors. The Bidens don’t sell a product or a service or a set of skills,” Comer will say, according to excerpts of his opening statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “The Bidens sell Joe Biden.
Comer will say that Joe Biden “has taken action after action to further his family’s plans to get rich.”
“The scam is simple. The Biden family promises they can make a foreign partner’s problems go away by engaging the U.S. government,” Comer will say. “It’s done over and over again. The Biden family promises Joe’s power, Joe Biden shows up, and millions of dollars come into the Bidens’ pockets.”
Comer will add: “Joe Biden is the Biden family’s closer.”
Tony Bobulinski, a U.S. Navy veteran, will appear publicly for a joint hearing of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees Wednesday morning.
Jason Galanis, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence, will also testify but will do so virtually from Federal Prison Camp, a minimum-security prison for male inmates in Montgomery, Alabama.
Democrats have invited Lev Parnas, a former associate of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, to testify publicly as well.
In announcing the hearing earlier this month, Comer invited Hunter Biden to testify publicly as well, per the first son’s repeated requests. Through his attorney Abbe Lowell, Hunter rejected the invitation.
Lowell, in a letter to the committees, called the hearing a “carnival side show.”
Comer also invited Hunter Biden’s former associate, Devon Archer. Archer is not expected to attend.
Comer, though, has said he has “called Hunter Biden’s bluff.”
“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 said. “During our deposition and interview phase of our investigation, Hunter Biden confirmed key evidence, including evidence that his father, President Joe Biden, lied to the American people about his family’s business dealings and, in fact, attended meetings, spoke on speakerphone and had coffee with his foreign business associates who collectively funneled millions to the Bidens.”
Comer had subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a deposition scheduled for early December, but the president’s son defied that subpoena for a closed-door deposition, demanding a public hearing instead. Comer vowed to give Hunter Biden that public hearing after the committee had him for a deposition — like all other witnesses.
“When you’re investigating a family for this level of corruption you deserve the truth, the American people deserve the truth,” Comer said. “We’re giving Hunter Biden a venue to testify publicly.”
Hunter Biden appeared for his highly anticipated deposition last month before both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees and maintained that his father was never involved in and never benefited from his businesses.
The committee also heard testimony from James Biden, the president’s younger brother, who testified the same.
Hunter Biden did admit, however, that he put his father on speakerphone with his business associates and invited him to drop by his business lunches.