President Biden’s scandal-plagued son has arrived on Capitol Hill to give a momentous closed-door deposition in the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into his father.
He was spotted by DailyMail.com being dropped off in front of the O’Neill House Office Building for an expected all-day sit down with top lawmakers. He did not answer shouted questions from the press as he made his way inside wearing a dark suit and tie alongside his attorney Abbe Lowell.
It could make for the biggest moment of the House Republican impeachment investigation.
Republicans seeking to impeach the president claim that Joe Biden used his position and ‘brand’ to enrich his family in a complex ‘influence peddling’ scheme. But they are still looking for enough proof that the then-vice president influenced foreign policy to the financial benefit of his family to the tune of over $20 million.
They view Hunter’s long-awaited deposition at 10 a.m. ET Wednesday as critical to provide concrete evidence tying Joe directly to his family’s profitable foreign business schemes.
They will need to convince every single GOP lawmaker Joe is complicit with their slim two-vote majority or else an impeachment vote will fail in the House.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters immediately before Hunter’s arrival that Joe Biden has ‘repeatedly lied to the American people’ by saying he never interacted with Hunter’s business associates.
‘The Biden’s didn’t have a legitimate business. Their business was selling access to Joe Biden the ‘brand,” he stated.
He was spotted by DailyMail.com being dropped off in front of the O’Neill House Office Building for an expected all-day sit down with top lawmakers. He did not answer shouted questions from the press as he made his way inside wearing a dark suit and tie
Hunter arrived in Washington, DC ahead of him sitting for a deposition this week as part of the Republican effort to impeach his father
Hunter Biden pictured arriving at Washington, D.C. Dulles Airport arriving from Los Angeles
They will need to convince every single GOP lawmaker Joe is complicit with their slim two-vote majority or else an impeachment vote will fail in the House
He went on to compare the Biden family to Bob Menendez – who is facing a federal indictment alongside his wife for allegedly accepting bribes and using his influence in a corruption scheme involving Egypt and Qatar.
‘We’re trying to stop this cottage industry of influence. That’s what this investigation is all about,’ he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, downplayed the significance of Hunter’s deposition and said Republicans do not have enough evidence to impeach.
‘This has been a comedy of errors from the start,’ he told reporters. ‘If somebody thinks that there is some high crime or misdemeanor relating to Joe Biden, they should tell us what it is, and so far we haven’t heard it.’
However, when asked by a reporter about whether it was ‘appropriate’ for Joe to speak on the phone with Hunter’s associates, Raskin dodged.
He replied that the standard of course for impeachment is ‘not what I think is appropriate or not appropriate,’ but rather ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’
Comer told DailyMail.com on the eve of the interview that although Hunter is their ‘key witness,’ his testimony will not mark the conclusion of the impeachment inquiry.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters immediately before Hunter’s arrival that Joe Biden has ‘repeatedly lied to the American people’ by saying he never interacted with Hunter’s business associates
‘There are more subpoenas and witness interviews to come,’ the chairman continued. ‘We will continue to follow the facts to inform legislative reforms to federal ethics laws and determine whether articles of impeachment are warranted.’
The main line of Republican questioning Wednesday will center on how Joe Biden was the ‘brand’ being sold by his family members to foreign business associates.
In recent weeks, they have hauled in many Biden family members and associates as they hope to collect enough damning evidence to move forward with an impeachment vote soon.
However, their effort suffered a major blow after a key source in the impeachment investigation was indicted for allegedly lying to the FBI.
Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov had been the source of the claim that Ukrainian oil firm Burisma bribed Hunter and Joe with $5 million each. But Smirnov allegedly learned that false information through his contacts with Russian intelligence officials.
The White House has denied that Joe has ever been involved in his family’s business dealings and Democrats in the House have slammed the probe as a ‘sham’ impeachment.
DailyMail.com breaks down what to expect during Hunter’s closed-door interview today:
Hunter could pull another media ‘stunt’ on Capitol Hill
The long-awaited testimony from Hunter comes after a back-and-forth between Hunter and his lawyers and impeachment investigators on the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees.
Hunter had insisted he would only appear in public, while lawmakers insisted he must first give a private deposition where they believe he will be more forthcoming.
On the day set for his original deposition in December, Hunter in a showy stunt pulled up to the Senate side of the Capitol complex and gave a statement to reporters instead of sitting for questions.
In another surprise appearance, he showed up in January to confront Republicans as they were marking up a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress.
The jury is still out on whether Hunter plans to pull a similar stunt on Wednesday.
He is currently filming a top-secret documentary with his Hollywood power player ‘sugar brother’ to ‘set the record straight’ about his drugs and financial woes.
Republicans have said his previous media ‘stunts’ on Capitol Hill were designed for use as fodder for the film.
Hunter Biden showed up on Capitol Hill at the start of a markup to hold him in contempt of Congress
The first son’s drug use and indictments will be in the spotlight
The first son arrived in Washington on Monday after giving a rare interview to Axios, in which he said he knows his sobriety could be a key issue in November’s presidential election, which looks all but certain to be a repeat of the 2020 battle between his father and Donald Trump.
And he says that staying sober is for him the ‘ultimate test.’
Biden’s 54-year-old son revealed that he often thinks about the ‘profound consequences of failure’ if he relapses before the election in November.
‘I have something much bigger than even myself at stake. We are in the middle of a fight for the future of democracy,’ Hunter said.
In December Hunter was hit with nine charges in connection to a long-running investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ), including two felony charges for filing a false return, a felony charge for tax evasion, four failure to pay charges, and a further two charges for failure to file.
Prosecutors allege the first son spent millions on an ‘extravagant lifestyle’ while avoiding paying taxes for years. The Justice Department says Hunter faces up to 17 years in prison.
A picture from Hunter Biden’s abandoned hard drive shows him passed out with a crack pipe hanging out of his mouth
He is also facing up to 25 years in prison on felony gun charges in Delaware in the second trial that could have a devastating impact on his father’s 2024 campaign.
The indictment states that despite receiving millions in personal income and financial support from a friend, Hunter ‘spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.’
A so-called ‘sweetheart’ plea deal for Hunter that would have seen him avoid jail time blew up when Hunter’s legal team was told he could face future criminal charges, including for failing to register as a foreign agent.
A picture from Hunter Biden’s laptop showed the now 53-year-old first son posing nude with a firearm
Between 2016 and 2020 Hunter allegedly spent more than $683,000 on ‘various women’ and almost $400,000 on ‘clothing and accessories’
How the Biden ‘brand’ was used to enrich the family
Hunter’s uncle James was deposed last week and insisted Joe ‘never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest’ in anything related to his 50-year business career.
James had made a series of what Republicans believed were suspiciously timed payments to his brother Joe, but James insisted they were loan repayments.
In 2017, James Biden was loaned $600,000 by a health care company he is now accused of defrauding – Americore. The same day as $200,000 came in from the health care firm on March 1, 2017, James wrote a check to Joe for $200,000 labeled ‘loan repayment.’
And shortly after another lucrative deal with Chinese state-affiliated with CEFC China Energy, James wrote another check to Joe Biden, this time for $40,000 and also marked as ‘loan repayment.’
‘In every business venture in which I have been involved, I have relied on my own talent, judgment, skill, and personal relationships—and never my status as Joe Biden’s brother,’ James testified.
But a Politico report this week revealed James invoked his brother’s name to now-bankrupt Americore on multiple occasions, and even spoke of plans to give his brother equity and install him on the board.
Emails show that Hunter’s company ‘frequently used the Biden name to gain access to and favors from the White House’
Then-Vice President Joe Biden waves as he walks out of Air Force Two with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden and son Hunter Biden on December 4, 2013 in Beijing, China
James even offered to have his brother promote the company in a future presidential campaign, one executive said.
Meanwhile Hunter’s other associates have often insisted he sold his last name – his ‘Biden brand’ – across the business world to seal deals.
Archer testified last summer that Burisma executives 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.
Separately, in a 2017 email to Hunter, his uncle Jim and other business partners regarding a deal with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC, business partner James Gilliar made a reference to the ‘big guy’ getting a 10 percent stake in the lucrative deal.
Another former associate of the first son, U.S. Navy veteran Tony Bobulinski, publicly claimed in October 2020 that ‘big guy’ was a reference to President Biden.
Hunter Biden’s friend and business partner Devon Archer, far left, is seen playing golf in the Hamptons with Hunter (far right) and Joe (next to Hunter)
Joe’s over 20 calls with Hunter’s business partners
Former business partner Tony Bobulinski told investigators that Hunter either had his dad meet with or put him on speakerphone with clients at least 20 times over the course of 10 years.
‘We’ve documented how Joe Biden has met with nearly all of his son’s foreign business associates as they were collectively funneling millions to the Bidens,’ Comer said.
Joe has long denied discussing foreign business with Hunter.
Last month former Hunter associate Rob Walker told the committee Joe had met with now-missing Chinese oil giant CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming in 2017 at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C., but was just ‘checking in on’ Hunter at the meeting.
The brief meeting occurred around the time that $3 million was wired from the Chinese company to Biden family associates.
And according to emails found on Hunter’s infamous laptop, Joe Biden dined with a number of Hunter’s associates at Cafe Milano in Washington, D.C. in 2015: guests included Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi, corrupt, late former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkovhis wife Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina, and a Mexican ambassador.
In a separate dinner, Joe Biden dined with Kazakhstani Oligarch Kenes Rakishev at Cafe Milano in the spring of 2014. In April 2014, Rakishev wired $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, one of Hunter’s shell companies, which came one day before he bought a sports car for that exact amount.
Last week Hunter’s now-imprisoned former associate Jason Galanis told investigators that Joe Biden had planned to join the board of one of Hunter’s Chinese business ventures after the vice presidency, which was the reason the Chinese agreed to do the deal with Hunter.
Henry Zhao, who worked on the Burnham venture where Biden considered taking a board seat, also worked with Hunter on his ventures with Chinese energy company CEFC. He is the recipient of a text exchange where Hunter invokes his dad’s name as a threat to Zhao to pay him $10 million for their joint venture SinoHawk Holdings.
‘I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,’ Hunter told Zhao.
‘And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.’
The shell companies that snaked over $15 million into the hands of the Bidens
Republicans insist close to $20 million was transferred from foreign hands to the Bidens through shell companies. Most of that went to Hunter himself and none of it can be traced directly to Joe – though the first son will be hounded about the payments.
This includes over $4 million paid to Hunter by Burisma, $6 million from Chinese state-affiliated CEFC to Hunter Biden’s company Hudson West III, and over $1 million from Rob Walker to Biden family members including James and Hunter’s widowed sister-in-law, Hallie.
Hunter also scored a $1 million retainer to represent CEFC official Patrick Ho, who was later charged in a scheme to bribe leaders of Chad and Uganda. His company Rosemont Seneca Thornton scored $3.5 million from Baturina after her dinner with Biden in 2014.
From Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, who’s since been convicted on bribery charges, came $3 million to the firm controlled by Rob Walker. Walker then transferred some $1 million to Biden family accounts.
Two other wires totaled about $360,000, plus there was the $142,300 Hunter used to buy a Porsche and a 2.8 karat diamond Hunter got from a Chinese official, that he claims has been lost.