Hunter Biden business associate John Robinson Walker said Friday that President Joe Biden met in 2017 with the head of a Chinese government-linked firm that paid millions to his son and other family members.
Joe Biden Allegedly Met Chair of Chinese Company That Paid Hunter Biden Millions
According to the New York Post, Walker told the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry into the president that shortly after Joe Biden left office as vice president, he attended a meeting that included about 10 people involved with CEFC China Energy.
A source familiar with Walker's testimony told the New York Post that CEFC's chairman, Ye Jianming, was among those people who attended the lunch between Hunter and his CEFC associates at DC's luxurious Four Seasons hotel. In his testimony to the FBI in 2020, Walker described the appearance of Biden as a drop-by.
"He literally sat down. I don't even think he drank water," Walker told the FBI of the president's appearance at the lunch meeting that he also attended.
However, Walker also told the FBI that he believed that Hunter Biden only arranged for his father to appear at that meeting as he sometimes heard Hunter saying in the past that he was setting up a meeting with his father.
"I certainly never was thinking at any time that ah... the VP was a part of anything we were doing," Walker told the bureau in 2020.
On Friday, Walker told the committee that Biden "was never involved" in any of his business dealings with Hunter.
"In business, the opportunities we pursued together were varied, valid, well-founded, and well within the bounds of legitimate business activities. To be clear, President Biden-while in office or as a private citizen-was never involved in any of the business activities we pursued," Walker said in his opening statement provided to CNN.
"Any statement to the contrary is simply false... Hunter made sure there was always a clear boundary between any business and his father. Always. And as his partner, I always understood and respected that boundary," he added.
The committee subpoenaed Walker in November to provide insight into whether Biden had any involvement in his family's business dealings. This unproven claim is the center of the ongoing probe.
James Comer Confirms Joe Biden Meeting With Chinese Company That Paid Hunter Biden Millions
In a statement on Friday night, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said: "Today we learned that Joe Biden met with the now-missing Chairman of CEFC, Ye Jianming, as Hunter Biden and his associates received $3 million from a Chinese entity CEFC controlled."
"Evidence continues to reveal the Bidens sold the 'Biden Brand' to enrich the Biden family," he added. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), on the other hand, told reporters that the lunch meeting was "the biggest thing" he had learned so far.
CNN reported that Jordan said the meeting's timing was also "interesting" because shortly after, the CEFC wired $3 million to Biden family business associates that Hunter and other Biden family members received indirectly.
For his part, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters that Walker testified that Biden's appearance at the meeting was a drop-by to say hello and lasted only less than 10 minutes. Raskin then slammed the ongoing investigation, saying it's "like a fishing expedition with no fishing rods or poles or lines or bait or tackle or a map."
In his opening statement, Walker, who started working with Hunter in 2008, expressed concern that his Friday's closed-door testimony could be taken "out of context." He then asked that any public statements regarding the interview include the entire transcript.
Republicans have focused on the deals between Hunter and Walker, but there is no evidence yet of any wrongdoing by the president. After about seven hours of testimony, Walker left the session and said he answered the questions to the best of his ability.
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