House investigators heading to prison to interview ex-Hunter Biden biz associate amid impeachment inquiry
Congressional investigators are set to interview Hunter Biden’s ex-business associate, Jason Galanis, in prison Friday, seeking information on the Biden family’s business dealings and any “access" to then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Congressional investigators are set to interview Hunter Biden’s ex-business associate, Jason Galanis, in prison on Friday to gather information on the Biden family’s business dealings and any "access" to then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Staff from the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are expected to travel to an Alabama prison, where Galanis is serving a 14-year prison sentence for securities fraud.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan in November requested an interview with Galanis through the Bureau of Prisons.
Comer cited a Wall Street Journal report that "discusses the allegation of the ‘access’ Hunter Biden could provide while his father was vice president, with Mr. Galanis writing in 2014 that Hunter ‘will change your access forever,’" Comer wrote in the letter, requesting that investigators have the chance to "question Galanis about his firsthand knowledge of Hunter Biden’s influence peddling."
"The committees’ investigation requires that we obtain this information," Comer wrote. "Accordingly, we request the Federal Bureau of Prisons make Mr. Galanis available for a transcribed interview with Committee counsel."
Galanis formerly did business with both Hunter Biden and Devon Archer.
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Galanis pleaded guilty to securities fraud based on bonds issued by a company affiliated with a Native American tribe in South Dakota. The funds were reportedly supposed to be used for certain projects but were instead used for his personal finances. He was sentenced in 2017 to 14 years.
Devon Archer was tied to the scheme and convicted in 2018 for defrauding the Native American tribal entity and various investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars in connection with the issuance of bonds by the tribal entity and the subsequent sale of those bonds through fraudulent and deceptive means.
Archer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Archer testified before the committees last year that Hunter put his father, then-Vice President Biden, on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times, and he said Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell "the brand." Archer was on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings along with Hunter Biden.
Galanis' expected testimony comes after James Biden testified that his brother, President Biden, "has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest" in his business ventures.
James Biden's testimony came days after his former business associate, Tony Bobulinski, testified before the committee, telling congressional investigators that Joe Biden was involved in the family's business ventures and testifying that he personally met with him.
Days before Bobulinski's testimony, another former business associate, Rob Walker, testified that Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese energy firm his brother and son did business with.
After Walker's testimony, the House Oversight Committee said it was able to "now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son."
Hunter Biden is expected to sit for his deposition on Feb. 28.
Meanwhile, the president last week called for the House impeachment inquiry to be dropped, calling it "an outrageous effort from the beginning."
