House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has officially scheduled the deposition hearing for the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden is now set to appear for testimony before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Feb. 28, an Oversight Committee staff member confirmed with NTD News on Thursday.
The deposition comes as House Republicans are continuing their impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, on allegations he used his political connections to benefit his family’s private business deals.
This deposition comes after Hunter Biden did not comply with an earlier request to appear at a Dec. 13 closed-door House deposition. House Republicans raised the prospect of holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress but halted those efforts as the president’s son’s legal team renewed negotiations for a closed-door deposition.
Hunter Biden is likely to face questions about his dealings with the Chinese energy company China Energy Company Limited (CEFC) and a Ukrainian gas company called Burisma Holdings, while his father served as the vice president. Questions are likely to touch on what knowledge and level of involvement the then-vice president had in his son’s business dealings.
President Biden has repeatedly denied having a role in his son’s business dealings.
With the Feb. 28 deposition, the president’s son is slated to be the second Biden family member interviewed by the House impeachment investigators. President Biden’s brother, James Biden, testified before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Feb. 21.
Other Recent Witnesses
In recent weeks, House Oversight and Judiciary Committee members have interviewed several Biden family business associates, including Hunter Biden’s former business partners Rob Walker, and Tony Bobulinski. Another of Hunter Biden’s business associates, Devon Archer, also testified before committee members last summer.
Mr. Archer testified that then-Vice President Biden appeared in person at business dinners attended by his son and his son’s business partners in 2014 and 2015. He also testified that Hunter Biden placed his father on speakerphone during other conference calls with his business partners around this time.
According to Mr. Archer, members of Burisma’s board of directors had urged Hunter Biden to “call D.C.” to get help dealing with legal pressure from a Ukrainian government prosecutor. Mr. Archer further testified that he believed Hunter Biden “called D.C.” on or about Dec. 4, 2015, just days before then-Vice President Biden traveled to Ukraine and allegedly communicated a request for the Ukrainian government to oust Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin.
Separately, last month, Mr. Walker testified that President Biden “was never involved in any business activities” that Mr. Walker and Hunter Biden together pursued.
Mr. Walker testified that Joe Biden did appear at an event involving himself, Hunter Biden, and multiple members of the Chinese energy company CEFC, at some point after his time as vice president ended. Mr. Walker said that Joe Biden addressed the meeting attendees to offer pleasantries but did not discuss any business matters.
Mr. Bobulinksi became involved in business dealings involving CEFC, Hunter Biden, and Mr. Walker in early 2017, and testified that he met with Joe Biden multiple times after his time as vice president ended. Mr. Bobulinski expressed his belief that CEFC had sought to influence the Obama-Biden administration as far back as 2015, that continued through the end of that administration, and that then-Vice President Biden should have understood and stopped this effort.
“Joe Biden was aware of the CEFC transaction, enabled it, and had a constitutional responsibility and obligation to the American people to shut it down before it began,” Mr. Bobulinski said.
During his testimony on Wednesday, James Biden insisted his older brother has never been involved in his business dealings over the years.
“I never asked my brother to take any official action on behalf of me, my business associates, or anyone else,” James Biden said in the hearing.
House investigators have identified instances in which James Biden paid his brother $40,000 and $200,000 in what he described as loan repayments. During his Wednesday testimony, the president’s brother reportedly testified that he had no documentation for the loan he was purported to be repaying.
FBI Informant Charged
The recent arrest and indictment of an FBI informant may cast doubt on the ongoing impeachment investigation.
Earlier in the investigation, Republican lawmakers obtained and shared copies of an FBI interview with an informant who alleged Burisma hired Hunter Biden to get his father to help protect the Ukrainian company from a variety of problems and alleged Burisma gave $5 million to each of the Bidens as part of the arrangement. Last week the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to identify that FBI informant as Alexander Smirnov and accused him of making up the claims against President Biden and his son.
While Republican House investigators are continuing to call witnesses to testify about the Biden family business dealings, Democrats have argued the charges against Mr. Smirnov deeply undermine the case for impeachment.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee told The Epoch Times this week that his Republican colleagues should “fold up the tent to this circus show,” adding, “It’s really over at this point.”
President Biden personally called for Republicans to end their impeachment inquiry last week, after news broke of the charges against Mr. Smirnov.
“It should be dropped. And it’s just been an outrageous effort from the beginning,” the president told reporters on Feb. 16.
Republicans have insisted their case for investigating the Biden family remains strong despite the charges against Mr. Smirnov. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) insisted “fundamental facts” still indicate that Burisma wanted Hunter Biden to get help from “D.C.” in dealing with a Ukrainian prosecutor, that Hunter Biden “called D.C.” about this issue in December of 2015, and that days later then-Vice President Biden communicated a request to the Ukrainian government to have Mr. Shokin removed from office.
In addition to the deposition they’ve scheduled with Hunter Biden, a House Oversight Committee staff member confirmed to NTD News that Republican House investigators are seeking to interview Amos Hochstein, a U.S. State Department official who previously advised then-Vice President Biden on Ukraine-related matters around the time Hunter Biden was involved with Burisma.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have previously alleged Mr. Hochstein was involved in discussions in November and December of 2015 with then-Vice President that entailed Burisma, Hunter Biden, and avoiding conflicts of interests.