Biden Met Chinese Energy Bosses That Did Business With Hunter: Ex-Associate

A former business associate of Hunter Biden claimed that his father, President Joe Biden, was present at a meeting with the chairman of a Chinese energy firm Hunter Biden did business with.

Rob Walker testified during a closed-door hearing at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this month as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Newsweek reached out to a representative for President Biden via email for comment.

On December 13, the House of Representatives voted to launch an impeachment inquiry into the president by 221 votes to 212. Republicans allege that while serving as vice president between 2009 and 2017, Joe Biden used his influence to improperly support the business activities of his son, from which they suggest he gained financially.

The president has said he had no involvement with Hunter Biden's business dealings and the White House has described the GOP's impeachment effort as "sad, pathetic, and a waste of everyone's time."

Since then, investigators have interviewed a number of key witnesses including Walker. While he did not confirm the date, Walker said, according to a transcript of the interview, that Joe Biden met CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming, along with his son Hunter and his other business partners, at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C., around 2017 when the elder Biden was vice president.

"I don't remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, D.C., and the former vice president stopped by. We were having lunch," Walker testified.

"The former vice president was not there the entire time. He was there maybe 10 minutes," Walker said. "He spoke nice, you know, normal pleasantries. I think he probably did most of the talking and then left."

He said the meeting took place before his company, Robinson Walker, received $3 million from State Energy HK Limited—a CEFC-linked entity. While he said Joe Biden was not involved in the deal, he said that the company used Hunter Biden's status as the son of the vice president to influence business deals, including by drafting letters using the younger Biden's letterhead.

The day after Walker received the payment, he said he wired $1,065,000 to James Gilliar, a Biden family associate. Over the course of several months, he wired incremental payments to the Bidens totaling around $1,065,000.

Last month, Republican Representative James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Representative Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Panel, announced that Hunter Biden's deposition will take place on February 28 following testimony offered by several Biden family members and associates.

Meanwhile, Republicans have also attempted to impeach a number of other Democrats in the last few months.

Update, 2/13/24, 11:45 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with more information and background.