Democrats blast impeachment inquiry after GOP witness says he was 'unaware' of Joe Biden's role in family biz
House Democrats blasted the impeachment inquiry on Thursday after a witness testified he was "unaware" of any involvement President Biden may have had in his son’s business dealings.
Hunter Biden’s business associate, Mervyn Yan, testified behind closed-doors before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees Thursday after receiving a subpoena.
House Republicans, on the other hand, said Yan's testimony raised many questions about the nature of the Biden family's business dealings in China.
A source with direct knowledge of Yan’s testimony told Fox News Digital Yan told congressional investigators he is "unaware of any involvement President Biden may have had with his son’s business pursuits."
Yan, despite interacting with Hunter Biden and James Biden, "never met, spoke to, did business with or had any personal or professional communication with President Biden," the source said.
The source also said Yan testified he "does not possess any materials or information bearing on President Biden’s alleged involvement in his family’s business dealings."
"Just like every other witness in Chairman Comer’s ‘clueless investigation’ — that even House Republicans are calling a ‘parade of embarrassments’ and ‘a disaster’— Mervyn Yan testified to the committee today that he has no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden and that, to his knowledge, President Biden was not involved in, did not profit from and took no official actions in relation to his family’s business dealings," the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Thursday.
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"Further undercutting Republicans’ lies about President Biden, Mr. Yan testified that he never once did business with or had any personal or professional communication with President Biden."
But House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Thursday he plans to release the transcript of Yan’s interview. Comer said Yan’s testimony raised more questions for the committee’s investigation regarding the Biden family’s interactions with China.
"Mervyn Yan admitted on the record the Bidens had no experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors and was not sure what they brought to the table," Comer said Thursday. "His testimony raises many questions about the Bidens’ dealings with the Chinese government-linked energy firm, and we hope to learn more tomorrow from Rob Walker, another Biden family associate."
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The committee is expected to hear testimony from Rob Walker Friday.
Walker is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Friday on Capitol Hill after being subpoenaed by both House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan in November.
In notifying Walker of the subpoena, Comer and Jordan note that his Robinson Walker, LLC received a payment of $3 million from State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese company, less than two months after Biden left the Obama administration. Comer and Jordan said that in the three months following that payment, Robinson Walker, LLC made "incremental payments totaling over $1 million to Biden family members and their companies, including Hallie Biden and entities associated with Hunter Biden and James Biden."
Comer and Jordan have stressed that evidence collected by congressional investigators reveals that President Biden "was at least aware of some of his family’s business ventures and sought to influence potential business deals that financially benefited his family."
Comer and Jordan believe Walker can provide information related to whether Joe Biden, as vice president and/or president "took any official action or effected any change in government policy because of money or other things of value provided to himself or his family, including whether concerns that Chinese sources may release additional evidence about their business relationships with the Biden family have had any impact on official acts performed by President Biden or U.S. foreign policy; abused his office of public trust by providing foreign interests with access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him; or abused his office of public trust by knowingly participating in a scheme to enrich himself or his family by giving foreign interests the impression that they would receive access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him."
Yan's testimony and Walker's expected testimony come before Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear for a deposition as part of the impeachment inquiry against his father.
Hunter Biden defied his subpoena to appear for a deposition Dec. 13 and was at risk of being held in contempt of Congress.
His attorneys and the committees came to an agreement last week that the first son will appear for a closed-door deposition Feb. 28.
source https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-blast-impeachment-inquiry-gop-witness-unaware-joe-biden-role-family-biz
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