Comer Invites Joe Biden to Testify on ‘Yawning Gap’ between Public Denials and Evidence of Influence Peddling

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) is officially inviting President Joe Biden to answer questions about his family’s foreign business dealings.

Comer wrote a letter to President Biden Thursday afternoon asking Biden to testify so he can explain the role he appears to have played in his family’s alleged influence-peddling schemes, the main focus of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into the president.

“The Committee has accounted for over $24 million that has flowed from foreign sources to you, your family, and their business associates. The Committee has identified no legitimate services to merit such lucrative payments,” Comer’s letter begins.

“You have repeatedly denied playing any role in your family’s business activities, but the Committee has amassed evidence—including bank records and witness testimony—that wholly contradicts your position on these matters,” the letter continues.

“In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House’s obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from Members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do so.”

The letter summarizes the impeachment inquiry to date and the findings surrounding the Biden family business dealings based on suspicious activity reports, Biden family bank records, and witness testimony. Joe Biden’s apparent meetings with his son’s Ukrainian, Russian and Chinese business associates are highlighted by Comer’s letter.

Comer asks the president in the letter to answer in writing ten specific questions about his involvement in the family business dealings.

“The public is left with two irreconcilable narratives. The first — asserted by you — is that you did not engage in influence peddling in exchange for payments to your family,” Comer wrote.

“The second — asserted by witnesses and a body of evidence … is that you were indeed involved in these pay-for-influence schemes and that you have been repeatedly untruthful regarding a matter relevant to national security and your own fitness to serve as President of the United States.”

Last week, Comer announced his upcoming request to Biden at a hearing with his son’s former business partners Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis. The ex-business associates recalled Hunter Biden using his father during negotiations with foreign business partners over lucrative deals.

White House spokesman Ian Sams dismissed Comer’s announcement last week for being a “stunt” meant to conclude a “dead impeachment.” Sams shared a meme on X Thursday afternoon mocking the official request.

In particular, Bobulinski recalled meeting Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and brother James to discuss a joint venture proposal with Chinese infrastructure conglomerate CEFC, a deal Hunter and James Biden worked on soon after Joe’s vice presidency concluded. Hunter Biden and former business partner Devon Archer, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry, declined to show up to the hearing.

Archer testified last year and described how the Biden family “brand” helped protect Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings from scrutiny. Importantly, Archer said Joe Biden spoke to his son’s business partners on speakerphone roughly 20 times and met them at two high-end dinners.

Burisma brought Hunter Biden and Archer onto its board in spring 2014 and each made roughly $1 million a year initially, bank records show. Once Joe Biden left office, the firm dramatically reduced Hunter Biden’s salary, the tax indictment against Hunter indicates.

Last month, Hunter Biden testified and corroborated central aspects of Archer and Bobulinski’s stories. Joe Biden met Burisma executive Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev and Chinese business partner Jonathan Li, Hunter confirmed. The younger Biden also confirmed Pozharskyi’s presence at one of the dinners Archer mentioned. An email from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop archive indicates Pozharskyi and Joe Biden met in April 2015, the New York Post first reported ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Comer’s letter focuses on Joe Biden’s role leading the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy as well as his son’s foreign business dealings with Burisma. The specific action Comer highlights is Joe Biden’s pressure on Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin and whether doing so helped Burisma evade legal punishment.

In addition, Hunter Biden said his father met Bobulinski in California when Joe was set to speak at the Milken Institute conference. However, James Biden denied ever shaking hands with Bobulinski, despite being shown exhibits indicating otherwise. The Bidens have disparaged Bobulinski as a disgruntled former business partner who was angry that the CEFC deal fell through.

Instead, Hunter and James created a joint venture with CEFC called Hudson West III to explore U.S. liquid-natural-gas deals. The Bidens hauled in millions from the venture despite failing to secure any deals, according to bank records, witness testimony, and Hunter Biden’s tax indictment. During the negotiations, Hunter Biden sent a Chinese business associate a threatening text in July 2017 invoking his father’s presence, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley first disclosed last year. Hunter Biden said he regretted the text and was so high on drugs he sent it to the wrong Chinese business partner.

Months earlier, in March 2017, CEFC wired $3 million to Hunter Biden’s business partner Rob Walker, shortly after Joe Biden’s vice presidency concluded. Walker sent $1 million of the funds to Hunter Biden and his family members, bank records show. Around the time of the payment, Joe Biden met CEFC officials including chairman Ye Jianming, Walker testified.

At the start of the hearing, Bobulinski accused Hunter and James Biden of lying under oath about the CEFC dealings and noted their contradictory testimony on their relationship with him. Notably, Bobulinski voiced support for impeaching Joe Biden and claimed he committed various crimes through his role in the Biden family business enterprise.

Similarly, Galanis claimed Hunter Biden promised access to Joe Biden, what Galanis called the “Biden lift,” and called up his father to help close potential deals. In one instance, Galanis alleges Hunter Biden called his father and put him on speakerphone to talk to Russian oligarch Elena Baturina to secure an investment for a client. Devon Archer recalled Baturina meeting Joe Biden at a spring 2014 dinner in Washington, D.C., but Hunter could not definitively recall Baturina’s presence at the dinner.

Galanis testified remotely because he is serving a lengthy prison sentence for defrauding a native American tribe by selling fake bonds. Archer awaits a year and a day in prison for participating in the bond scheme.

Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings, despite the evidence indicating otherwise.