[Fox News] Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker says Joe Biden was ‘never involved’ in business dealings
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Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker told congressional investigators on Friday that President Biden was “never involved in any of” his son’s business activities.
Walker testified for hours before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees after being subpoenaed to do so last year.
Walker arrived at 10 a.m. ET. When he left just before 6 p.m., he told reporters: “I answered questions to the best of my ability.”
Fox News Digital obtained a copy of Walker’s opening statement, in which he testified under oath that the allegations against the president and the first son are “unfounded,” but welcomed the opportunity to “provide context to some of the events that are frequently the public focus of the members of these committees.”
Walker said he and Hunter “became friends” during the Clinton administration in 1999 and began working together around 2008 by “developing business with, and consulting for, various individuals, businesses, and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).”
Walker said Hunter “is an intelligent, caring, and generous person, and his demeanor and strong interpersonal skills made him a valued and effective business partner.”
He also said Hunter “lost his way” when his brother, Beau Biden, “became seriously ill” and later passed away.
“I’m glad he’s recovering and hope he and his family are doing well,” Walker said.
He went on to detail his business with Hunter, saying the opportunities they pursued together were “varied, varied, well-founded, and well within the bounds of legitimate business activities.”
“To be clear, President Biden — while in office or as a private citizen — was never involved in any of the business activities we pursued. Any statement to the contrary is simply false,” Walker testified. “Hunter made sure there was always a clear boundary between any business and his father. Always.”
He added: “And as his partner, I always understood and respected that boundary.”
Walker said that he is “very concerned” that his testimony “may be taken out of context to further a political objective, rather than to discover the truth.”
6 ADDITIONAL BIDEN FAMILY MEMBERS ‘MAY HAVE BENEFITED’ FROM HUNTER BUSINESS DEALINGS
“I therefore respectfully ask that any public statements about this interview be accompanied by the release of the entire transcript of what I say here today, so that members of the public can form their own conclusions about what did and did not happen during my business relationship with Hunter,” he said.
Walker’s testimony came as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
Hours into his transcribed interview, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters that Walker testified that “a couple of weeks after Joe Biden leaves the vice presidency, Hunter Biden and his team, these guys, do business with, enter a contract with, this affiliate of CEFC, the Chinese energy company.”
Jordan said “a few days later there’s a lunch at the Four Seasons” that CEFC executives, Hunter, James Gilliar and Walker attended. Jordan said, “Joe Biden stops and gives a presentation.” Jordan said days later, $3 million was sent to Walker from the Chinese company.
“I think that’s just the timing, just a sequence,” Jordan said.
In notifying his attorney of his subpoena in November, Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., explained that Walker set up his limited liability company, Robinson Walker LLC. The chairmen said it was “used as a vehicle to receive foreign funds and send a percentage of the money to Biden family members.”
One example Comer and Jordan provided is when Joe Biden served as vice president, Robinson Walker LLC received millions of dollars from a company owned by Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian who was then the subject of a high-profile corruption prosecution in his home country.
BIDEN FAMILY RECEIVED MORE THAN $1M FROM HUNTER ASSOCIATE AFTER 2017 CHINA WIRE: HOUSE OVERSIGHT
“Following the receipt of this money, Robinson Walker sent over one million dollars to Biden family accounts, including those of Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden,” Comer and Jordan wrote.
But Comer and Jordan flagged that those payments from Romania to Robinson Walker LLC started “within approximately five weeks of then-Vice President Biden meeting with the President of Romania, where, according to the official readout, the issue of corruption was discussed.”
When asked what Hunter did for Popoviciu, Walker told the committee that Hunter flew to Romania to meet with U.S. Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, who had just been confirmed.
Comer and Jordan also note that Robinson Walker LLC received the payment of $3 million from State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese company, in February 2017, 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 one million dollars to Biden family members and their companies, including Hallie Biden and entities associated with Hunter Biden and James Biden.”
According to an FBI FD-302 form detailing Walker’s 2021 interview with Special Counsel David Weiss’ team and obtained by the House Ways and Means Committee, Walker said the “$3 million amount was more of a ‘thank you’ from CEFC.”
Comer and Jordan, in subpoenaing Walker, said he may be able to provide evidence relevant to the impeachment inquiry, saying that Walker “played a key role in the Biden family’s business dealings and the chain of complex financial transactions that was used to hide the foreign sources of the funds received by the Biden family.”
After receiving money from the CEFC entity in March 2017, Walker testified Hunter told him to send payments to his uncle, James Biden, and sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, even though they did not do work for the CEFC entity. Further, James Biden wanted a piece of the CEFC entity money despite not being involved in the deal. Walker called Hunter to approve the money transfer to James Biden.
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