Critics lambasted Hunter Biden Wednesday after he claimed during his opening statement before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees that he “did not involve” his father, President Biden, in his business dealings.
Hunter appeared on Capitol Hill for a closed-door deposition as part of the committees’ ongoing impeachment inquiry into his father, where he accused Republicans of having no evidence to justify their investigation.
“The goal posts are moving,” Republican strategist Steve Guest wrote in a post on X. “Joe Biden used to say he [had] never spoken with Hunter about his business dealings. Hunter Biden is now playing cute linguistic games.”
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“REMINDER: E-mails, texts, photos, voicemails, visitor logs, and witness testimony have shown that Joe Biden was INVOLVED in his son Hunter’s foreign business deals,” Guest later wrote in another post.
Federalist co-founder Sean Davis wrote that Hunter had “no problem perjuring himself” with the claims because he “knows Daddy’s DOJ will never charge him for it,” while Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross wrote that there was “plenty of evidence Hunter did involve Joe in his business.”
“Joe attended meetings w/ Hunter and CEFC, and with Tony Bobulinski to discuss China business. These were strictly business meetings,” he added.
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“Well if we can’t trust a crackhead, who can we trust?” another critic wrote, while Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., accused Hunter of “falsely” making the claim, and posted an image of what he described as a text message from Hunter “using his father’s name to shake down a Chinese businessman for millions of dollars.”
“Hunter Biden clearly used his dad’s brand to conduct corrupt business overseas. Even Hunter’s closest business partners have testified that Joe Biden was THE BRAND and the BIDEN LIFT. How else does the Biden family and their associates get $24 million in 5 years?” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., added.
Despite Hunter’s claims he “did not involve” his father in any of his business dealings, one of his ex-business associates testified earlier this month that in 2017 Biden met with the chairman of a Chinese energy firm that Hunter sought to create a joint business venture with.
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“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,” Rob Walker told the committees, according to a transcript of his interview reviewed by Fox News Digital. He mentioned how there were several CEFC executives at the meeting also.
Additionally, records show some of Hunter’s business associates visited the White House more than 90 times while Biden was serving as vice president. Those visits included former associates connected with Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners.
The House Oversight Committee previously told Fox News Digital that it can “now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son, including Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenes Rakishev, Burisma’s corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky, Jonathan Li of BHR, and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.”
Devon Archer, another former business partner of Hunter Biden, told House Oversight investigators last summer that Hunter used his dad as “defensive leverage” to send “the right signals” to his foreign business partners, while selling him as “the brand” that offered “capabilities and reach,” as well as a “unique understanding of D.C.”
Archer also described how the elder Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand” and that he was put on speakerphone at least 20 times by Hunter during meetings, contradicting multiple claims by the elder Biden on the campaign trail and during his presidency about talking to his son about his business dealings.
During his opening statement, Hunter said his claim he “did not involve” his father in his business dealings was an “uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry.”
The first son said House Republicans “have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies told by” past witnesses, and blasted his ex-business associates Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, who also testified as part of the impeachment inquiry, as well as the since-indicted former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov.
He went on to address the “mistakes” he made in his life, including his battle with addiction, and claimed Republicans had taken the records of his various communications with individuals over the years “out of context.”
He said he hoped his testimony would “put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and representatives of Hunter Biden for comment.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Jessica Chasmar and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.