A former business associate of Hunter Biden, a key figure in business dealings with China, is scheduled to testify before Congress about his role in Biden's business ventures.
Rob Walker, a business associate at the center of Hunter Biden's dealings with the Chinese company CEFC, will appear before the House Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee on Friday to advance House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. He is scheduled to testify at the meeting. (Related: Kevin Morris reveals political 'risks' he warned about after he started financially supporting Hunter Biden)
Here are five questions lawmakers should ask Walker about Hunter Biden's CEFC deal and his role in his broader business.
WASHINGTON DC – JANUARY 10: US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden departs a meeting of the House Oversight Committee at the Capitol on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is meeting today to consider charging him with contempt of Congress. (Photo provided by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Did CEFC pay Hunter Biden for his work while Joe Biden was vice president?
Hunter Biden and his business associates first became involved with the CEFC and collected federal taxes in late 2015, when Joe Biden was vice president. indictment It is laid out in California. He met with CEFC officials in December 2015, and he and two business associates continued to hold talks with CEFC, including a meeting with CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming in February 2017. (Related article: Hunter Biden's drug addiction defense shattered in new California indictment)
In March 2017, Walker received approximately $3 million from State Energy HK, a CEFC-related account, placed approximately $1 million into an account associated with the Biden family, and $1 million at a company connected to his business associate James. It was distributed to a European Energy Infrastructure Group (EEIG). According to Gilliam, bank records The House Oversight Committee made the announcement in March.
The California indictment confirms State Energy HK's payments and describes ongoing negotiations with a CEFC affiliate over a proposed joint venture known as “Sinohawk.”
Tony Bobulinski, a business associate involved in the Sinohawk negotiations, told the FBI that the relationship between the Biden family and CEFC began during Joe Biden's vice presidency, but payments did not begin until after Biden left office. It was reported that he said. FBI memo.
Why did Hunter Biden invite Joe Biden to meet with CEFC?
Walker told the FBI in December 2020 that Joe Biden met with CEFC after his term as vice president ended because Hunter Biden was trying to finalize a deal with CEFC. It is said that he did. interview record. Walker also recalled that Hunter Biden had planned a meeting with his father and the CEFC when Joe Biden was Vice President.
Bobulinski told the FBI that he met with Joe Biden in May 2017 at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, to talk about work. Bobulinski said the “Sinohawk” proposal was the subject of the conversation, according to the FBI memo.
Hunter Biden first made his disclosure in July 2017, citing his father in a threatening letter he sent to a business associate in China. Images from the archives of his discarded laptop show him and Joe Biden together on the day he sent the text, the newspaper said. washington free beacon.
Another former business associate, Devon Archer, said: testified Appearing before the House Oversight Committee in July, Joe Biden recalled speaking with his son's business associates about 20 times. Archer Biden and Hunter Biden co-founded the investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners. sat on the board Established jointly with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. (Related article: Former Burisma lawyer John Bretta files for retroactive FARA disclosure as Biden impeachment inquiry progresses)
Archer told lawmakers that the Biden family's “brand” shielded Burisma from legal scrutiny when Hunter Biden joined the company's board. Immediately after Joe Biden's vice presidency ended in January 2017, Burisma cut Hunter Biden's annual salary, according to the California indictment. Archer was not involved in Hunter Biden's CEFC transaction.

WASHINGTON DC – JANUARY 10: US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and Kevin Morris (left) attend a House Oversight Committee meeting on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. and Abby Rowell (right). The committee is meeting today to consider charging him with contempt of Congress. (Photo provided by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Has 10% ever been considered for “great people”?
In May 2017, Mr. Gillier appears to have proposed to Mr. Hunter Biden, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Bobulinski that they give Joe Biden a 10% ownership stake in the joint venture with CEFC. e-mail Implications from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop.First, the New York Post report About emails before the 2020 presidential election.
“Did H have 10 for the big guy?” Mr. Gillier asked his business associate. Bobulinski told the FBI that the 10% ownership offered to Joe Biden appears to be part of the “Sinohawk” negotiations.
IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on December 5th, announcing the “10 H's Held for Bigwigs'' during the Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes. He argued that investigators were not allowed to pursue what that meant. .
First of all, Shapley testified Leslie Wolf, a former Delaware assistant secretary of state, told the Ways and Means Committee in May that she directed the FBI not to question Walker about Gillier's true intentions. Wolf left the Justice Department after Shapley and Ziegler accused him of protecting Joe and Hunter Biden during the criminal investigation. (Related: Former Justice Department prosecutor accused of shielding Joe and Hunter Biden gets nifty new job)
Still, Walker did not remember the email and had only seen it through media reports, so the FBI appears to have questioned him about it without going into details.
“It was an email. I think it was James. [Gilliar] I was making wishful thinking like, oh… oh… Or maybe he was projecting, oh, oh, if this was a good relationship and what was going to happen. “The vice president would never have fled if…” Walker told the FBI.
What services did Hunter Biden provide to CEFC?
“Sinohawk” negotiations broke down, and Hunter Biden and CEFC officials instead formed an entity called Hudson West III, which was launched in 2017 and 2018, according to bank records, California indictments, and Hunter's failures. It became a corporate entity that raised millions of dollars for Hunter. guilty plea With federal prosecutors in Delaware.
Hudson West III began in August 2017, with funds from the business flowing into Joe Biden's bank account through Hunter Biden's business account and the personal and business accounts of James Biden and his wife, Sarah Biden. bank records This was revealed in documents released by the Oversight Committee in November.
In September 2017, Sarah Biden wrote a $40,000 letter. check Funds from Hudson West III go to Joe Biden.The checks are classified as loan repayments, and President Biden Said It was debt repayment. (Related: IRS Whistleblower Can't 'Verify' White House Claims Loan Joe Biden Sent to Family, Testimony Shows)
Around the time of the check, Hunter Biden wrote an email to the property manager classifying him, Joe Biden, and the CEFC employees as “officemates.” Bank investigators then flagged an initial $5 million transfer from a Chinese company to Hudson West in August 2017.
James Biden was involved with Hudson West III along with Hunter, and the two appear to have worked with CEFC officials to secure the U.S.-based energy project, which ultimately failed.
CEFC associate Patrick Ho paid Hunter Biden $1 million in March 2018 for legal services Biden apparently never performed after Ho was arrested on bribery charges. The payment was made, House of Commons revenue documents show. show.Ho was later declared In March 2019, he was sentenced to three years in prison for participating in an international bribery scheme.

WASHINGTON, DC – December 5: Internal Revenue Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley (left) and IRS Criminal Agent Joseph Ziegler (right), who worked on the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, appear before the House Ways and Means Committee in Longworth. I will testify. December 5, 2023 at the House of Representatives Office Building in Washington, DC. The Ways and Means Committee is hearing testimony from Internal Revenue Whistleblower Service Oversight Special Agent Gary Shapley and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, both of whom were involved during the five-year investigation into Hunter Biden. , alleging they were prevented from pursuing leads that would lead to more serious charges. , son of President Joe Biden. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Did Joe Biden know about Hunter Biden's business dealings in Romania?
Walker also participated in Hunter Biden's business dealings with Romanian oligarch Gabriel Popoviciu. bank records show. Records show that from November 2015 to May 2017, Mr. Povisiu sent approximately $3 million worth of money to Mr. Walker, who split the money 50-50 with Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Gillier.
Mr. Popoviciu was facing corruption charges in Romania at the time, and Hunter Biden scheduled at least one meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Romania to make Mr. Popoviciu's case. e-mail From Biden's abandoned laptop archives show. The Romanian oligarch then fled his homeland and took up residence in the UK, where he successfully fought off an extradition request from the Romanian government.
Joe Biden served as vice president on 16 of the 17 payments that Mr. Popoviciu transferred from his Cyprus-based LLC to Walkers LLC. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh, a business associate of Hunter Biden, was brought in to help with Popoviciw's case. Floating Worked with Joe Biden on future issues in the summer of 2016, toward the end of Joe Biden's term as vice president.
Marvin Yang, a former Chinese business associate of Walker Biden and Hunter Biden, scheduled to testify It was held behind closed doors as part of the House Republican impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden's apparent role in his son's overseas dealings. (Related: FBI agents find cocaine in gun pouch used by Hunter Biden, prosecutors say)
House Republicans said in a September memo that the Biden family and their business associates received more than $24 million from foreign sources over a roughly five-year period ending in 2019.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges at his arraignment in Los Angeles on January 11. The tax indictment does not specifically name any of his business associates.
House Republicans and Hunter Biden agreed to remove him from office on February 28th.