Politics

Dem Rep Says There’s A ‘Coherent Business Explanation’ For Hunter Biden’s Dealings With Foreign Oligarchs

Hunter and Ashley Biden, children of President Joe Biden, attend the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman said Wednesday that there is a “coherent business explanation” behind Hunter Biden’s extensive business dealings with foreign interests and oligarchs.

Goldman made the comments during a break in Wednesday’s high-profile interview of the first son conducted by lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and House Judiciary Committee. In his remarks, Goldman contended that there is an explanation for every step of Hunter Biden’s business career that has nothing to do with his father’s status or political influence, in contrast to the allegations made by Republican legislators who have led the investigation into Joe Biden.

“That first hour of this much-anticipated testimony was the nail in the coffin to what is a complete bogus and sham impeachment inquiry. Not only were [Republicans] unable to show any connection between Hunter Biden’s business and President Biden, but Hunter Biden gave very detailed and clear explanations as to what his arms-length business transactions were with private parties in foreign countries who are investors and businesspeople, like many people would have,” Goldman said to assembled cameras while flanked by other Democratic legislators.

“He went through a laundry list of board seats and jobs that he has had over his 30-year career after he left Yale Law School, and he withstood some inappropriate attacks, even in the first hour,” Goldman continued. “So, it is not simply there’s no connection to the president, which we have known all along and which was made clear again, but there is a very understandable, coherent business explanation for every single thing that they asked for.”

Hunter Biden was hired to work for Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas firm, while his father was vice president and in charge of Ukraine policy for the Obama administration. Hunter Biden had never stepped foot in Ukraine, according to a recent indictment against the since-discredited former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, and he had no relevant experience in the natural gas sector.

Hunter Biden and other members of the family also received indirect payments from CEFC China Energy Limited, a Chinese energy conglomerate affiliated with China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and linked to the Chinese Communist Party, according to the testimony of former business associate Rob Walker and financial data obtained by congressional investigators. In July 2017, Hunter Biden purportedly sent a text message to a Chinese associate connected to CEFC insinuating that he and his father were waiting on a call back and threatening to use his father’s political influence to harm the associate if he did not provide what Hunter Biden was expecting.

Hunter Biden and his American business partners also took in millions of dollars from oligarchs based in Russia, Kazakhstan and Romania over the course of the 2010s, according to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. In many cases, the proceeds generated by these business relationships were processed through a complex web of shell companies and wire transfers before reaching their final destinations.

Hunter Biden’s first corporate job after graduating from Yale Law was at MBNA, a major credit card issuer run by executives who strongly supported his father’s political career when Joe Biden was a senator representing Delaware, according to a Politico investigation. Hunter Biden left the company as a senior vice president, and subsequently consulted for the company between 2001 and 2005, during which time his father pushed a major piece of bankruptcy reform legislation that MBNA strongly supported.

Joe Crouse, who was MBNA’s top lobbyist in Washington, D.C., between 1999 and 2005, told Politico that Hunter biden was not involved in MBNA lobbying activity.

Goldman recently suggested that House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley would be colluding with Vladimir Putin if they proceed with the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden in light of Smirnov’s arrest for allegedly lying to the FBI and his ties to individuals affiliated with Russian intelligence. Goldman was a prominent promoter of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.

Representatives for Goldman did not respond immediately to a request for comment.