Ever since the GOP took control of the House, various committees have been looking at Hunter and James Biden's business deals and how they may have been intertwined with Joe Biden.
Yet another former Biden family associate, Jason Galanis, has come forward to confirm that Biden was involved in these activities.
Talking Points…
- Selling Joe Biden
- Jason Galanis testifies
- Analysis
If we look at the body of evidence the GOP has collected during its investigation, it is hard to make the argument that Hunter and James Biden, at the very least, were not selling the appearance of access to Joe Biden, if not the access itself. All it would take to lock that in is a timely party introduction, a convenient call, or a quick "hello" when the right people were in the room.
At this point, the only people denying Biden's involvement are Biden family members. The other witnesses have all discussed Joe Biden being physically in a room or on the phone at some point during Hunter and James Biden's business dealings.
Galanis is currently serving 14 years after having pleaded guilty to securities fraud while working with Hunter Biden and Devon Archer during the attempted acquisition of Burnham & Co, a division of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Galanis said he, Archer, and Hunter Biden "owned and acquired with total audited assets of over $17 billion." He added:
"The entire value-add of Hunter Biden to our business was his family name and access to his father, Vice President Joe Biden.
"Because of this access, I agreed to contribute equity ownership to them – Hunter and Devon – for no out-of-pocket cost from them in exchange for their' relationship capital.'"
Galanis made it clear that Hunter was on the phone with his father many times during business deals, which were usually introductory calls that appeared to have been for the purpose of making the point that Joe Biden was involved in these activities. For instance, Galanis explained:
"Hunter called his father, said hello and 'hold on, Pops,' then put the call on speakerphone and said, 'I am here with our friends I told you were coming to town, and we wanted to say hello.' The vice president said hello and some pleasantries of 'Hope you had safe travels,' and then seemed like he wanted to bring the call to an end by saying, 'OK then, you be good to my boy.'
"The vice president said something about 'being helpful,' and Hunter ended the call by saying that he was going to call his father later. I recall being stunned by this call — to actually hear the vice president of the United States speaking on the phone."
Galanis also testified that Biden was put on speakerphone with Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina and her husband, the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov. According to Galanis, that call took place on May 4, 2014, which would mean that the call took place when Joe Biden was still the sitting vice president.
This was clearly influence peddling, at least in my opinion, but this is also something that happens every day on both sides of the aisle. This gets elevated to a whole new level, possibly criminal when you start having direct interaction with the person of interest and business acquaintances.
If Joe Biden was using his office to garner favor and push through legislation to help Hunter's business, he would have some significant legal problems. If Joe Biden gave White House access to business associates, it would also lead to substantial legal problems.
There remains one question that remains up for debate, however. That is if Joe Biden can be impeached as president for acts that took place while he was vice president. The majority of opinions I have read believe that is not the case, which is why I have always stated that the GOP would have been better off running this as a criminal or ethics investigation rather than an impeachment trial. Not to mention the fact that Democrats control the Senate, so any impeachment hearing may never see the floor once it comes out of the House.
