In an unusual setup, Jason Galanis, a former associate of Hunter Biden, will testify remotely from prison during a congressional hearing in Biden’s impeachment inquiry.
Oversight Chairman James Comer wrote Majority Leader Steve Scalise asking for permission to have Galanis testify virtually and Scalise’s office told DailyMail.com it would approve the request.
The Bureau of Prisons has already agreed to allow Galanis to testify via video camera in a hearing titled “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuses of Public Office.”
Galanis will testify alongside Hunter’s former business partner, Tony Bobulinski, at a hearing to which Hunter himself was invited but declined to attend. Devon Archer has also been invited to testify publicly but has not yet confirmed his presence.
Jason Galanis to testify at hearing Wednesday via video while incarcerated in Alabama
Galanis is currently serving time in an Alabama prison for defrauding a Native American tribe.
He told Republican impeachment investigators that the “Biden elevator” was the reason he did business with the first son, saying it helped him make deals that they say would bring in billions.
The “Biden elevator” we talked about was access. Access meant for us at the time, being in the process of acquiring other companies, persuading third parties to do business with us,” Galanis explained in recently made public transcripts.
Galanis alleged that he was targeted by the justice system and refused to stay at home, which “would have allowed full and unfettered access to congressional investigators.”
It was unlikely that Hunter Biden would ever appear alongside his former associates who have since turned against him.
Father Lowell, Hunter’s lawyer, wrote to President James Comer on Wednesday, saying the invitation was “not a serious surveillance proceeding.”
“This is your attempt to resurrect your Conference’s moribund investigation with a circus act designed for the right-wing media,” he added.
Hunter is also scheduled to appear in court in California the next day, but the scheduling conflict is the “least of the problems,” Lowell says.
“Your egregious planned media event is not proper procedure but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game is over,” Lowell continued.
All four men have previously given transcribed interviews to Congress where members questioned them about Hunter and Joe’s alleged influence peddling.
Meanwhile, Comer claims his committee “called Hunter Biden’s bluff” and the hearing is proceeding as scheduled next week.
During Hunter’s private deposition, he insisted that his father made no profit from his business dealings and that they were all earned through his own merit – not his family name.
Tony Bobulinski was in business with Hunter Biden and claimed Joe Biden was also involved in a May 2017 deal with China.
“Hunter Biden has said for months that he wants a public hearing, but now that it is being offered to him alongside his associates he has worked with for years, he is refusing to come,” Comer told DailyMail. com.
He said the hearing is key to understanding why parts of Hunter’s testimony “contradict” those of Archer, Galanis and Bobulinski.
Hunter initially insisted he would only testify publicly before Congress for fear that Republicans would misrepresent his remarks behind closed doors. But after being threatened with criminal contempt charges, he agreed to come and give a transcribed interview last month that lasted six hours.
Hunter and Bobulinski have beef after his ex-partner came forward with allegations that Joe was involved in their deal with Chinese company CEFC in 2017.
He also admitted to putting his father Joe on speakerphone and inviting him to several lunches over the years with associates and “friends”, but insisted he was not involved in his shady dealings with the Chinese, Ukrainians and others.
Republican James Comer said the hearing will “examine inconsistencies” between the testimony of the four witnesses behind closed doors to “discover the truth.” Devon Archer (far left) plays golf in the Hamptons with Hunter (far right) and Joe (next to Hunter)
“I’m surprised my dad hasn’t called me yet, and if he did, I’d put him on speaker to say hello to you, Congressman Raskin, and everyone else present in the room. There’s literally nothing nefarious about it,” Hunter said.
Meanwhile, Bobulinski unequivocally claimed that Hunter took advantage of his last name and that Joe was involved.
In 2020, Bobulinski released a May 2017 email detailing an equity sharing proposal for a Chinese investment – the 10% for the “big guy” ticket – and initially claimed that the “big guy” was Joe.
He also told impeachment investigators that “it’s also no coincidence” that CEFC used the “weakest link” in the Biden family, Hunter, to funnel tens of millions of dollars.
But Hunter last week disputed that his father was the “big guy” mentioned and criticized Bobulinski for lying about his family.
“It didn’t involve my father,” he said.
“I think it was pie in the sky. Like “Joe Biden is out of office.” Maybe we can get him involved,” Hunter testified.
“I want to be very clear: Based on my direct personal experience and what I subsequently learned, it is clear to me that Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ being sold by the Biden family,” Bobulinski said in his opening speech.
He went on to say that Joe was “more than a participant” in his family’s affairs, but rather “an enabler, albeit protected by an elaborate plan to maintain plausible deniability.”
“The Biden family business was Joe Biden, period,” he said. Additionally, he detailed how Chinese energy company CEFC “successfully sought to infiltrate and compromise” the Obama-Biden White House.
Bobulinski also previously suggested that he testify publicly before Congress alongside Hunter, Jim Biden and Joe Biden.
Archer testified about Hunter’s role on the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, for which he was paid more than $80,000 a month.
Archer testified last summer that Burisma CFO Vadim Pozharskyi and CEO Nikola Zlochevsky put “constant pressure” on Hunter in 2015 to get his father to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma.
Hunter Biden, along with Zlochevsky and Pozharski, reportedly “called DC” to discuss Shokin.
In March 2016, Joe Biden reportedly threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine if Shokin was not fired for corruption.
Galanis and Devon Archer, a former Hunter associate, were both convicted of fraud for convincing a Native American tribe to issue economic development bonds and then diverting the funds for personal use. Hunter Biden was never charged in connection with this scheme.
Galanis is part of a notorious crime family in New York. His father, John Galanis, was the target of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani during his fight against crime in the 1980s. At 76, the elder Galanis is also currently incarcerated for his involvement in the his son’s ploy.
Galanis is currently pushing for home confinement, claiming he was sexually assaulted in prison.
“I pleaded guilty. I spent eight years in federal custody reflecting on my actions and I am deeply sorry for my role,” he said.
Galanis was previously denied home confinement once, claiming he was assaulted by a prison staff member.
Galanis told investigators that in February 2023, he was approved for home confinement under the Covid-era CARES Act by the Pensacola superintendent, and that on June 9, 2023, “Bureau of Prisons California confirmed its approval of my home confinement in an email to FPC Pensacola staff.
A few days later, on June 12, the Oversight Committee announced that it would subpoena Galanis associate Devon Archer, “which, without a doubt, in my mind, would expose the actions of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer and myself.”
A day later, he claims that his authorization for home confinement has been canceled.
Galanis said: “I have formally appealed this annulment. At each appeal stage, the BOP reason for my denial changed. For example, firstly, it was that I had too much time left to serve my sentence. This is not a valid reason for refusal.
Then, the CARES Act expired on May 10, 2023. This reasoning is artificial and is contradicted by the June 9 approval, a date after the purported May 10 expiration. Additionally, it is BOP policy that all CARES Act requests submitted before May 10 must be processed, which I witnessed firsthand with the release of my fellow inmates through the end of summer . I was treated differently.
On March 19, Oversight Chairman James Comer, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of both committees, asked BoP Director Collette Peters and Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei to hand over all documents related to Galanis. ‘ request for home confinement and its subsequent approval and cancellation, as well as all documents and communications related to his allegations of sexual abuse.