House Republicans have brought in several witnesses in their impeachment inquiry on President Joe Biden, but the Chinese business partners behind some of his family members' key overseas deals have not been included on their witness list, nor have witnesses from Ukraine or Romania.
The absence of such business partners means lawmakers on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees have not gotten more information about why the foreign tycoons drew close to members of the Biden family, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The president's son Hunter Biden is scheduled to be questioned Wednesday in a closed-door session, and the committee has already heard from several of his past business associates about relationships with foreign countries, including his uncle James Biden.
But as congressional subpoena power does not reach overseas, that has limited insight into the motivation behind an oil company and a private-equity firm in China to do business with Hunter Biden, as well as companies in Ukraine and Romania.
A spokeswoman for the Oversight Committee admitted its subpoena powers are limited, telling The Wall Street Journal that the focus has been instead on sources within the United States.
She also said that many of the Bidens' foreign associates, including those tied with the Chinese Communist Party-linked businesses said to have met with Joe Biden, are either missing, have been arrested, or remain in China.
The inquiry was also hindered earlier this month with the arrest of former FBI confidential informant Alexander Smirnov. He is accused of lying to his FBI handler with claims that he heard from executives from the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma that the company paid $5 million each to Hunter Biden and his father when he was still vice president.
The Bidens and the White House have denied any wrongdoing.
"It seems like the only thing House Republicans are capable of uncovering is more and more evidence that clears President Biden of the false allegations they have been promoting for years," White House spokesman Ian Sams commented.
Hunter Biden and James Biden meanwhile, have denied that the president was involved in any of their business ventures.
But Hunter Biden's associates have testified that he did business with the Chinese private-equity firm Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management and oil company CEFC China Energy, and more than one person said that he was making money selling the Biden "brand."
Witnesses also have testified to instances where the now-president, while he was vice president and a private citizen, had exchanged pleasantries with his son's business partners.
Rob Walker, one former partner, testified that when Joe Biden was not in office, he stopped by at a lunch attended by CEFC Chair Ye Jianming, but insisted that "Hunter made sure there was always a clear boundary between any business and his father."
Devon Archer, another former business partner of Hunter Biden's, testified that he had put his father on speakerphone often when meeting with associates, including once when Jonathan Li, the chief executive of the Chinese private-equity firm was there, but said the elder Biden exchanged pleasantries.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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