Jason Galanis, a former business associate of Hunter Biden's, testified from federal prison in Alabama Friday that in 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden allegedly told Yuri Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow, and his Russian billionaire wife, Yelena Baturina, to "be good to my boy" during a conversation on speaker phone.
Galanis, who was sentenced to just under 16 years in prison in 2020 after pleading guilty to a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud an American Indian tribe, testified to the House impeachment inquiry that he was present on May 4, 2014, when the sitting vice president called in to speak with his son during a party in southern Brooklyn, reports the New York Post.
"I was present when Hunter Biden called his father on a cell phone and put the call on speaker," Galanis said. "Present for the call were Yelena Baturina, an investor in Rosemont projects; her husband, Yuri Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow; and Devon Archer," Galanis told congressional staff in his testimony, which was obtained by the Post.
He added that the group was told to go to an area of the restaurant because Hunter Biden was going to call his father.
Galanis said once Hunter Biden had his father on the line, he put the call on speaker phone and said that he was "here with 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,'" Galanis said.
"Hunter responded by saying, 'Everything is good, and we are moving ahead.' The vice president said something about 'being helpful,' and Hunter ended the call by saying that he was going to call his father later," he added.
The White House has not commented about Galanis' interview, during which he also made claims about the president's alleged involvement in business relationships with China and Ukraine.
Hunter Biden's laptop backed up Galanis' story in part, with an email indicating he was to attend a birthday party at the Romanoff Restaurant at 4 p.m. on May 4, 2014.
The party was for the daughter of Alex Kotlarsky, who is thought to be the person who recruited Archer and Hunter Biden for the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.
However, the Post noted it could not confirm Galanis' quotes or confirm that Biden called.
Archer testified in July that Baturina allegedly attended two dinners with then-Vice President Biden and other parties at the Cafe Milano restaurant in Washington, D.C.: one in 2014 and another in 2015. Baturina also transferred $3.5 million to a firm controlled by Hunter Biden and Archer in February 2014.
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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