Impeachment probe pivots to public testimony from ex-partners, alleged effort to 'sell Joe Biden'

House Republicans pivot their high-stakes impeachment inquiry Wednesday to public testimony, hoping that first-hand accounts from Hunter Biden's former business partners can convince Americans that the first family made millions in a scheme to "sell Joe Biden" to foreign clients.

The House Oversight Committee prepared to solicit public testimony from at least two of Hunter Biden's former associates after months of gathering documents and information in closed-door interviews. Hunter Biden was invited to attend Wednesday's session but his lawyers signaled he was unlikely to show up.

Some members of the committee, including Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told Just the News they will press for a subpoena to compel Hunter Biden to appear in public forum in the future. 

Committee Chairman James Comer made clear in prepared opening remarks reviewed by Just the News that the next phase of the inquiry will lay out evidence that he believes show the Bidens’ business model was to sell the influence of their most famous namesake rather than deliver tangible work products.

“The Oversight Committee has found no credible evidence of the Bidens providing any work product," Comer's statement alleges. "The Committee has identified no legitimate value or document or even one single hour of work that the Bidens have provided their business partners.

“What is apparent, after over a year of investigation, is that the Bidens do not work in any traditional sense of the word. They do not work as consultants. Or lawyers. Or advisors. The Bidens don’t sell a product or a service or a set of skills,” he added. "The Bidens sell Joe Biden."

Earlier this month, Comer invited Hunter Biden and three of his former key business partners to testify in a public hearing before his Oversight panel as its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden reaches a new and more public phase.

“Evidence obtained in the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry reveals Joe Biden knew about, participated in, and benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden name. Multiple witnesses have testified Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family,” Comer said in a statement, laying out the purpose of the hearing.

“Joe Biden met with nearly all of his son’s foreign business associates; attended dinners with foreign oligarchs who collectively funneled his son millions of dollars; spoke on speakerphone with his son’s foreign associates, telling those who did business with his son to be ‘good to my boy;’ and had coffee with his son’s Chinese business associate. The Bidens’ pay-to-play scheme is corrupt and Americans demand accountability,” he added.

The business associates invited to testify along with the first son include Devon Archer, Tony Bobulinski, and Jason Galanis. In addition to Biden, each of these former partners have previously testified behind closed doors.

Only Galanis and Bobulinksi are confirmed to appear before the committee Wednesday, a source familiar with the hearing told Just the News. After adamantly calling for a public hearing, Hunter Biden has reversed course, notifying impeachment investigators through his lawyer that he would not appear.

Hunter Biden and his lawyer have argued Comer’s impeachment inquiry has turned up no evidence of its central claim.

“After that six-plus hour deposition on February 28, 2024, along with the realization that your inquiry was based on a patchwork of conspiracies spun by convicted liars and a charged Russian spy, I though even you would recognize your baseless impeachment proceeding was dead,” Abbe Lowell, the first son’s lawyer, wrote in a letter to Comer.

President Joe Biden's spokesperson has echoed these sentiments. 

“It is clear the House Republican impeachment is over. It is obviously time to move on," White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Ian Sams posted to X. “There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade."