James Biden, the president’s younger brother, laughed off a suggestion that the family’s Chinese business dealings could be reputationally damaging, citing “plausible deniability,” according to the transcript of a closed-door testimony released Friday.
Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that James Biden had dismissed the potential political fallout that could result from the family dealing with Chinese businessmen. James Biden is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 21, with members of Congress set to question him in an alleged influence-peddling scheme tied to the president.
Bobulinski’s account of his conversation with James Biden was part of a broader section of his testimony where he recounted a meeting with Joe, James and Hunter Biden at the spring 2017 Milken Institute conference in California.
The Milken Institute conference brings “thought and industry leaders from across the spectrum” to discuss contemporary issues, according to its website. Bobulinski described it as “probably the largest, you know, private conference of billionaires and successful people” next to Davos.
Bobulinski recalled sitting with James and Hunter Biden at an empty bar in the Beverly Hilton, where the conference was being held, waiting for Joe Biden to arrive so they could discuss a business deal related to CEFC China Energy, a Chinese Communist Party-linked firm, the transcript shows.
CEFC China Energy paid Hudson West III, a Delaware-registered corporation, $5 million between August 2017 and August 2018. The corporation wired Hunter Biden’s law firm nearly $4.8 million through September 2018.
Joe Biden in August 2023 claimed that he had never “talked business” with Hunter’s business associates.
Bobulinski testified that “the only reason I was there” was to discuss his and Hunter’s business dealings with Joe Biden, according to the transcript. The meeting lasted between 45 minutes and an hour, according to Bobulinski.
The morning after the meeting, Bobulinksi asked James Biden why he would “take this risk to yourself, to your family’s brand” by entering into a business deal with a Chinese company, the transcript shows.
“And he looks at me and sort of chuckles and says, ‘Plausible deniability,’” Bobulinski recalled, according to the transcript.
Bobulinski encouraged the House Oversight Committee to ask James Biden what he meant by that.
The White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Robert Schmad on February 16, 2024
