US President Joe Biden met with the chairman of Chinese energy firm that his son Hunter Biden sought to establish a joint venture with in 2017, Rob Walker, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.

Hunter met with the chairman of the Chinese company at the Four Seasons in Washington DC in 2017, and Biden met with the chair of the same company, Walker said in his testimony that is a part of the House impeachment inquiry against US President Biden.

In a closed door interview, the ex associate told the congressional investigators that the US President Biden attended a meeting where his son Hunter Biden, and other business partners and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming had lunch.

“I don’t remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, DC, and the former vice president stopped by,” the ex associate said. “We were having lunch,” Walker testified, according to a transcript of his interview published by American broadcaster Fox News.

Walker told the congressional investigators that he could not recall the“exact” date when the meeting took place, but added that it was “20-probably-17 at some point.” The ex associate continued, “I can say it was for certain he was out of office,” referring to Biden holding office in the Obama administration when the lunch was scheduled. The lunch “took place“at the Four Seasons in a restaurant in a private room,” the ex associate said. “I’m certain—I’m certain Ye was there,” he added, referring to the chairman of Chinese energy company CEFC and other partners.

Finding ‘ways to work together’

When asked what was the purpose of the meeting, Walker said that President Biden was there at the meeting to make sure that he could find “ways to work together.” The meeting, he said, lasted for an estimated an hour and a half. Biden, he noted, did not stay during the entirety of the meeting. “I don’t think we had structured a deal on how to work together at this point,” he added.

“The former vice president was not there the entire time. He was there maybe 10 minutes,” Walker said in his testimony. “He spoke nice, you know, normal pleasantries. I think he probably did most of the talking and then left,” the latter added. Biden, he maintained, addressed the entire meeting, some 10 CEFC-linked business partners, he continued.

While Walker said that Biden was not directly involved in the business dealings, he added that the early correspondence to CEFC was sent on behalf of the group by Hunter, and he “had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door.” When pressed by the investigators why Hunter chose to send the correspondence and not someone else, Walker responded, “It had just seemed—if a US entity was going to have a foreign national represent them, It would probably make more sense to come from Hunter versus me.”

Because he’s the son of the vice president at the time, correct? Walker was asked about why Hunter sent correspondence. “He is the son of a vice president at the time, yes,” ex associate replied. “So it made more sense to get this business deal to put him as the front-facing person, right?” Investigator asked. “Yes,” Walker responded.

Biden ‘met with nearly every foreign national who funnelled money to his son’

House Oversight Committee told Fox News that Biden “met with nearly every foreign national who funnelled money to his son, including Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenes Rakishev, Burisma’s corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky, Jonathan Li of BHR, and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.” Biden attended dinner in a Washington DC restaurant Cafe Milano in Georgtown with Baturina, Rakishev and Pozharsky in 2014 and 2015. In 2013, he met with Li of BHR in China, Hunter Biden’s ex-business partners Rob Walker and Devon Archer told investigators.

A business associate of Hunter Biden, Tony Bobulinski, who is slated to testify to House Oversight and Judiciary Committees reportedly demanded that US President Biden must “stop lying” about that meeting and “correct the record.” “Why is Joe Biden blatantly lying to the American people and the world by claiming that he did not meet with me face to face?” Bobulinski told Fox News in a statement. “He should call his son Hunter and brother Jim as they can remind him of the facts. The American people deserve the truth!”