Former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski said he believes he has witnessed Joe Biden commit crimes in a fiery moment of Wednesday's impeachment hearing. 

'Did you witness the President commit a crime?' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., asked the GOP witness.

'Yes,' said Bobulinski. 



'Corruption statutes, RICO and conspiracy, FARA,' Bobulinski said, referring to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and Foreign Agents Registration Act that requires Americans who are doing the bidding of other countries to register as foreign agents. 

 'What is the crime? I asked you to answer the question,' said Ocasio-Cortez. 

'I answered the question - RICO. You're obviously not familiar--' said Bobulinski. 'Excuse me sir, RICO is not a crime,' said Ocasio-Cortez. 

'RICO is a category of crime, that you're then charged with,' said Bobulinski. 

Bobulinski said he believes Joe Biden is lying about his involvement in his son's business dealings based off a meeting he had with him in 2017. 

Bobulinski told impeachment investigators on Capitol Hill about a May 2017 meeting between Hunter, Joe and him at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. 

'The sole reason Hunter wanted me to meet his father was because I was the CEO of Sinohawk,' he said, referring to the China-affiliated venture Hunter would later be a part of. 
Bobulinski said the meeting lasted '45 minutes to an hour.' 

'If Joe Biden was not involved in son's business dealings ... why would he take 45 minutes out of his night to sit with me for 45 minutes to an hour to discuss my background, the business we're doing with the Chinese and his family's background?' 

James Biden, Joe's brother who was also present had said he did not recall such a meeting taking place, leading Republicans to accuse him of lying. Hunter Biden had attested that the meeting at the hotel bar did take place, but no business was discussed. 

'They talked about ... I don't know whether it was Tony's father was suffering from cancer, and his sister was suffering from cancer,' Hunter said in his transcribed interview with the committee. 

And while Bobulinski claimed he was 'not a political person,' Democrats tried to chip away at that assertion. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., pulled out photos of Bobulinski at a debate between Trump and Biden as a guest of Trump. 

'We didn't rely on [Hunter] for any deliverable product other than delivering the Biden lift,' said former Hunter associate Jason Galanis, who testified from prison. 

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter said the hearing should instead have just focused on influence peddling more broadly - noting that lawmakers can get paid 'down payments' by lobbying firms and become lobbyists only one year after leaving public office.

'Both parties have let us down on fighting influence peddling and tackling corruption,' the California Democrat said, before noting 495 former members of Congress work for lobbying firms and 278 members violated the STOCK Act with improper stock trades last Congress. 

In a rare bipartisan moment, Comer said to Porter: 'I think you are sincere and I look forward to working with you on that legislation.' 

The hearing had  kicked off with fireworks as GOP witness Bobulinski called Democrats on the Oversight Committee 'liars' and a Democrat called him a 'fool.' 

'Should I allow Hunter to give his opening statement first?' Bobulinski joked - as a seat for Hunter Biden sat open next to him. Hunter had declined an invitation to testify before the committee. 

Bobulinski called Joe Biden a 'serial liar and fabulist,' his brother Jim Biden a '75 year old man who cannot keep his lies straight' and Hunter a 'chronic drug addict facing two indictments with twelve counts.'

'Representatives Dan Goldman and Jamie Raskin, both lawyers, and Mr. Goldman a former prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, will continue to lie today in this hearing and then go straight to the media to tell more lies,' Bobulinksi said. 

Raskin took issue with being called out and there was a brief pause. 

'Keep going you fool! You're such a fool!' said Rep. Jared Moskowitz. The Florida Democrat had showed up to the hearing wearing a Vladimir Putin mask to tie the allegations against the Biden family to Russia. 

Raskin called House Republicans' impeachment inquiry a 'flabby, Hail Mary pass three weeks after the Super Bowl's over.'

The hearing came three weeks after Hunter Biden gave transcribed testimony to the committee and claimed his father was not involved in his business deals - as the inquiry's next steps appear unclear. 

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