Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the House Committee on the Judiciary released the transcript of their interview with Rob Walker, a Biden family associate affiliated with the Bidens’ dealings with the Communist Chinese government linked energy firm, CEFC, and Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu.
Walker testified that Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Communist Chinese energy firm Hunter Biden sought to create a joint venture with at the Four Seasons in Washington D.C. in 2017 and that the “Biden family name was so key to scoring” the deal.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW OF ROB WALKER (Courtesy of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Republicans):
Rob Walker testified that he maintained a close friendship with Hunter Biden since the Clinton Administration—but their friendship abruptly ended after Hunter Biden refused to repay a $50,000 loan from Walker.
In 1998, Mr. Walker met Hunter Biden when they were both working as political appointees in the Clinton Administration. Mr. Walker worked at the Department of Transportation while Hunter Biden worked at the Department of Commerce. The two met while working on an interdepartmental initiative, and the pair quickly became friends.
Mr. Walker met with Joe Biden a number of times with Hunter Biden and separately from him over the years. The first time he met him was at a fundraiser when Joe Biden was still a senator. Mr. Walker’s wife also worked as an aide to Dr. Jill Biden when she was the Second Lady, through which Mr. Walker had increased exposure to Vice President Biden. Mr. Walker would often golf with Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, which he described as Joe Biden’s “family time.”
Mr. Walker worked in a professional manner with Hunter Biden since they first met, and Mr. Walker maintains that the two are still friends.
The relationship began to sour in 2017, when Mr. Walker and Mr. Biden, along with other associates, were brokering a new deal with Chinese-backed CEFC. Mr. Walker testified that while on a business trip in New York City he provided a cash-strapped Hunter Biden with $9,000 in cash—on demand—from his Robinson Walker LLC account, but he could not recall if this was a payment he owed Hunter Biden already or if it was an advance. Additionally, Mr. Walker incurred a $6,200 charge on his credit card during this trip from Hunter Biden’s hotel room that he described as “highway robbery,” and did not know what the charge was for.
Mr. Walker next requested that Hunter Biden repay a $50,000 loan—money Mr. Walker had loaned Hunter Biden in Spring 2017 to help finalize his divorce. Mr. Biden became angry with Mr. Walker for asking him to repay the loan “considering the problems” Mr. Biden was going through at the time. Mr. Walker testified that he has never been repaid for the loan.
The last time the two men saw each other in person was in the Fall of 2017 when Hunter Biden—who was drunk and high at the time—yelled at Mr. Walker at 10:00pm in a Logan Circle, D.C. restaurant.
Mr. Walker testified that the two had a falling out because their last attempt at a joint business venture did not work out. The two have not communicated since the Winter of 2017.
Clearly, Mr. Walker and Mr. Biden had a falling out as they have not spoken in over six years. Yet when asked, Mr. Walker would defend Hunter Biden and not answer questions candidly about what happened and the nature of their current relationship—raising the question of why he is protecting Mr. Biden.
Soon after Rob Walker and his partners voted to remove Hunter Biden from their fund because of his cocaine use, Walker turned a blind eye to what was a problem so that he and his partners could hold Hunter Biden out as the frontman of a new venture as Hunter Biden’s “calling card” made foreign businessman take them seriously.
Shortly after its inception, Mr. Walker left Seneca Global Advisors to dedicate himself full-time to a newly established fund called Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners. This technology investment fund was run by Hunter Biden, Chris Heinz (of the Heinz empire and stepson to John Kerry), Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer, William Lee, and John Deloche.
While this fund continues today, Hunter Biden was asked to leave the fund after he tested positive for cocaine while serving in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Walker said that he voted in favor of asking Hunter Biden to leave the fund and that it was something that needed to be done.
In early 2015, Hunter Biden, Mr. Walker, and James Gilliar partnered to work on behalf of CEFC—a Chinese energy infrastructure conglomerate. From the start of their joint communications with CEFC and throughout the duration of their business relationship, Hunter Biden was displayed as the frontman of their organization because he was the son of the Vice President at the time. Mr. Walker stated that CEFC officials knew Hunter Biden as the principal of their organization because “he had an interesting last name that would get people in the door.”
Additionally, Mr. Walker testified that while he may have written the initial letter sent to CEFC solidifying the start of the business relationship, the letter was ultimately sent on Hunter Biden’s letterhead with Hunter Biden’s D.C. address because it was his understanding that foreign companies do not take people seriously unless they have this kind of “calling card.”
Shortly after Joe Biden did a drop in at a business lunch at the Four Seasons, the business partners received $3 million from the China backed CEFC.
In February 2017, Hunter Biden and James Gilliar traveled to meet with CEFC executives in Miami, Florida. During this meeting, the group discussed the tentative structure of a deal with State Energy HK (a subsidiary of CEFC owned by the Chinese government). No payment decisions were made during the Miami meeting.
Several days later, Mr. Walker, Hunter Biden, and James Gilliar met with 9-10 CEFC officials including its Chairman and Chief Operating Officer over lunch at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, D.C. This meeting was to further discuss the ways the two groups could work together. During the meeting, Joe Biden—who weeks before had ended his tenure as Vice President—joined for a short period of time. He addressed the entire group for about 10 minutes before departing again.
A few days after this lunch meeting, CEFC paid Robinson Walker LLC $3 million for Hunter Biden’s, Mr. Walker’s, and Mr. Gilliar’s services regarding State Energy HK.
Mr. Walker facilitated the transfer of the $3 million payment from Robinson Walker LLC to Hunter Biden and Mr. Gilliar. Mr. Gilliar received $1,065,000 in one lump sum payment. Hunter Biden also received a little over $1 million of the $3 million payment, but he asked Mr. Walker to give it to him in small sums between $5,000 and $50,000 and to various accounts including those belonging to his uncle, James Biden, and Hunter Biden’s then-girlfriend, Hallie Biden. Mr. Walker had never before structured payments to Hunter Biden in such a manner in any of their previous business dealings.
During the timeframe of these transfers, Mr. Biden was going through a divorce from Kathleen Buhle Biden. Since they were still married, it would have entitled Ms. Buhle to part of Mr. Biden’s money from the deal. Mr. Walker denied that structuring the payouts to Mr. Biden in this manner hid the money from Ms. Buhle and her attorneys.
Rob Walker maintained that Joe Biden was not involved in any of his business ventures with Hunter Biden despite the fact that Walker and his business partners seemingly used Joe Biden in relation to CEFC business dealings.
Mr. Walker said that Joe Biden was not involved in any of his joint business ventures with Hunter Biden, and Mr. Walker never expressed to potential business partners that they would receive political favors as a result of partnering with these various business ventures. Mr. Walker said he never sent money to Joe Biden and, to his knowledge, Joe Biden never benefited financially from any of his business ventures with Hunter Biden.
In 2017, Mr. Walker, Hunter Biden, Mr. Gilliar, Tony Bobulinski, and James Biden began contemplating a joint venture with Hudson West III LLC (a separate firm through which Hunter Biden did business with CEFC). The business partners would form a joint entity called Oneida Holdings LLC. The joint venture between the business associates and CEFC would be referred to as “Sinohawk.”
During his transcribed interview, Mr. Walker was shown messages between Mr. Walker, Hunter Biden, and their business partners where Hunter Biden repeatedly referenced his father, Joe Biden. Mr. Walker could only account for these references by saying that Mr. Biden must have been “unhealthy” at the time he was sending the messages. For example, Mr. Walker could not explain away the references by Hunter Biden to his father in the following messages:
Hunter Biden said in communications with the Oneida Holdings LLC members that “my chairman vetoed the deal,” referring to the proposed structure of the Sinohawk deal. In a separate text chain to Tony Bobulinski, Mr. Walker stated that Hunter Biden’s reference to “my chairman” meant his father, Joe Biden.
In another communication with Oneida Holdings LLC members, Hunter Biden said that the only reason CEFC wanted to partner with Oneida Holdings LLC was because of the Bidens and that his family legacy was riding on the deal.
Mr. Gilliar also stated in another communication with Mr. Bobulinski that Chairman Ye—Chairman of CEFC at the time—was interested in the deal because of his interest in the Biden family.
In the proposed payment structure for the Sinohawk deal, Mr. Gilliar wrote that Hunter Biden, Mr. Walker, Mr. Gilliar, and Mr. Bobulinski were all to receive 20% of the profits. James Biden was proposed to earn 10% of the profits. Then, Mr. Gilliar asked the group if Hunter should hold 10% of the profits for the “big guy.”
While this deal did not come to fruition, Mr. Walker anticipated that the group would have earned a lot of money. For perspective, the initial start up costs alone were valued around $10 million.
An example of Mr. Walker’s ridiculous and preposterous testimony is that, unlike some of his other business partners, he would not confirm if Joe Biden was the “big guy.” Mr. Walker could not provide any other explanation or identity of who the “big guy” could be, stating that people can make their assumptions about who the identity of this individual was.
While Walker was quick to always defend Hunter Biden, Walker attempted to explain away damaging texts and emails showing Joe Biden was involved in his son’s foreign business dealings by blaming the character of the other individuals involved.
Mr. Walker would often refer to Hunter Biden as “unhealthy” or it was obvious “he was on drugs.”
Mr. Walker stated that all incriminating evidence regarding Joe Biden’s involvement in these business dealings was due to the character of the other individuals involved. He stated that Mr. Bobulinski was a “bully”, that Mr. Gilliar was too “cavalier” in his statements, and that James Biden was a “snake” and a “rat” as a business partner.
Despite his dubious assessment of these men’s characters, Mr. Walker continued his business relationship with all of them through the summer of 2017.
Rob Walker worried that Tony Bobulinski’s statements to the public surrounding their CEFC business dealings would “bury” Hunter Biden and the other business associates.
During the summer of 2017, the Onieda Holdings group disbanded. In October 2020, Tony Bobulinski contacted Mr. Walker with concerns regarding the contents of Hunter Biden’s newly discovered laptop. During one of their conversations regarding the laptop and Mr. Bobulinski’s concerns, Mr. Walker stated “Tony, you’re going to bury us all.”
When asked to clarify his statement to Mr. Bobulinski, Mr. Walker explained that he was concerned about the increased press scrutiny and potential embarrassment Mr. Bobulinski might bring upon his former business partners if he spoke publicly about his concerns.
During the Obama-Biden Administration, Hunter Biden, Rob Walker, and James Gilliar had a lucrative contract with Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, who was under investigation. Walker was unable to articulate what services the partners provided for $180,000 monthly from Popoviciu.
Shortly after Mr. Walker met Mr. James Gilliar in 2015, the duo, along with Hunter Biden engaged with a staffer for former Governor of New York George Pataki regarding a “friend” with issues in Romania. The Pataki staffer thought the group would be able to find a solution for this friend.
The friend in question was Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian infrastructure tycoon that was accused by the Romanian government of abuse of power. Shortly after their introduction in 2015, Mr. Popoviciu started making payments to Mr. Walker’s Robinson Walker LLC through an entity called Bladon Enterprises. Bladon Enterprises sent Robinson Walker LLC a monthly sum of $180,000 seventeen times in payment for Hunter Biden’s, Mr. Walker’s, and Mr. Gilliar’s services regarding his corruption case. These payments ended abruptly after Joe Biden left office as Vice-President.
Mr. Walker, who is not a lawyer, was hired to “shed light” on the criminal case against Mr. Popoviciu. The group organized meetings with the U.S. State Department and the former U.S. Ambassador to Romania to aid in Mr. Popoviciu’s defense. Of note, Hunter Biden received $60,000 a month through the payments to Robinson Walker LLC. Mr. Walker stated that Hunter Biden’s sole task throughout this business deal was to arrange one meeting with former FBI Director Louis Freeh.
Mr. Popoviciu eventually fled Romania for the United Kingdom (UK). The UK Supreme Court has since exonerated Mr. Popoviciu of the Romanian corruption charges against him.
Walker testified that he never lied during either interview he had with the Federal Bureau of investigation, but then changed the substance of his FBI testimony during his transcribed interview.
During their questioning, the Democrats asked Mr. Walker multiple times whether his testimony to the FBI was accurate and whether he had lied during his FBI testimony. Every time he was asked, Walker affirmed that his testimony was true and accurate.
However, during the course of the Committees’ transcribed interview of Mr. Walker, he denied that he had made certain statements to the FBI.
For example, during his December 8, 2020, interview with the FBI, the agent asked Mr. Walker, “Any times when [Joe Biden] was in office or did you hear Hunter say that he was settin’ up a meeting with his dad with them (referring to business partners) while dad was still in office?” Mr. Walker responded, “Yeah.”
However, during his interview with the Committees, Mr. Walker adamantly denied that he answered the question in the affirmative, instead questioning the authenticity of the transcript made by a sworn law enforcement officer and further substantiated by Congressional testimony of IRS agents.
