On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Colette Peters and Southern District of New York Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei requesting a transcribed interview, and documents and communications in reference to Jason Galanis, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, who is a current inmate in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
During his transcribed interview with the Committees, Mr. Galanis made several allegations against BOP officials, including that he has been the “victim of a pattern of retribution by the Department of Justice in order to prevent my home confinement, which would have allowed full and free access to congressional investigators.” The Committees are examining those allegations and will take seriously any attempt by BOP to obstruct the Committees’ inquiry, including by retaliating against witnesses.
Excerpts of the Letter to Director Peters:
“As a part of this impeachment inquiry, on February 23, 2024, the Committees held a transcribed interview with Jason Galanis, a former business partner of President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Mr. Galanis is a current inmate in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). During his transcribed interview, Mr. Galanis made several allegations against BOP officials, including that he has been the ‘victim of a pattern of retribution by the Department of Justice in order to prevent my home confinement, which would have allowed full and free access to congressional investigators.’ The Committees are examining those allegations and will take seriously any attempt by BOP to obstruct the Committees’ inquiry, including by retaliating against witnesses.
“Mr. Galanis specifically alleged in his transcribed interview that he has been singled out for unequal treatment while in BOP custody after he asserted in a petition for commutation of his sentence that Hunter Biden and another business associate, Devon Archer, were complicit in the same illegal acts that landed Mr. Galanis in jail. In particular, Mr. Galanis alleged that his application for home confinement under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was initially approved by local BOP officials in Florida and California, was subsequently denied for political reasons. As he explained:
“On February 4, 2023, I applied for CARES Act home confinement and went through a lengthy approval process with the warden and other officials. I was approved by the Pensacola warden and his staff and referred onward to California for placement.
“Finally, on June 9, 2023, the Bureau of Prisons California staff confirmed their approval of my home confinement in an email to FPC Pensacola staff.
“On June 12th, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability announced that they were issuing a subpoena to Devon Archer relating to its inquiry into Joe Biden’s business dealings, which would, undoubtedly, in my mind expose the dealings of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, and me.
“On June 13th, one day after the committee announced it would subpoena Devon Archer, my home confinement approval was reversed. I understand from a former high ranking Bureau of Prisons official that the SDNY prosecutors aggressively weighed in with the Bureau of Prisons staff to oppose my release. As a result of this DOJ intervention, I was denied home confinement. Mr. Galanis testified that the reasons stated for BOP’s reversal of the approval of his home confinement shifted.
“According to Mr. Galanis: I formally appealed the reversal. With each appeal stage, the BOP reason for my denial changed. For example, first, it was that there was too much time left on my sentence. This is not a valid reason for the denial.
“Next, it was that the CARES Act expired on May 10, 2023. This rationale is contrived and is contradicted by the approval on June 9th, a date after the purported May 10th expiration. Moreover, the BOP policy is that all CARES Act applications submitted before May 10th were to be processed, which I witnessed firsthand with fellow inmates being released well into late summer. I was being treated differently.
“As shown above, the BOP provided multiple invalid and contradictory justifications for the denial. Additionally, Mr. Galanis testified that beginning in January 2023, while in BOP custody, he was the victim of sexual harassment and assault by a BOP staff member. Although Mr. Galanis notified authorities of these attacks, BOP allowed this abuse to continue until early August 2023.”
Read the full letter to Director Peters here.
Read the full letter to Negar Tekeei here.
