One of Hunter Biden‘s former business partners told Congress in a closed-door interview this week that he witnessed firsthand how President Joe Biden met several years ago with associates involved in the Biden family members’ deal with a Chinese energy conglomerate.

Tony Bobulinski said, according to a transcript released by House Republicans on Friday, that he himself also met with Joe Biden in 2017 and that Hunter Biden had introduced them in the context of their work with the energy company.

The company, CEFC, was tightly interwoven with the Chinese government, and Bobulinski said he remembered asking Joe Biden’s brother James, who was also involved in their venture at the time, how the family was getting away with using Joe Biden to secure work with CEFC.

“And I was asking [James Biden], ‘How are you doing it? It doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t you guys concerned that if Joe does run for President of the United States in the future that you guys are doing business directly with the Chinese?’” Bobulinski said.

“He looks at me and sort of chuckles and says, ‘Plausible deniability,’” Bobulinski said.

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Bobulinski’s testimony, as expected, provided House Republicans with their strongest evidence yet of Joe Biden’s direct involvement in one of his family’s foreign business ventures. Bobulinski first publicly came forward with his claims in a press conference in October 2020, raising alarm about Joe Biden ahead of his presidential election.

Democrats have questioned Bobulinski’s credibility, and Hunter Biden himself demanded last year that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Bobulinski for making false statements during an interview Bobulinski voluntarily gave to the FBI about the Biden family.

This story is developing and will be updated.