RAPID CITY, S.D. – Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. The following story of a congressional investigation into Hunter Biden, four convicted felons, and a South Dakota Indian Tribe falls squarely in that category.
President Donald Trump has granted clemency to two men convicted of multiple massive fraud schemes, including one related to the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D.
Jason Galanis, 50, was given an immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, or other conditions.
Galanis, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, was sentenced to 189 months in prison for defrauding the Oglala Sioux Tribe of $60 million, along with multiple other fraudulent schemes, including market manipulation of a financial group.
He was also ordered to forfeit nearly $90 million as well as his interest in properties in New York and Los Angeles and to make additional restitution in the amount of nearly $90 million.
Another business partner, Devon Archer, also convicted of the same scheme, received a pardon from President Trump last week.
Both are former business partners of Hunter Biden. They cooperated with the Republican House Oversight Committee Investigation. In return, they have been pardoned by President Trump.
The congressional investigation was initiated on January 11, 2023 and includes examination of the foreign business activities of Biden’s son, Hunter, and brother, James, as well as X’s (formerly Twitter) involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop controversy.
As a result of the investigation, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax charges, and was also found guilty of being an illegal drug user in possession of a gun.
His father, then President Joe Biden, granted him an unconditional pardon after previously having said he would not do so.
It was not the first time a US president has pardoned a member of their family.
Bill Clinton pardoned his younger half-brother, Roger Clinton, for a 1985 cocaine-related offence in 2001.
In 2020, Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father-in-law of his daughter Ivanka. President-elect Trump has recently announced that Kushner will be the new ambassador to France.
