Remember Tony Bobulinski? We haven’t heard his name as frequently in 2023 as we did way back in 2020. As a former business associate of Hunter Biden, he brought to light some serious details about the Biden family’s shady foreign business dealings.

Now, Hunter Biden is pushing the Justice Department to investigate Bobulinski, amid claims that Bobulinski lied to federal investigators about his relationship with the Biden family.

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is urging the Justice Department to investigate a former business associate named Tony Bobulinski over claims that he lied to federal investigators during an interview in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to a criminal referral letter obtained by ABC News.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden wrote last month to Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., accusing Bobulinski of deliberately mischaracterizing his relationship with the Biden family "for the sake of maligning the character and reputation of [Hunter] Biden and his family, and to boost his own sense of self-worth."

Bobulinski, a retired Naval officer and self-described global businessman, came forward in October 2020 with allegations that the Bidens had lied to the public about the nature of then-candidate Joe Biden's involvement in his son's proposed overseas business ventures -- a claim promoted at the time by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

According to Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, Bobulinski repeatedly misled investigators about his contacts with the Biden family and the extent to which Joe Biden stood to benefit from proposed foreign business ventures during a voluntary interview at a FBI field office in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23, 2020.

Lowell wrote: 

Even in an era in which people peddle knowing lies with the goal of their falsehoods being repeated and disseminated for their political advantage, these statements by Mr. Bobulinski cannot and must not go unchecked.

Bobulinski came onto the scene in 2020 when he alleged that the Bidens had not been honest about then-candidate Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s foreign business endeavors. He recalled attending a February 2017 meeting with Hunter and James Biden (the president’s brother), and others in Miami. The men discussed a potential joint venture with a Chinese firm. Bobulinski mentioned an email sent in May 2017 proposing a 10 percent cut for “the big guy,” presumably referring to President Biden.

Lowell disputes these claims, arguing that he was not present at the Miami meeting and did not find out about the joint venture until nearly a week later. He suggested that Bobulinski’s allegations are part of a debunked conspiracy theory.

It appears this move is an effort to discredit Bobulinski’s claims.

The timing of the criminal referral coincides with reports that Bobulinski might testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

In 2020, Bobulinski went public with his claims about the Biden family’s business dealings. He described meeting with Joe, James, and Hunter and discussed the formation of Sinohawk Holdings, a company in which he was involved. He suggested that the Bidens were only involved because of their family name and did not have experience in international business. He also revealed an audio recording of a conversation with Rob Walker, a representative of the Biden family. During the recording, Walker tried to dissuade Bobulinski from discussing the information publicly, saying it would “bury all of us.”

These allegations and counter-allegations between Bobulinski and Hunter introduce another layer of complexity to the ongoing sage surrounding the president and other members of his family. It could play prominently into the effort to impeach the president and bring more information to light that could damage him politically.