House Republicans kick-started the propulsion Thursday by doubling down connected papers requests to a flurry of agencies and releasing an interim study that skirted astir the deficiency of grounds implicating the president. It said Joe Biden “misused his nationalist position” to payment his household financially and “created the potential” that helium could beryllium influenced.
“We’re trying to enactment focused on: ‘Was Joe Biden straight progressive with Hunter Biden’s concern deals’ and ‘was helium compromised,’” Comer said astir the thrust of the investigation.
It’s a acold outcry from the days of the Benghazi prime committee, erstwhile House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy earned the public’s ire for depicting an enquiry into an onslaught connected U.S. officials successful Libya arsenic a mode to coiled Democratic statesmanlike contender Hillary Clinton. And it’s revisiting well-trodden ground: a brace of Senate Republicans released a study connected Hunter Biden and different household members weeks earlier the 2020 election, erstwhile Joe Biden was the party’s nominee.
Meanwhile, legislature Democrats and Biden’s allies are preparing to spell connected defense — with the DNC circulating a memo connected Comer Thursday calling him a “conspiracy theorist, Trump sycophant, [and] proven liar"— portion besides predicting that an probe volition backfire with plaything voters successful the 2024 election, arsenic Biden flirts with a 2nd run.
With overmuch of House Republicans’ legislative docket already successful limbo owed to Democrats winning the Senate and Biden successful the White House, their investigative plans are expected to instrumentality halfway signifier adjacent year. Democrats person pointed to incoming Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) comments earlier this twelvemonth that investigations volition assistance “frame up” the 2024 statesmanlike predetermination arsenic grounds that GOP probes and their governmental ambitions are inextricably tied together.
“Instead of moving with President Biden to code issues important to the American people, similar little costs, legislature Republicans’ apical precedence is to spell aft President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock afloat of long-debunked conspiracy theories,” said Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office.
And a spokesperson for Democrats connected the Oversight Committee added that Comer is “saying the quiescent portion retired loud: Now that erstwhile President Trump is moving for bureau again, House Republicans’ apical precedence is attacking President Biden and his household successful a hopeless effort to instrumentality Mr. Trump to power.”
Republicans offered hints of their archetypal targets adjacent year, arsenic much than a twelve GOP lawmakers convened a property league Thursday morning. Though they had announced the timing of the property league earlier this week, it ended up being the archetypal House GOP property league since the enactment formally won power little than 24 hours beforehand.
And Comer is mounting the barroom high, adjacent arsenic Republicans conflict to link the president to the ongoing national enquiry into Hunter Biden. He claimed that lawmakers person already “uncovered grounds of national crimes committed by and to the payment of the president’s family” including conspiracy of defrauding the United States, ligament fraud, usurpation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, taxation evasion and wealth laundering.
That volition effect successful a last study astatine the extremity of the Hunter Biden probe, arsenic good arsenic imaginable instrumentality enforcement referrals oregon legislative changes, Comer and Jordan said.
The radical unveiled a 31-page interim report, which Comer sourced to “multiple whistleblowers,” “previously chartless transactions” and accusation from an infamous laptop. POLITICO has not undergone the process to authenticate the laptop, but newsman Ben Schreckinger has confirmed the authenticity of immoderate emails connected it.
They besides resent requests to a bevy of medication entities, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the National Archives and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and the assemblage liable for selling Hunter Biden’s artwork. Asked astir calling Hunter Biden oregon different household members to attest adjacent year, Comer noted “we’d emotion to speech to radical successful the Biden family, specifically Hunter and Jim Biden,” referring to the president’s brother.
Oversight sheet Republicans besides privation copies of Treasury Department suspicious enactment reports related to Hunter Biden. Treasury has rebuffed their requests, indicating that it is the department’s argumentation to necessitate committee chairs oregon a bulk of members to o.k. demands for those reports, which emblem suspicious behaviour but don’t needfully bespeak wrongdoing. Republicans are successful possession of 2 of the reports, which Comer said they did not get from Treasury and tin beryllium recovered online.
“I deliberation the astir important happening for america close present is to get those slope records,” Comer said.
Regardless, Republicans cognize their hopes for practice are low.
“They’ve present acceptable up a committee ... to onslaught america and to travel aft us. So, I don’t know, you guess. They’re astir apt not going to enactment with america excessively well,” Jordan said, pointing to a POLITICO report connected a warfare country Democratic strategists person established.
The GOP probe comes arsenic the Justice Department is investigating whether the president’s lad violated overseas lobbying laws — including connections to a Chinese vigor institution — successful summation to his taxation dealings. Republicans acknowledged that DOJ whitethorn person investigated immoderate of their claims.
“Maybe they have,” Jordan said. “We don’t know.”
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