Wednesday, House Republicans opened their long-promised investigation into President Joe Biden and his extended family, using their new majority power to call for information from former Twitter executives and the Treasury Department as they laid the foundation for public hearings.
“Now that Democrats no longer have one-party rule in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming,” said the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Representative James Comer, in a statement.
The GOP-led committee sent a sequence of letters requesting financial information from the Treasury Department regarding financial transactions made by members of Biden’s family that were flagged as ‘suspicious.’ The reports are routinely performed, with more significant financial transactions automatically flagged and the government informed.
Additionally, lawmakers requested testimony from several former Twitter executives involved in the company’s handling of the October 2020 report from the New York Post regarding the president’s younger son, Hunter Biden. Republicans have long claimed the story was suppressed for political purposes.
Shortly after taking control of the House, the GOP is setting up a showdown, expected to be messy and explosive, with the White House that could dig deep into Biden’s family’s business dealings and finances and possibly shape the 2024 race for the presidency.
“In their first week as a governing majority, House Republicans have not yet taken any meaningful action to address inflation and lower Americans’ costs, yet they’re jumping out of the gate with political stunts driven by the most extreme MAGA members of their caucus to get attention on Fox News,” said White House spokesman Ian Sams, in a statement, while referring to former President Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
Senior Democrat on Oversight, Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, echoed the administration’s sentiment in a statement, saying Democrats are ready to work with Republicans “when they get serious about tackling problems that affect the American people.”
Legislators lay out plan for investigation
Comer and other GOP legislators laid out their plan for investigating the Biden family the day after the hotly-contested November midterm elections. The Republican from Kentucky told reporters there are “troubling questions,” particularly about Hunter Biden’s business dealings along with James Biden, one of the president’s brothers, that require further investigation.
Republican investigations into the president’s family aren’t new. GOP lawmakers and staff have been evaluating financial transactions and messages found on a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden over the past year. Rep. Comer told reporters that he has been in contact with Republican Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who led the investigation against the younger Biden in the Senate, continuing information sharing between the two chambers.
But the GOP now possesses subpoena power in the House, which gives them authority to oblige testimony and conduct a more aggressive investigation.
Republicans are considering issuing congressional subpoenas to several foreign entities that conducted business with Hunter Biden. Recently, they brought former federal prosecutor James Mandolfo on board to help with the investigation as general counsel for the Oversight panel.
Hunter Biden’s foreign business work and taxes are currently under federal investigation, with a Delaware grand jury hearing testimony in recent months. However, he has never held a position in the White House or on a presidential campaign, the younger Biden’s membership on the board of an energy company in Ukraine and worked to forge deals in China. His dealings have raised questions about whether he used his father’s clout to strike deals, including emails with references to the “big guy.”
The president has maintained he has never spoken to his son about his foreign business dealings.
