The GOP Is Ramping Up Its Probe Into the Biden Family
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have issued six subpoenas for financial records related to business entities and associates of Hunter Biden, according to a memo obtained by Politico.
The news of the subpoenas — which were directed to various banks and a business associate of the president’s son — comes as the GOP seeks to escalate its dubious probe into allegations of influence peddling against the president and his family, and just days after former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned in New York City.
The memo, sent by ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) to other Democrats on the committee, accuses Committee Chair Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) of issuing the subpoenas “based on information Committee Republicans know to be false.”
“To date, Chairman Comer has issued six subpoenas and sent 39 letters in the Biden family investigation alone. Notably, Mr. Comer has failed to issue a single document subpoena in any other Committee investigation this Congress. This significant use of resources duplicates efforts by Senate Republicans in the 116th Congress, which, after three years, have failed to reveal any wrongdoing by President Biden,” Raskin wrote.
Additionally, “in a break with long-standing Committee precedent, Chairman Comer has issued these subpoenas privately, refusing to provide the Minority proper notice before issuance,” Raskin wrote. The Maryland congressman pointed to Comer’s stalling of several other investigations involving members of Trump’s administration and their business dealings, in favor of digging for dirt on the Biden family.
Comer went on Fox News to defend his decision to deny Democrats access to witnesses and whistleblowers called to testify, arguing that “Democrats have attempted to undermine the committee’s investigation into the Biden family’s business schemes at every turn.”
Comer has been hell-bent on finding a way to penalize the Bidens for business conducted abroad. In the aftermath of Trump’s indictment, Comer suggested to Fox News that the charges were an intentional distraction from his own investigation into Biden and his son Hunter’s finances.
While Hunter Biden has pursued business relationships with Chinese companies, Comer and Trump’s political allies have so far failed to muster substantial evidence of criminality. Regardless, Trump is still pushing for results. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, advisers close to the former president are urging congressional Republicans to move forward with criminal referrals against the Bidens as payback for the indictment against him.
The pleas have not gone unnoticed on the other side of the aisle. As Raskin wrote to his fellow Democrats, “their actions reveal that their real purpose is to do former President Trump’s bidding by damaging President Biden politically while bolstering the former President’s reelection efforts.”
This story was updated on April 7, 2023, at 8:30 PM to specify that the requested records pertain to business relationships and associates of Hunter Biden