1/2
Jan. 11 (UPI) — Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have opened an influence peddling investigation into the family of President Joe Biden.
The House oversight committee under Chairman James Comer, a Republican for Kentucky, on Wednesday called on the Treasury to hand over the financial information it has on Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and James Biden, the president’s brother, as well as that of Biden family associates and their related companies.
He also called on three Twitter executives to appear for a public hearing to discuss the censoring of a 2020 New York Post article about Hunter Biden’s business activities.
“Now that Democrats no longer have one-party rule in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming,” Comer said in a statement Wednesday. “For years, the Biden family peddled influence and access around the world for profit, often at the expense of our nation’s interests.
“The American people must know the extent of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s shady business deals and if these deals threaten national security and his decision-making as president.”
Comer has long promised to launch the investigation, and in a mid-November press conference said it will be his committee’s focus during the 118th Congress, which began earlier this month. The Republicans gained a slim majority of the chamber during November’s elections.
The Republican House representative has accused the president’s family of being involved in crimes that range from tax evasion and money laundering to violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
He has also accused the president of lying about not being involved in his family’s business dealings and has said that his investigation specifically targets Joe Biden.
“I want to be clear: This is an investigation of Joe Biden,” he said.
On Wednesday, he called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to hand over Suspicious Activity Reports generated by banks concerning activities by the Biden family.
SARs are made by banks to assist the U.S. government to detect and prevent money laundering, among other concerns.
The Treasury states that SARs are generated for several reasons, including cash transactions that exceed $10,000 a day, and it told Comer in a letter in September amid his push for the reports that they are unverified information and that their disclosure can unfairly damage one’s reputation.
“Ultimately, the disclosure of improper use of this highly sensitive information can undermine the [Bank Secrecy Act]’s statutory purposes and the Executive Branch’s conduct of law enforcement, intelligence and national security activities,” it said in the letter to Comer.
Comer also called on three Twitter executives to appear before the committee for a hearing during the week of Feb. 6.
The hearings will be centered on a New York Post story about Hunter Biden that Republicans accused the media platform of censoring.
Comer said their attendance was necessary “because of your role in suppressing Americans’ access to information about the Biden family on Twitter shortly before the 2020 election.”
In response to the the announcement, the White House accused the Republican lawmakers of engaging in “political stunts” while stating the president “is going to continue focusing on the important issues the American people want their leader to work together on.”
“In their first week as a governing majority, House Republicans have not taken any meaningful action to address inflation and lower Americans’ costs, yet they’re jumping out of the gate with political students driven by the most extreme MAGA members of their caucus in an effort to get attention on Fox News,” Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s office, said in a statement.
