Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives announced on Thursday that they are beginning an investigation of President Joe Biden and what knowledge or involvement he has had in his family’s foreign business dealings over the years. The investigation will follow Republican claims that Biden “lied” about his knowledge of his family’s business dealings and whether he’s compromised by foreign actors including China.
At a press conference on Thursday, Republican members of the House announced they are looking into what President Biden knew about his family’s business dealings. The announcement of the investigation comes as several media outlets have projected Republicans are set to take control of the House of Representatives.
At the press conference, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) said “this is an investigation of Joe Biden, the president of the United States and why he lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family’s international business schemes.”
Comer said the investigations will look into “whether [Biden] is a president who is compromised or swayed by foreign dollars and influence.”
Comer also said Republicans have already gathered evidence and whistleblower testimony and found “business plans aimed at targets around the world based on influence peddling, including with people closely tied to foreign governments like China.” Comer said one business deal that involved Joe Biden saw the sale of U.S. natural gas to China.
In 2019, after announcing his run for president, Joe Biden said “I have never spoken to my son [Hunter Biden] about his overseas business dealings.”
Comer said “whistleblowers described President Biden as chairman of the board” for various businesses operated by members of his family.
“He personally participated in meetings and phone calls,” Comer added. “Documents show that he was a partner with access to an office.”
Comer also said there’s evidence President Biden and Hunter Biden comingled their financial activities. For example, Comer said an associate of Hunter Biden accessed an account under Joe Biden’s name and wrote checks to reimburse Hunter. Comer said this same associate was involved in international business dealings by the Bidens around the world and was a frequent visitor of the White House, visiting “close to 30 times” when Biden served as vice president under President Barack Obama.
For months, Republicans have been seeking up to 150 suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding millions in payments the Biden family received from investors linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Thus far the U.S. Treasury Department — an executive branch department under President Biden’s authority — has withheld those documents from Republican lawmakers.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee also published a report on Thursday, laying out their allegations against President Biden and his family.
The report raises allegations about Joe Biden’s knowledge of Hunter Biden’s business activities on the board of a Ukrainian gas company known as Burisma. The report states Devon Archer, who worked with Hunter Biden on Burisma’s board, met with Joe Biden in the White House in April of 2014. Joe Biden also traveled to Ukraine days after this meeting with Archer.
In 2015, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi emailed Hunter Biden about a meeting with then-Vice President Biden.
“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to
meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the alleged email reads.
In a 2018 panel discussion with the Council on Foreign Relations, Joe Biden described a 2016 meeting with Ukrainian officials in which he described withholding about $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine until they fired a prosecutor. The details of Biden’s story have overlapped with the 2016 firing of then-Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin.
President Donald Trump raised questions about Biden’s involvement in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor during a 2019 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The phone conversation became the subject of Trump’s first impeachment, over allegations he conditioned aid to Ukraine on whether or not Ukraine investigated whether Biden conditioned aid to them to fire Shokin. A readout of Trump’s call with Zelenskyy does not indicate Trump directly linked aid to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine to “look into” the prosecutor’s firing.
Trump’s call with Zelenskyy did take place amid a delay in the release of about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, though Zelenskyy denied feeling pressure by Trump to bring about an investigation into Biden.
The House Republican investigation comes as federal prosecutors have reportedly been considering charges against Hunter Biden over tax violations and potentially lying about his drug use on a federal firearms purchase form.
The Republican investigation also comes as Trump is facing federal investigations over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. Trump recently announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
The Republican report also details the business activities of President Biden’s brother, James Biden.
According to the report, a witness alleges James Biden, “promised access to a future Biden Administration and ‘the highest levels of government’ —long before Joe Biden announced his candidacy.” The same witness alleged James Biden would often say over the phone that Joe Biden was in the room with him during calls with investors.
The report states James Biden was involved in, Americore Health, LLC, which went bankrupt.
“James appears to have used his connections to fraudulently convince Americore to lend over $600,000 to him, which ‘ultimately forced [Americore] into bankruptcy, as he never delivered the promised [] large investment from the Middle East,'” the Republican report states.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported James Biden agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a lawsuit over his alleged role in Americore’s bankruptcy.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
