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US House Republicans Vow To Investigate Biden And His Family Business

After winning a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, top Republicans on Thursday outlined a wide range of investigative targets focused on President Joe Biden and his family business.

“At the 118th Congress, this committee will assess the status of Joe Biden’s relationship with his family’s foreign partners and whether he is a committed president or influenced by foreign dollars and influence,” said Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican. on the House Oversight Committee.

“I want to be clear: this is a Joe Biden investigation and that is what the committee will be focusing on in this upcoming Congress.”

At a wide-ranging news conference joined by Republican Representative Jim Jordan, who is expected to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Republicans on the oversight committee, Comer said Republicans had made connections between the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and the president that they believe requires further investigation.

Comer said his team has spoken with several whistleblowers who they say are involved in schemes involving the Biden family, reviewed Hunter Biden’s laptop and received “previously unknown transactions.”

Comer is specifically focusing on more than 100 banking activity reports — known as suspicious activity reports — allegedly related to the Biden family and says the Treasury Department ignored his repeated requests when Republicans were in the minority to turn them over.

So far, Comer says he’s only seen two of those reports, and he renewed his order for the rest of them today. These reports are not always indicative of criminal activity or misdeeds.

As part of his investigation, Comer said, “We would love to talk to people in the Biden family, specifically Hunter and Joe Biden.”

The White House has said the investigations are politically motivated and a waste of time.

“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, such as lower costs, the top priority for Congressional Republicans is to go after President Biden with politically motivated attacks rife with long-debunked conspiracy theories,” he said. in a communiqué to CNN White House Counsel Office Spokesperson Ian Sams.

“President Biden will not let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope Congressional Republicans will join us in addressing them, rather than wasting time and resources on political revenge,” he added. Sams.

A spokeswoman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, Nelly Decker, said Republicans “rephrased the same partisan talking points” that have been circulating for years.

“Now that former President Trump is running for office again, House Republicans’ top priority is attacking President Biden and his family in a desperate attempt to return Mr. Trump to power,” Decker said in a statement.

Republicans had little ability to enforce their document requests while in the minority. But once the new Congress is sworn in in January, Republicans will gain subpoena power, a more powerful enforcement mechanism to try to compel individuals and government entities to hand over information.

Private lawyers representing members of the Biden family did not respond to requests for comment.

Suspicious activity reports

At the heart of Comer’s investigation are a series of suspicious activity reports that Republicans say banks have filed relating to Hunter Biden’s financial activities. In a letter to the Treasury Department on Thursday, Comer sought such reports relating to various members of the Biden family, his business partners and companies linked to Hunter Biden.

Comer is also seeking communications within the Treasury Department, its Financial Crimes Enforcement Division and the White House about these family members and related companies and associates.

While Republicans seized on suspicious activity reports as evidence that Joe Biden’s son was involved in problematic activities, such reports are not conclusive and do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. Financial institutions file millions of suspicious activity reports each year, and few lead to police investigations.

Comer sent a letter to a financial adviser, who Comer said was managing Hunter Biden’s finances, seeking reports of suspicious activity as well as financial information about Hunter Biden.

He is also seeking information from one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, including communications related to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s finances, taxes and debt.

The letters were part of a new round that Comer fired to various government agencies and individuals on Thursday seeking more information to further his investigation.

He also asked the National Archives for flight manifests and other documents related to Air Force Two and Marines Two during Biden’s tenure as vice president, as well as communications related to Russia, Ukraine and Hunter Biden during his vice presidency.

From the FBI, he is seeking all documents relating to “efforts by foreign intelligence services to compromise the Biden family” and information about Timothy Thibault, a former FBI agent whom Republicans have accused of politicizing the investigations. Thibault has denied wrongdoing.

Another letter went to Georges Bergés, the owner of the gallery that displayed and sold Hunter Biden’s artwork. Among the documents requested were communications with the White House and Hunter Biden, discussions of the pricing of Hunter Biden’s work, and lists of those who have attended Hunter Biden’s art exhibitions and purchased his work.

Alleged “politicization” of the FBI

Federal prosecutors have been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 and have not filed any charges to date. When asked by CNN whether they know whether the allegations filed Thursday have ever been investigated by federal prosecutors, Jordan said, “We don’t know.”

Jordan also said that under his leadership, the House Judiciary Committee will investigate alleged “politicization” of the FBI. Jordan and other Republican lawmakers have previously said they’ve heard from FBI insiders about the anticonservative bias that fuels FBI decision-making, especially in the FBI’s Washington field office.

“I’ve been in Congress for a few years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jordan said. “Fourteen (FBI) agents come and talk to us while we are in the minority about how that place became political.”

According to Jordan, alleged politicization could include attempts by the FBI to suppress media coverage of the Hunter Biden story in 2020.

Many of these claims have circulated in GOP groups during the Biden administration — with Republicans taking over the House next year, they will have an official platform to investigate these matters and put them on full display.

At least one of the FBI agents GOP lawmakers are scrutinizing has previously denied any wrongdoing. The “whistleblowers” ​​are anonymous and have not testified at any public congressional hearing.

“The FBI has testified to Congress and responded to letters from lawmakers on multiple occasions to provide an accurate accounting of how we do our jobs,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement. CNN.

“The men and women of the FBI are dedicated to protecting the American people from terrorism, violent crime, cyber threats and other dangers,” the spokesperson said. “Simply put: we follow the facts without regard to politics.”

*Katelyn Polantz, from CNN, contributed to this report.

Source: CNN Brasil

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