OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A House committee has voted on a resolution to open an investigation into first son Hunter Biden over allegations of shady business dealings and illegal actions.
On a party-line vote, the House Oversight Committee rejected a Republican-led effort to seek documents related to the Biden family’s business dealings in countries like Russia, Ukraine, and China by a vote of 23-19.
CNN reported:
Republicans on the committee forced a vote on a so-called “resolution of inquiry,” which called on the administration to hand over a wide swath of documents related to the Biden family’s business deals overseas. Democrats, however, voted down the resolution following two hours of debate over the issue. (The final tally was 23 Democrats voted to report the resolution unfavorably out of committee, while 19 Republicans voted against reporting it unfavorably.)
Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the Oversight panel, accused the Bidens of peddling “access to the highest levels of government to enrich themselves” and said it was imperative to get answers because of national security concerns.
“If the Democrats vote against this resolution, then they are continuing in their coordinated effort to shield a potentially compromised President from necessary congressional oversight,” Comer said. “We must shed light on the Biden family’s international business schemes to determine if there is a national security threat.”
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the committed, claimed that the GOP’s priorities are “misplaced” while going on to accuse them of attempting to “smear” the Bidens and bolster former President Donald Trump.
“This is a nakedly partisan effort,” Maloney, a New York Democrat, said, adding that Republicans are merely “obsessed” with the first son while accusing them of shirking oversight duties when Trump was president — though the former president endured an FBI investigation and a special counsel probe, neither of which turned up any wrongdoing.
“While the resolution went nowhere, as was expected, this is just the latest sign that House Republicans plan to zero in on President Joe Biden’s son with their investigative powers if they win back the majority this fall,” CNN reported, adding: “Comer has previously told CNN he wants to haul Hunter Biden in front of the committee for congressional hearings, and Republicans have already sent dozens of letters to the administration seeking information on the topic.”
Hunter Biden has reportedly been under federal investigation for years, with prosecutors looking at allegations that he skirted foreign lobbying and tax laws. In addition, Republicans have charged that he lied on a federal firearms background check form when he reportedly answered “no” to a question involving a previous addiction to cocaine.
Other Republicans have made similar threats to hold both Hunter Biden and his president father accountable.
In March, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told the “John Solomon Reports” podcast that letters will be sent to intelligence experts, the media, and big tech to preserve evidence and will set the stage for subpoenas and an investigation into why the Hunter Biden laptop story was smacked down in the weeks before the 2020 election.
Issa is likely to head the House Oversight Committee if the Republicans win back the House and would be in charge of the investigation if it happened.
“What I can’t live with is the fact that when the New York Post, one of the oldest print newspapers in the country, founded in 1801, comes out with credible evidence, which they can show how they got it, what their sources were — there were no hidden sources on this — they not only got shut down by … Facebook and Twitter but they got shut down by the New York Times, by public broadcasting, by virtually everyone,” said Issa.
“And they were shut down by having more than 50 of the most informed people in the intelligence world all saying that they knew that this was false information. That is a conspiracy of monumental size,” the California Republican said.
In June, Republican members of the committee argued that Hunter Biden must be investigated amid concerns that “he is continuing to profit off” his father’s name.
“Hunter Biden’s connections throughout the Russian sphere of influence have now become especially relevant in the fast-moving and developing Russian war in Ukraine,” the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said.
“Hunter Biden’s dealings have not gone unnoticed, and a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe begun under the Obama Administration has expanded to include a wide variety of potential violations and crimes. According to theNew York Times, Hunter Biden is currently under investigation by DOJ for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and possible criminal tax evasion and money laundering.
“Given Hunter Biden’s foreign business relationships in Ukraine and Russia and the current international landscape, we are concerned about whether Hunter Biden continues to profit off his status as President Biden’s son as well as whether foreign adversaries may be attempting to exploit questionable business dealings. NARA may possess documents relevant to this investigation from then-Vice President Biden’s tenure,” they said.
