House Republicans are investigating whether President Biden “engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress” when his son Hunter Biden refused to participate in a scheduled deposition, defying a congressional subpoena.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to White House counsel and assistant to the president Ed Siskel on Wednesday, requesting documents and communications from the Executive Office of the President related to the younger Biden’s deposition.
Hunter Biden appeared outside the Capitol on December 13 and said he would only testify before the House Oversight Committee if he could do so in a public hearing. The committee had previously issued a subpoena to the younger Biden compelling him to participate in a deposition. He was scheduled to give a closed-door testimony that day.
“What are they afraid of? I’m here, I’m ready,” Hunter Biden said outside of the Capitol.
He said he was given the option to participate in depositions or committee hearings. “Well, I’ve chosen. I’m here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee’s legitimate questions,” he said.
“There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” the younger Biden told reporters.
Comer and Jordan vowed to hold Hunter Biden in contempt over his failure to appear for the deposition.
Now, the lawmakers say comments from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggest President Biden may have obstructed congressional proceedings.
“The president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say, and I think what you saw was from the heart from his son,” Jean-Pierre told reporters the day Hunter refused to appear for his deposition.
The press secretary’s comments suggest “President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas,” Comer and Jordan wrote.
“In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly included his father, and the President has made false claims about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes.”
The lawmakers note that just days before Hunter was scheduled to appear for his deposition, President Biden claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business partners.
“This is false. The President has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced from his son’s foreign business partners,” Comer and Jordan wrote.
“In light of this evidence, the fact that the President had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas,” the letter said. “Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense.”
The letter asks the White House to turn over all relevant documents “sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden” and “sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding President Biden’s statement about his family’s business associates on December 6, 2023″ by January 10.
The House Oversight Committee has said financial records show the Biden family created a complex web of more than 20 shell companies “in a concerted effort to hide payments from foreign adversaries.” The family, its business associates, and their companies raked in more than $24 million from foreign nationals over a period of five years. That includes millions of dollars from China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan.
The committee has released bank records that purportedly show a complicated series of money transfers that ultimately resulted in President Biden receiving $40,000 that originated with a Chinese company affiliated with CEFC China Energy.
Biden received a $40,000 personal check from an account shared by his brother, James Biden, and sister-in-law, Sara Biden, in September 2017 — money that was marked as a “loan repayment.” The alleged repayment was sent after funds were filtered from Northern International Capital, a Chinese company affiliated with CEFC, through several accounts related to Hunter Biden and eventually down to the personal account shared by James and Sara Biden.
The committee says the series of payments establish a direct benefit Biden received from his family’s business dealings, despite Biden’s claims that he has not been involved.
The Bidens began working with CEFC, a Chinese energy company linked to the CCP, when Joe Biden was vice president. Hunter Biden sent a WhatsApp message to CEFC associate Raymond Zhao on July 30, 2017, demanding a $10 million payment.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. I am very concerned that the Chairman has either changed his mind and broken our deal without telling me or that he is unaware of the promises and assurances that have been made have not been kept,” the message read.
“And Z if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the Chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction,” he added.
The next day, Hunter Biden asked to reshape the partnership to exclude James Gilliar, Rob Walker, and Tony Bobulinski, leaving CEFC working only with James Biden.
“CEFC is willing to cooperate with the family,” Zhao replied.
Walker told the FBI that Biden had appeared at a CEFC meeting in Washington, D.C., with Hunter Biden. Walker acknowledged that the younger Biden had his father attend in order to increase the chances of getting a deal to work out.
Former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer testified that then-vice president Biden joined at least 20 phone calls and in-person meetings with Hunter’s foreign business associates during their time working together. He explained that access to the vice president served as the selling point of the Biden “brand” that allowed him and Hunter several lucrative financial opportunities, including joining the board of Burisma.
At the time, Burisma’s founder and CEO, Mykola Zlochevsky, was being investigated by Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, whom the elder Biden later bragged about having fired.
Then-vice president Joe Biden’s office exchanged 19,335 emails with Hunter Biden’s investment firm Rosemont Seneca, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed earlier this year.