House Republicans already have issued an array of demands to executive branch agencies relating to Joe Biden’s involvement with first son Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden’s international dealings
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry Tuesday into President Biden — turbocharging congressional power to acquire documents and testimony about Biden’s role in his family’s foreign business dealings while he was vice president.
House Republicans already have issued an array of demands to executive branch agencies relating to Joe Biden’s involvement with first son Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden’s international dealings — in many cases setting September deadlines that could soon escalate into litigation.
An Oversight Committee-led investigation this year found that the Biden family and their allies brought in at least $20 million from foreign sources, including Hunter Biden’s business associates in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
However, an impeachment inquiry would give congressional investigators greater legal authority to access Biden family financial records and to go to court to enforce subpoenas for records held by the executive branch.
Republicans are also pressing for more information that clarifies why Joe Biden interacted with his scandal-scarred son’s business partners while he was vice president.
“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said at the Capitol Tuesday when announcing the historic proceedings ahead of the 2024 election.
A poll released last week by CNN found that 61% of the American public believes Joe Biden was involved with his son’s dealings, despite his blanket denials — and 42% believe he acted illegally.
A Harvard-Harris poll in May similarly found that 53% of the public believes Joe Biden “was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme.”
Major questions that will be pursued by congressional Republicans include:What’s in Joe Biden’s vice presidential emails?
While vice president, Joe Biden used the pseudonyms “Robert L. Peters” and “Robin Ware” to communicate with staff members — leaving a paper trail of nearly 5,400 written records.
The House Oversight Committee demanded those communications from the National Archives with an Aug. 31 deadline, but a source tells The Post the agency did not comply.
Biden used the official account Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov as well as private email accounts registered to fake names. His then-aide John Flynn cc-d Hunter on 10 emails containing his dad’s daily schedule between May 18 and June 15, 2016, prior disclosures show.
A president’s own words can be especially damning during impeachment inquiries. Former President Richard Nixon, for example, resigned in 1974 only after a smoking gun tape confirmed he was involved in a coverup of the Watergate break-in. What do Hunter Biden’s bank records show?
Congressional Republicans are preparing to issue subpoenas to banks for accounts held by Hunter and James Biden — after previously subpoenaing some of the associates’s bank statements.
The records could show whether any money was transferred to Joe Biden from his relatives’ foreign income streams and also whether they covered a substantial portion of his expenses. It’s possible the House will later seek the president’s bank records too.
Hunter wrote in records retrieved from his abandoned laptop that he had to give “half” of his income to his dad and Comer in May described nine Biden family members who allegedly received foreign income. There’s evidence Hunter paid at least some of Joe’s bills, including for phone service.
“The Oversight Committee will soon pursue Hunter and James Biden’s personal and business bank records,” a panel spokesperson told The Post.
McCarthy said last month that the president should voluntarily “give us his bank statements,” but Biden laughed off the notion when asked by The Post if he would.
Other sources of Joe Biden’s income may become targets for subpoenas, such as records for S corporations through which the first couple routed more than $13 million in income in 2017 and 2018 to avoid Medicare taxes, and funding sources for Joe Biden’s roughly $1 million pay for an alleged “no-show” job at the University of Pennsylvania after his vice presidency and the costs of his ritzy DC office provided by the school.Are there tapes backing up a $10 million Burisma bribe allegation?
Burisma Holdings owner Mykola Zlochevsky allegedly told a paid FBI informant in 2016 that he was “coerced” into paying $10 million in bribes to the Bidens in exchange for VP Biden’s help ousting Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, who was canned by a vote in Kyiv’s parliament in March 2016.
Zlochevsky allegedly kept two audio tapes of Joe Biden, 15 tapes of Hunter Biden and incriminating financial records, according to an FD-1023 FBI file released in July by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
The tipoff was reviewed by the Pittsburgh FBI office in 2020 and referred to the Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’ office for further review. Weiss has refused to provide information on the allegation to congressional Republicans, saying in July that it’s part of an “ongoing investigation.
