As a part of the ongoing Joe Biden impeachment inquiry, House Republicans issued subpoenas to members of the Biden family on Wednesday.
The House Oversight Committee ordered the president’s son and brother — Hunter Biden and James Biden — as well as Rob Walker, a business associate of the Biden family, to testify under oath.
“Now, the House Oversight Committee is going to bring in members of the Biden family and their associates to question them on this record of evidence,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House committee, in a statement. “Unlike the many lies President Biden told the American people about his family’s business schemes, bank records don’t lie.”
White House reacts to GOP’s subpoena request
In response to the subpoena, Ian Sams, the special assistant to the president and the White House Oversight spokesperson, issued a memo, calling these efforts a distraction.
“With just over a week to go until House Republicans may again thrust the country into a harmful and chaotic government shutdown, the most extreme voices in their party like James Comer are trying to distract from their repeated failures to govern,” he said in the memo, which was uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Apart from the subpoenas, the House GOP also requested voluntary interviews with Tony Bobulinsky, another business associate, Sara Biden, James Biden’s wife and Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, the president’s oldest son, who was romantically involved with Hunter Biden.
This list also included Hallie Biden’s sister Elizabeth Secundy and Hunter Biden’s wife. Melissa Cohen, as CNN reporter Annie Grayer posted on X.
“They’re all private citizens,” said Sams, adding that Comer “should be ashamed of desperately reporting to nasty personal smears like this.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyer sends House Speaker Mike Johnson a letter
Prior to the issuance of the subpoenas, Hunter Biden’s lawyers sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to rein in Republican chairmen like Comer who are threatening to question Biden, his family and his business partners under oath.
Abbe Lowell, the lawyer, alleged that Comer, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri were repeating “worn-out, false, baseless or debunked claims,” in the 12-paged letter obtained by USA Today.
“We write today to urge you, Mr. Speaker, to use your newly minted leadership post responsibly and ask you to think twice before joining this spectacle,” Lowell wrote. “Even in the era of ‘alternative facts,’ your colleagues’ manipulation and disregard for the truth is breathtaking.”
But Johnson’s deputy chief of staff for communications, Raj Shah, pushed back on the request to deescalate the probe into the Biden family.
“President Biden and the White House have repeatedly lied to the American people about his involvement and knowledge of the Biden family’s business dealings — receiving millions through their shell companies — from foreign adversaries,” he said, as reported by a Fox News White House correspondent.
The House Oversight Committee alleges it has uncovered evidence of then-Vice President Biden’s involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings with his son’s clients in China, Russia and Ukraine, which led to millions in financial gain for Hunter Biden and other family members, raising ethical questions about whether the president acted within legal bounds.
This evidence led to the launch of the impeachment inquiry against President Biden. The efforts slowed down after Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted, but picked up speed after Johnson took over the role of speakership.
Shortly after securing the gavel, Johnson threw his support behind the inquiry, saying it was the GOP’s “constitutional responsibility.”
“Next to the declaration of war, impeachment is probably the most serious power that Congress has,” Johnson said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “We do not wield it for political purposes, but we are following the truth where it leads.”
Special counsel David Weiss gives testimony behind closed doors
As the House Oversight Committee prepared to question members of the Biden family, the House Judiciary Committee invited special counsel David Weiss, who is presiding over the investigation into Hunter Biden, to testify.
Republicans had previously shown distrust in Weiss’ appointment to special counsel. This reaction came after two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers alleged that Weiss struggled to bring the charges forward when conducting the investigation under the Trump administration. They also alleged that he was denied special counsel status last year, as the Deseret News reported.
In response to the allegations, Weiss said that he did not request special counsel status in a letter and only discussed a “potential appointment” that would allow him “to file charges in a district outside my own without the partnership of the local U.S. Attorney.”
He maintained this stance at his closed-door testimony Tuesday, which he voluntarily agreed to give in hopes of clearing “misunderstandings about the scope of my authority,” according to CBS News.
“I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case,” Weiss told members of the House committee. “At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice.”