Hunter Biden nixes probe request for docs
The game of political tennis that is the House GOP’s probe into Hunter Biden and the Biden family’s business dealings saw some play Thursday, and Hunter’s return of serve was weak.
His attorney denied a request for documents and information from the Oversight and Accountability Committee, saying it has “no legislative purpose,” The Hill reported.
“Peddling your own inaccurate and baseless conclusions under the guise of a real investigation, turns the Committee into ‘Wonderland’ and you into the Queen of Hearts shouting, ‘sentence first, verdict afterwords,’” Abbe David Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, wrote a letter sent Thursday.
We’d draw comparisons with the Russian collusion probe against Trump, but that shot would be too easy. Are memories that short in Washington?
Lowell said that the committee’s assertion that the influence-peddling investigation will assist with “drafting legislation to strengthen ethics laws regarding public officials and their families” is an “attempt to invent a legislative purpose that is thinly veiled, at best.”
Considering that Congressional lawmakers from both sides of the aisle introduced bills banning members of Congress from trading and owning stocks last month after public pressure, the idea that investigating possible ethics violations would be irrelevant to future legislation is a tepid dodge at best.
Lowell offered to sit down with House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member Jamie Raskin (DMd.) and committee staff to see whether Hunter Biden has any information “that may inform some legitimate legislative purpose.”
Translation: We’ll tell you what we think you should see. Maybe.
Comer sent letters to Hunter Biden, the president’s brother James Biden and Hunter Biden’s business associate Eric Schwerin on Wednesday evening to request a wide range of communications and documents, including financial information, contracts, leases and real estate transactions.
“Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections,” Comer said in a statement. “Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world, including individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party, to enrich themselves to the detriment of American interests. If President Biden is compromised by deals with foreign adversaries and they are impacting his decision making, this is a threat to national security.”
The Oversight chairman had asked that the Bidens provide the requested information by Feb. 22.
Good luck with that.
One would think that Joe Biden and his family would be eager to demonstrate that there’s “no there there” when it comes to allegations of shady business dealings and ethics violations by turning over documents to investigators.
When Biden showed up for work on his first day in office, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki vowed that his administration would “bring transparency and truth back to government.”
Now’s his chance.