Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
The House Oversight Committee sent formal requests for information regarding the foreign business dealings of James Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hunter’s business partner Eric Schwerin to investigate if the Biden family has used Joe Biden’s political positions to “sell access around the world.”
The investigation into the Biden family influence peddling aims to uncover if the president had “knowledge of and role in these foreign business dealings” and to discover to what extent the foreign business deals have compromised U.S. national security, according to letters sent to the president’s brother James, the president’s son Hunter, and Schwerin by the Oversight Committee.
“Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections. 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,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) stated on Thursday.
The expanded investigation requests that the new key witnesses in the investigation turn over any document, record, or communication with a government classification marking. They also want to see any communication with President Biden regarding international or domestic travel and financial activity beginning from Jan. 20, 2009, when he first began his vice presidency role, to Jan. 20, 2021.
Comer has additionally requested any communication with President Biden, James Biden, or Sara Biden during that period regarding 26 individuals and companies.
“The American people deserve transparency and accountability about the Biden family’s influence peddling. The Oversight Committee is committed to exposing the waste, fraud, and abuse that has taken place at the highest levels of our government,” Comer said.
The majority of Americans agree according to a CNS News poll released on Feb. 2, shortly after Comer first used the term “influence peddling” when announcing the Oversight Committee investigation. One thousand U.S. likely voters responded to the allegation that the Biden family has been selling access to U.S. politics through their White House connection.
Of those polled, 59% agreed that the Bidens had “been influence-peddling for a decade,” with 46% signaling a strong agreement with the phrase.
HUNTER RECOMMENDED INFORMATION GATEKEEPER
There has been a flurry of activity in the past week from the Oversight Committee regarding the Biden family investigation.
The Committee has zeroed in on a ‘gatekeeper’ for documents from Biden’s time as vice president. Kathy Chung served on Biden’s staff from July 2012 and was still on staff as an executive assistant in January 2017. She had keycard access to the Penn-Biden Center and was tasked with packing up classified documents for the National Archives and Records Administration in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.
According to the letter Comer sent Chung on Feb. 4, Hunter first recommended her for his dad’s staff in May 2012. He referred to her as a potential replacement for the “primary gatekeeper for the VP’ and explained Chung would handle “all personal stuff” for the then-vice president.
“The Committee believes your proximity to Vice President Biden and role as handler of his personal matters gave you access not only to classified material he maintained after leaving the White House, but also to the Biden family’s business schemes,” Comer wrote, before requesting Chung turn over relevant communications and documents to the investigation.
On Wednesday, the committee held a hearing on Twitter’s censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
FBI WHISTLEBLOWERS ALLEGE BIDEN FAMILY CRIMINAL CONDUCT
The FBI allegedly has evidence of potential criminal conduct in the extended Biden family as well as evidence that the president was aware of his son’s business dealings, according to a statement made by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Thursday. Grassley has a whistleblower form set up on his website for the misconduct of federal agencies.
“Other whistleblower disclosures to my office make clear that the FBI has within its possession very significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter and James Biden,” Grassley said. “These disclosures also allege that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business dealings and may have been involved in some of it. We still aren’t sure what’s been done with this information.”
"Whistleblower disclosures to my office make clear that the FBI has..evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter…[They] also allege that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden's business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them." – @ChuckGrassley pic.twitter.com/5Cp9lx4ecM
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) February 9, 2023
Grassley has previously called on the FBI to release these records. He noted that while he first made these claims in May 2022, the FBI has not once disputed the accuracy of the whistleblower allegations.