Congressman James Comer, in issuing three subpoenas for bank records from President Biden’s brother, James Biden, his son, Hunter Biden, and his son’s business associate, Eric Schwerin, is likely firing the first shot in a lengthy legal battle.

“From day one of our investigation of Joe Biden’s abuse of public office, we’ve followed the money and that continues with today’s subpoenas for Hunter and James Biden’s bank records,” Mr. Comer said in a statement. “Bank records don’t lie, and coupled with witness testimony, they reveal that Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain.” 

The House Oversight Committee chairman, Mr. Comer, announced the subpoenas after the first hearing for the impeachment inquiry on Thursday.

At the hearing committee members heard testimony from a legal scholar, an accountant, and a tax lawyer who laid out the conceptual and legal grounds for a hypothetical formal impeachment inquiry. A law professor, Jonathan Turley, said that Republicans could not justify articles impeachment with current evidence and that he would vote “no” if he had to vote on impeachment based on the current case.

“I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment. That is something that an inquiry has to establish,” Mr. Turley said. “But I also believe that the House has passed the threshold for an impeachment inquiry into the conduct of President Biden.”

A date or witness list has yet to be announced for the next impeachment hearing. 

In his statement on the subpoenas, Mr. Comer said that he hoped that his subpoenas would be able to determine where income, which was initially sent to “associates” of members of the president’s family, “was finally sent.”

“The subpoenaed bank records will help the Committees determine whether Joe Biden abused his office by selling access and/or by receiving payments or other benefits in exchange for official acts, which is a critical aspect of the Committees’ impeachment inquiry,” the subpoena notification read.

The subpoenas will likely set off a lengthy legal battle that could benefit anyone looking to draw out the investigation, according to the president-elect of the New York County Lawyers Association, Richard Swanson.

“Congress’s power to subpoena evidence is at its maximum when it’s exercising its impeachment authority so I don’t think any challenges to these subpoenas will be successful,” Mr. Swanson tells the Sun. “Having said that I wouldn’t be surprised to see challenges to these subpoenas as part of an overall delay strategy.”

According to Mr. Swanson, the most concrete reason for House Republicans to launch an impeachment inquiry is so they have a good argument for why these subpoenas are part of Congress’s official powers. He does say, however, the challenges to the subpoenas could take months to resolve.

“It would take a district court probably at least three months to litigate and from there there is an appeal which, could take upwards of six months and even to the next election,” Mr. Swanson says.