House Republicans Vow To Forge Ahead With Probe of Biden ‘Family Schemes’ as They Denounce Hunter Biden’s ‘Sweetheart Deal’

Speaker McCarthy said the plea deal should help the GOP’s investigation as the FBI will no longer be able to cite an ‘ongoing investigation’ when resisting handing over evidence to House investigators.

AP/Patrick Semansky, file
President Biden attends his granddaughter Maisy Biden's commencement ceremony with first lady Jill Biden and children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden at the University of Pennsylvania. AP/Patrick Semansky, file

Following the announcement that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to tax evasion, House Republicans are vowing to proceed with their wide-ranging investigation into the First Family’s financial dealings, including their probe into whether Vice President Biden took a bribe during the Obama administration.

“We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family schemes are revealed,” the chairman of the House oversight committee, Congressman James Comer, said after the plea deal was disclosed in federal court on Tuesday morning. 

Mr. Comer called the plea — which is expected to spare Mr. Biden any jail time — a “sweetheart” deal that “reveals a two-tiered system of justice” that goes easy on Mr. Biden fils even as the Justice Department goes aggressively after President Trump. 

One member of the oversight committee, Congressman Nick Langworthy, said he and his colleagues will continue to investigate Hunter Biden’s “blatant bribery, foreign influence peddling, and corruption are coming into focus” through the committee’s work. 

Speaker McCarthy echoed those sentiments. “Now this does nothing to our investigation,” he said of the plea deal on Tuesday. “It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that there’s a pending investigation. They should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires.”

“How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say there’s still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? That’s unacceptable and will not stand,” he added, referring to the FBI’s resistance to turning over a whistleblower form that alleges Mr. Biden received a $5 million bribe while he was vice president. 

The FBI has consistently argued that they are unable to turn over information related to the alleged bribe due to the fact that it is still being investigated and that the whistleblower is an important source whose identity must be protected. Neither the younger Mr. Biden nor his father face any criminal charges related to the alleged bribe, and the president calls the bribery allegations “malarkey.”

The oversight committee won a major victory last week when a former close friend and associate of the first son, Devon Archer, agreed to cooperate with the congressional investigation. Archer — who served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma alongside Mr. Biden — was subpoenaed by the committee on June 13 and, by the end of the week, was in talks to sit for a deposition with committee members and staff. 

One source who spoke with The New York Sun on the condition of anonymity said Archer showed “willingness” to come forward and is “in compliance with the subpoena” as of now. “The committee is in communication with Devon Archer’s attorneys about appearing on another day,” the source, who works on the committee, said. 

In 2018, Archer was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud after defrauding a Native American tribe of more $60 million alongside his business partners, but not involving Hunter Biden. Archer recently lost his appeal to overturn his conviction, which resulted in a one-year prison sentence, the forfeiture of more than $15 million, and restitution payments amounting to $43 million. 

Shortly after his 2018 conviction, a federal judge declared Archer to be innocent, but that decision was later overturned by an appellate court. After the conviction was declared null, Mr. Biden texted his old friend and colleague to say it was the “first good news in way too long my friend. I am so happy for you.” 

The future first son added that “we’ll have the last laugh” and also used expletives to refer to prosecutors. The text messages were reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon after being retrieved from Mr. Biden’s laptop. 

Mr. Comer’s subpoena described Archer “as possessing information relevant to its investigation” into the alleged bribe that was paid to both Mr. Biden and his father while he was vice president, said to amount to $10 million. According to the whistleblower report filed with the FBI, the bribe was allegedly paid by the founder of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, with whom Archer worked for years. 

Another fruitful area of investigation for the oversight committee has been the existence, the committee contends, of a web of shell companies used by Mr. Biden and his associate, Rob Walker, to wire money indirectly  to members of the Biden family from foreign entities in Communist China and Ukraine. 

According to emails recovered from Hunter Biden’s laptop, the New York Post reports, the younger Mr. Biden also worked with Burisma officials in 2016 — when he was sitting on the company’s board — to open a bank account at a now-defunct bank at Malta. That bank, identified by the Post as Satabank, later had its operating license revoked for not following international money laundering and terrorism laws that govern the tracking of finances. 

The Post also first reported that Mr. Biden sent personal tax and finance information to a Burisma colleague, who then opened an account with the bank on his behalf.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use