House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is requesting unfettered access to documents that show communications between President Joe Biden’s office when he was vice president and his son Hunter‘s business partners.
A letter sent on Wednesday to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said Comer’s panel seeks “unrestricted special access” to records that have already been released with redactions pursuant to the Presidential Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The records were posted to NARA’s website in response to FOIA litigation brought by America First Legal, a group led by Stephen Miller, who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Comer said the “complete” versions of the documents are relevant to his committee’s investigation into the Biden family and provided a list of specific requests that he asked to be fulfilled by September 20.
The chairman noted some exchanges that have already drawn interest.
“For example, on December 4, 2015, at 10:45 a.m. — in an email with the subject of ‘Quotes’—Eric Schwerin (a longtime Biden family business associate) wrote to Kate Bedingfield in the Office of the Vice President providing quotes the White House should use in response to media outreach regarding Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company,” the letter said.
“Later that day — at 2:30 p.m. — Ms. Bedingfield responded to Mr. Schwerin saying, ‘VP signed off on this[.]’ The timing of this email traffic is concerning to the Committee,” the letter added, noting that according to recent testimony by another Biden family associate Devon Archer, “after a Burisma board of directors meeting in Dubai — on the evening of December 4, 2015 (midday in
Washington, D.C.) — Hunter Biden ‘called D.C.’ to discuss pressure that Burisma asked him to relieve.”
In addition to communications between the elder Biden’s vice presidential office and particular individuals known to have been associates of Hunter, including at Ukrainian energy company Burisma, Comer pressed NARA to provide all executive calendars for then-Vice President Biden dating from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017 — the entire duration of the Obama administration.
The Daily Wire reached out to NARA seeking comment on the letter and an update on the agency’s response to Comer’s last documents request about President Biden’s alleged use of a fake name.
A NARA spokesperson said the agency received Comer’s request and “will respond in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA), NARA’s implementing regulations, and the governing Executive Order.” NARA also provided a link to a press release discussing the process for how the agency deals with a “special access request.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
For years, Joe Biden claimed to have never spoken to Hunter about his business dealings, but as the oversight panel uncovered more evidence, the White House has taken to saying the elder Biden never did business with his son — who is facing a criminal inquiry now led by a special counsel. Although Democrats have repeatedly attacked Comer’s probe, it may soon feed into an impeachment inquiry over allegations of corruption.
“Joe Biden never built an ‘absolute wall’ between his family’s business dealings and his official government work – his office doors were wide open to Hunter Biden’s associates. There is evidence of collusion in the efforts to spin media stories about Burisma’s corruption while Vice President Biden was publicly pushing an anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine,” Comer said in a statement.
“Suspiciously, Hunter Biden’s associate had a media statement on Burisma approved by Vice President Biden himself the same day Hunter Biden ‘called D.C.’ for help with the government pressure facing Burisma,” Comer added. “Americans demand accountability for this abuse of government office for the benefit of the Biden family. The Oversight Committee will continue to pursue all evidence to provide much needed transparency to the American people.”