House Republicans fired another salvo at President Joe Biden on Wednesday with a memo discussing how money from foreign sources made its way to his family, raising concerns about influence peddling and U.S. national security.
A new memo compiled by GOP staff on the House Oversight Committee focused mainly on Biden’s son, Hunter, who has drawn intense scrutiny over a federal criminal investigation. It comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently said the congressional probe into the Biden family’s finances is “rising to the level” of an impeachment inquiry, while Democrats argue Republicans have not produced any evidence showing the president received any foreign money directly. The elder Biden himself has called allegations of corruption “a bunch of malarkey.”
According to the memo, bank records show that oligarchs from Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan paid millions of dollars to Hunter Biden, his Rosemont Seneca entities, and his business partner Devon Archer — in some cases for work services (such as his board role at Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings), in other cases less clear — when Joe Biden was vice president.
“It appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself. And Hunter Biden seems to have delivered,” Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said in a statement. “This is made clear,” Comer added, by meals at Café Milano in Washington, D.C., where then-Vice President Joe Biden “dined with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son.”
In a recent appearance before the House Oversight Committee, Archer testified to Biden attending dinners with his son’s business partners, as shown in a lightly redacted transcript released by the panel. Archer indicated that Joe Biden did not discuss anything of consequence during these meals or in calls with Hunter’s associates, though he repeatedly emphasized how the Biden family “brand” went a long way in their ventures.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, reacted to the new memo by insisting that his GOP colleagues have “once again released information on financial transactions that do not involve” the president, according to The Messenger. “Instead, they rehash the same Hunter Biden business dealings that Congressional Republicans identified at least three years ago,” he added.
CNN reported that Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said, “Today House Republicans on the Oversight Committee released another memo full of years-old ‘news,’ innuendo, and misdirection — but notably missing, yet again, is any connection to President Biden.”
Comer has said at least 20 “sham” companies and complicated financial transactions have been used to hide money funneled to members of the Biden family. His staff said the Oversight Committee has subpoenaed six different banks aimed at individuals and companies associated with Biden family members and their business associates, leading to the production of thousands of records.
In the new memo, GOP oversight staff also said the committee “has not yet subpoenaed bank records of members of the Biden family.” The memo additionally noted that the panel aims to craft “legislative solutions” geared toward shoring up ethics laws and rules governing the disclosure of financial interests.
GOP oversight staff, who have released two other bank memos this year, further stated that the committee has now identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources — including China — to the Biden family and their business associates. They wrote that the president’s family “is the vehicle to receive bribery payments,” but did not directly assert the Bidens were involved in such schemes, as has been claimed in an alleged Ukraine-centered $5 million scheme recounted by an FBI informant.
McCarthy, the House speaker, said in a post to X that the alleged $20 million-plus haul exposes the “Biden Inc. business model,” which he listed as including: “Get rich from foreign money,” “Evade taxes,” and, “Prosecute political rivals” — a nod to the criminal inquiries against former President Donald Trump.
As whistleblowers say the federal criminal inquiry looking into Hunter Biden has been slow-walked in a way that precluded more-serious charges, Department of Justice leaders have pushed back against claims of politicization. The 53-year-old first son may yet be charged with Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations, prosecutors said in court last month as a plea deal related to alleged tax and gun crimes hit a roadblock.
Comer said on Wednesday that the House Oversight Committee “will continue to follow the money trail and obtain witness testimony to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised or corrupt, and our national security is threatened.”