House Republicans referred two members of President Joe Biden‘s family — his son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden — for criminal prosecution on Wednesday over allegations that they lied while testifying as part of the corruption-focused impeachment inquiry into the commander in chief.
A letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss recommended that both Biden family members be charged with making false statements and Hunter Biden also get charged with perjury. Hunter Biden and James Biden “made provably false statements … about key aspects of the impeachment inquiry, in what appears to be a conscious effort to hinder the investigation’s focus on President Joe Biden,” wrote Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who was joined by Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).
Millions of dollars made by Biden family members and their companies have spurred concerns about potential influence-peddling schemes involving Joe Biden dating back to when he served as vice president. As part of the impeachment inquiry, the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees conducted a transcribed interview with James Biden on February 21. Hunter Biden, who like James Biden was subpoenaed to testify, appeared on February 28 for a deposition in which he testified under oath. Both men, who had counsel with them, have denied President Biden benefited from their work.
It remains to be seen whether either Biden gets charged for their testimony. A criminal referral from Congress does not compel federal prosecutors to open a case. After Smith publicly accused Hunter Biden of lying to Congress last month, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell responded, “Here they go again, grasping at straws and twisting Hunter’s testimony to try to revive an impeachment inquiry that was a complete and utter failure.”
The letter from the impeachment leaders to Department of Justice officials on Wednesday describes three instances, two involving Hunter Biden and one focused on James Biden, in which the lawmakers have centered their claims that the witnesses were less than truthful during their testimony.
“Specifically, Hunter Biden falsely distanced himself from a corporate entity — Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC — and its bank account (Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account) that was the recipient of millions of dollars from foreign individuals and foreign entities who met with then-Vice President Biden before and after transmitting money to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account that then transferred funds to Hunter Biden,” the letter stated.
“Hunter Biden made additional false statements as to whether he held positions at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC,” the letter added. “After deposing Hunter Biden, the Committees obtained documents showing Hunter Biden represented that he was the corporate secretary. Additionally, Hunter Biden during his testimony relayed an entirely fictitious account about threatening text messages he sent to his Chinese business partner while invoking his father’s presence with him as he wrote the messages. Hunter Biden told the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee he had transmitted this threat to an unrelated individual with the same surname. However, documents released by the Committee on Ways and Means demonstrate conclusively that Hunter Biden made this threat to the intended individual, and bank records prove Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners wired millions of dollars to him after his threat. A portion of the proceeds has been traced to Joe Biden’s bank account.”
The letter provides an explanation of the alleged false statements by James Biden in relation to his dealings with Tony Bobulinski, who also testified for the impeachment inquiry. Bobulinski made a public hearing appearance in March during which he accused Hunter Biden and James Biden of perjuring themselves. Hunter Biden has said that he did not find Bobulinski to be “credible.” Jim Biden said in his interview that he was not “fond” of Bobulinski and responded “yes” when asked if he would describe Bobulinski as a “bully” during an exchange about their ill-fated team-up.
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“With respect to James Biden, he stated unequivocally during his transcribed interview that Joe Biden did not meet with Mr. Tony Bobulinski, a business associate of James and Hunter Biden, in 2017 while pursuing a deal with a Chinese entity, CEFC China Energy,” said the letter from the impeachment investigators. “Specifically, James Biden stated he did not attend a meeting with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Tony Bobulinski on May 2, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. These statements were contradicted not only by Mr. Bobulinski, but Hunter Biden. Mr. Bobulinski also produced text messages that establish the events leading up to and immediately following his meeting with Joe Biden on May 2, 2017.”
Hunter Biden is already facing two criminal cases led by Weiss that could result in prison time. The first son has pleaded not guilty to gun charges in a case set in Delaware and tax charges in California. His gun-related trial began this week, while the tax trial in California is set to start in September.
The GOP lawmakers said the DOJ “should consider Hunter Biden’s prior alleged criminal activity when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described in the attached. Because Hunter Biden was federally indicted in two different jurisdictions at the time of his Congressional deposition, he was also subject to two federal court orders stating that he could not commit any crimes while on federal supervised release.”