WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Wednesday opened their promised investigation into President Joe Biden and his family, using the power of their new majority to demand information from the Treasury Department and former Twitter executives as they established the bases for the public hearings.
“Now that Democrats no longer have one-party government in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in a statement.
The Republican-led committee sent a series of letters requesting financial information from the Treasury Department about financial transactions by members of the Biden family that were flagged as suspicious activity. These reports are routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government, and are not in and of themselves evidence of wrongdoing.
Lawmakers also sought testimony from several former Twitter executives who were involved in the company’s handling of an October 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden, the president’s youngest son. Republicans say this story was suppressed for political reasons.
Moving quickly after seizing control of the House, Republicans are setting up a messy and politically explosive showdown with the White House that could deepen the president’s family affairs and shape the contours of the 2024 race for White House
“In their first week as a governing majority, House Republicans have taken no meaningful action to address inflation and lower costs for Americans, but are jumping out of the gate with policy gimmicks pushed by the most extreme members from his caucus MAGA to an effort to draw attention to Fox News,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement, referring to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan Make America Great Again.
In a statement, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on oversight, echoed the White House’s sentiment, saying Democrats will work with Republicans “when they get serious about addressing the issues that affect the people American”.
The Department of Finance declined to comment.
Comer and other Republicans laid out their plan to investigate the Biden family the day after winning a slim majority in November’s midterm elections. The Kentucky Republican told reporters that there are “troubling questions,” specifically about the business dealings of Hunter Biden and one of the president’s brothers, James Biden, that require further investigation.
GOP investigations into the Biden family are nothing new. Republican lawmakers and their staff have been analyzing messages and financial transactions found on a laptop that belonged to Hunter Biden for the past year. Comer told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he has been in contact with Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who led the Senate investigative effort against Hunter Biden, and that there is an exchange of information between the two chambers.
But Republicans now have subpoena power in the House, giving them the authority to compel testimony and conduct a much more aggressive investigation.
Republicans have discussed issuing congressional subpoenas to foreign entities that did business with Hunter Biden, and recently asked James Mandolfo, a former federal prosecutor, to assist in the investigation as general counsel for the Oversight panel.
Hunter Biden’s taxes and foreign business work are already under federal investigation, with a grand jury in Delaware hearing testimony in recent months. Although he never held a position on the presidential campaign or in the White House, his membership on the board of a Ukrainian energy company and his efforts to strike deals in China have long raised questions about if he traded in his father’s public service, among others. references in his e-mails to “big guy”.
Joe Biden has said he has never spoken to his son about his foreign dealings. And there is no indication that the federal investigation implicates the president in any way.
Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Fatima Hussein and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
