House Republicans ramp up their Hunter Biden push: Republicans, who appear to believe that the key to undermining and ultimately defeating President Biden goes through his son Hunter, are ramping up their investigations of him.
Hunter Biden Is in the GOP’s Crosshairs
Going back to the general election campaign in 2020, a lot of Republicans seem to believe that the key to defeating Joe Biden is by doing everything they can to attack his son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden has battled drug addiction, has had some complex romantic entanglements, and has done a great deal of business overseas, some of which was likely a result of companies wanting to get close to his father.
There is also a federal investigation underway into Hunter’s taxes, with which Attorney General Merrick Garland has pledged not to interfere, even leaving Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss in place to complete it.
“The U.S. attorney has been advised that he has full authority to make those referrals you’re talking about or to bring cases in other districts if he needs to do that,” Garland said in Congressional testimony on March 1, per Politico.
“He has been advised that he should get anything he needs….I have not heard anything from that office that suggests they are not able to do anything that the U.S. attorney wants them to do.”
Can the GOP Get Hunter? Not So Fast…
The GOP has also been trying to establish that the president has engaged in rampant political corruption in connection with his son, but such attempts have been lackluster, at least so far.
And there remains little evidence that going after Hunter, who does not work in the White House and has had no government job in his father’s administration, is any type of political winner for the Republicans.
Nevertheless, the GOP is readying their latest Hunter-related push.
According to Bloomberg News, House Republicans are seeking to question a Treasury Department official, “about why the agency hasn’t turned over documents regarding President Joe Biden’s family.”
“We are done with the excuses and calling on Assistant Secretary Jonathan Davidson to answer questions under the penalty of perjury next week,” Oversight a]nd Accountability Committee Chair James Comer said this week. “Biden’s Treasury Department’s obstruction will soon compel us to use the power of the gavel to obtain these documents.”
Enter SAR
At issue are Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR), reports generated by the Treasury Department showing, per Thomson Reuters’ definition, that must be filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) “whenever there is a suspected case of money laundering or fraud.” The Committee had asked for reports involving Hunter Biden and some other relatives of the president, including his brother James.
The Oversight Committee had announced a hearing for this Friday, on the topic of “The Biden Family Investigation: The Department of the Treasury,” with Davidson, Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, set to testify as the only witness.
However, the committee’s calendar now lists that hearing as “postponed.” It was one of eight scheduled hearings this week by that committee.
Per the Bloomberg story, Davidson had told the committee that he would not be appearing.
He has said that he wants further details about why the panel wants such information.
The Committee is now asking for Davidson to sit for a private interview on March 14.
Hunter Biden himself has not been called to testify before any Congressional committee in the current Congress, although he was issued a subpoena by the Oversight Committee in February.
Also this week, First Lady Jill Biden defended Hunter Biden, her stepson, in an interview with CNN.
“I love Hunter, and I’ll support him in any way I can,” she said. “That’s how I look at things.” When asked if the Hunter-related investigations factor into “the thinking about 2024,” she replied no.
Hunter Biden and his late brother, Beau, were President Biden’s sons from his first marriage to Neilia Hunter Biden.
Neilia and her daughter Naomi were both killed in a 1972 car accident, shortly after Joe Biden arrived in Washington for his first Senate term.
The future president married Jill Biden in 1977.
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Author Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
