House Republicans vowed they would conduct a comprehensive set of investigations into Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden’s financial dealings, and they have started to deliver on that promise.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky has set a date of March 10 for the first hearing into the Bidens’ business conduct as it pertains to Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden and Family Under a Microscope
The inquiry will also investigate other family members of Joe Biden besides Hunter. The committee is looking into the president’s brother James, and his relatives and their employees.
Comer has long set his sights on examining the Bidens’ international business practices and other domestic financial dealings.
The Republicans have made inquiries into these matters before, but they were not in charge of the committees that will investigate the Biden family. Now the republicans have subpoena power and they are expected to wield it unmercifully.
Comer Believes Bank Documents Will Shine a Light on Biden Schemes
Comer wants to make this avenue of investigation one of the top priorities of the committee, which already has a broad mandate for looking into alleged malfeasance and potential lawbreaking.
Comer has gone after Biden’s bank documents, especially those known as “suspicious activity reports.” Comer has also sent “official requests” to Hunter Biden and James Biden about their overseas business activity.
But No Suspicious Reports Have Materialized
Comer has been frustrated at the roadblocks the committee is encountering to receive the Bidens’ suspicious activity reports. Comer thinks the Treasury Department is stonewalling requests and slow-walking the documents needed for the investigation. Treasury is operating in bad faith, according to Comer. Comer has made his document request directly to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
Treasury Said It Is Proceeding as Quickly as Possible
An official from Treasury has replied that these requests take a substantial amount of time to produce. Workers have to confer with law enforcement and this produces conflict that creates delays. The Treasury Department’s deputy assistant secretary for oversight wrote in a memo to the Oversight Committee.
Docs Will Show Smoking Gun, Committee Believes
Comer and members of the committee want to get their hands on the suspicious activity reports because they believe this could show smoking gun evidence of improper financial dealings associated with the Biden family.
Will This Elevate to a Criminal Level?
Suspicious activity reports are made by financial institutions when they detect “unusual transactions” that could be evidence that criminal activities are taking place.
Nothing to See Here
But CNN pointed out in an article dated March 6 that “such reports are not conclusive and do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. Financial institutions file millions of suspicious activity reports each year and few lead to law enforcement inquiries.”
Excuses from the Treasury Department
Comer is undeterred. He said in a committee news release that “Biden’s Treasury Department continues to make excuses for its failure to provide the suspicious activity reports that are critical to our investigation of the Biden family’s business schemes … At next week’s hearing, a Treasury Department official can explain to Congress and the American people why the department is hiding critical information,” Comer said.
The witness for the hearing will be Jonathan C. Davidson, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs from the Department of the Treasury. The panel proceedings will be open to the public.
Davidson is expected to be grilled by Republicans on the committee, who will relish the time they will be in the majority and able to demand documents and testimony.
Hunter Biden Still Under Tax Investigation
Hunter Biden admitted in December 2020 that he was under federal investigation for alleged wrongdoing with his tax affairs. Biden has said he has handled all of his activities lawfully and appropriately.
President Joe Biden has dismissed the investigation and said last November the American people will find the proceedings to be “just almost a comedy.”
Reporters often shout questions about Hunter to the president and these are usually ignored.
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Author Expertise and Experience: Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwod is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.
