In defense, the White House has gone on the offensive. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that Republicans are spreading “inaccuracies and lies” about Hunter Biden and the Biden family business dealings in China. Yet, the New York Post (and Fox News) is asserting that proof exists.
“Bank records showing more than $1 million was sent to three Biden relatives in early 2017,” Steven Nelson wrote for the New York Post.
What happened in the briefing room?
Jean-Pierre’s statement responded to Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy’s questioning. (For what it’s worth, both Fox News and the New York Post are owned by Rupert Murdoch.)
“House Oversight says they’ve got bank records showing a Chinese energy company paying three Biden family members through a third party. What were they paid for?” Doocy asked.
“Look, I’m just not going to respond to that from here,” Jean-Pierre responded. “Look, we have heard from House Republicans for years and years and years how, hoe – the inaccuracies and lies when it comes to this issue. And I don’t even know where to begin to even answer that question. Because, again, it’s been lies and lies and inaccuracy for the past couple of years and I’m just not going to get into it from here.”
Representative James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee in question, responded, calling Jean-Pierre “dishonest.”
“Jean-Pierre claims she doesn’t know where to begin when confronted with the facts of our investigation. She can start with the bank records we obtained showing a Chinese energy company paying members of the Biden family over $1 million through an associate,” Comer said. “Bank records don’t lie. The fact that President Biden and his press secretary continue to be dishonest with the American people about the Biden family’s shady business schemes is alarming. The House Oversight Committee will continue to pursue answers, transparency, and accountability for the American people.”
War on the Biden Family: Democrats in the hot seat now
What’s happening now is what was expected to happen when Republicans took back a majority in the House – they are using their newly won power to turn up the heat on the Biden family.
The pretext here, for Comer and Co., is that the Biden’s business dealings abroad compromise the president’s ability to conduct foreign policy with the impartiality that the office requires. And it’s certainly possible that the Biden’s did something at some point that was not kosher.
But I suspect the primary motivation, for Comer and Co., to direct the hulking spotlight of government oversight onto the Biden family, is political in nature.
If the primary motivation is political, well, then that’s rude, petulant, partisan, and wasteful; American taxpayers deserve better.
Yet, it would also be reciprocal.
The Democrats spent years combing over Trump and his family and his business for even the slightest hint of impropriety. Granted, Republicans were the ones to set the modern standard for politically motivated inquiries into sitting presidents (Newt Gingrich’s Republicans went especially hard on Bill Clinton).
But the most recent standard-bearer for politically motivated inquiries is the Democrats. No one expected the Republicans to take back the House and “rise above it all” and let bygones be bygones; everyone knew they were going to wield government like a vindictive weapon.
And whether the Republicans are doing so responsibly, in response to a legitimate wrong, I couldn’t say.
But I have my suspicions.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
