The Latest Development In the Hunter Biden and Biden Family Alleged Influence Peddling Case – There’s a new twist in the Republican lawmakers’ case against Biden family members.
President Joe Biden’s relatives have reportedly been the recipients of a substantial amount of money from foreign companies in what GOP lawmakers believe is an example of influence peddling or perhaps even bribery.
And now the key witness who had acted as an informant is not available for further testimony. The U.S. House investigative committee leader said April 14 he has lost touch with the person.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News that “unfortunately, we can’t track down the informant,” Comer said. “We’re hopeful that the informant is still there. The whistleblower knows the informant. The whistleblower is very credible.”
The Biden Family Has Allegedly Enriched Itself During Vice President’s Tenure
On May 10, the committee released a 36-page document that revealed Biden relatives had received millions of dollars from foreign sources through a web of shell companies when he was vice president. The companies that sent the funds are based in China and Romania.
Several shell companies are involved that may have been set up to protect the source of wife transfers to Hunter Biden and other Biden family members.
The oversight committee believes that these bank records show that the family peddled influence and delivered access in actions that took advantage of Biden’s position as Barack Obama’s number two.
The President May Not Be Involved
So far, Biden himself has not been connected to the wire transfers.
However, the committee believes it has a whistleblower who thinks that the president has been involved and that an FBI document says so.
Comer wants this anonymous whistleblower to testify in front of the panel.
There Could Be a Smoking Gun FBI Document
Comer and Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa have written the DOJ to compel the FBI to make this document available to lawmakers. Comer and Grassley believe it may show bribery in exchange for policy enactments.
The White House has denied the presence of any documents that may show further Biden involvement in a purported influence-peddling scheme.
Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, tweeted earlier this month, that the committee’s activities were “innuendo and insinuation masquerading as investigation. For going on 5 years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded politically motivated attacks against @POTUS without offering evidence for their claims.”
MTG Interjects Herself
On May 15, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who sits on the oversight committee tweeted that “Just to be clear, Our whistleblower for Joe Biden is not missing.” However, Green may have spoken of the original whistleblower, not the informant.
Comer explained earlier, “Well, we’re hopeful that we can find the informant. Remember, these informants are kind of in the spy business, so they don’t make a habit of being seen a lot or being high profile or anything like that.”
The apparent confusion about the witnesses could show that the committee’s investigation is at a stopping point until it can locate the informant. Comer has insinuated that there could be an effort to silence or intimidate this person by the administration.
The committee also needs the document from the FBI that allegedly places the president directly into the bank transfers in exchange for policy decisions. That would be the smoking gun that the committee is looking for.
Comer explained more about the status of various witnesses who could come forward. “They’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing. So, it’s of the utmost importance that the FBI work with us to be able to try to identify what research they’ve done, what investigations they’ve done, because we have people that want to come forward, but honestly, Maria, they fear for their lives.”
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Author Expertise and Experience
Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood 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.
