WASHINGTON (CN) — House Republicans took a major step Wednesday in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, issuing legal summonses to his son and brother as they try to tie the president to what some lawmakers have attempted to frame as shady business dealings.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer signed the trio of subpoenas, issued to President Biden’s son Hunter, his brother James and family associate Rob Walker.
Comer, who has led Republicans’ charge to impeach the president, also issued an interview request to James Biden’s wife Sara — as well as to Hallie Biden, widow of President Biden’s late son Beau.
Since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy authorized the House in September to begin formal impeachment proceedings against President Biden, Comer and congressional Republicans have scrambled to implicate him in his family’s business.
While lawmakers have long focused on what they say was the president’s role in securing Hunter Biden a seat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, they have in recent weeks dialed in on a $200,000 check given to President Biden from James Biden back in 2018.
The check — an image of which was published by the House Oversight Committee — appears to be for “loan repayment." But Comer has suggested that the money was connected to more nefarious dealings, arguing that James Biden had received a similar sum on the same day from a business partner.
Comer has resisted retorts from Democrats that a wealth of bank records — which his committee possesses — disprove his theory.
In a statement Wednesday, the White House accused Republicans of undertaking a smear campaign against President Biden, saying Comer had caved to “the demands of the most extreme far-right members of the House GOP.”
“They will continue throwing spaghetti at the wall,” the White House said, “resorting to what the Speaker [Mike Johnson] has called ‘desperate measures’ as their impeachment stunt goes ‘downhill.’”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Follow @BenjaminSWeiss
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
