First up on Fox: House Republicans are sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending charges against Hunter Biden and James Biden making false statements He has briefed Congress on “key aspects” of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, Fox News Digital has learned.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-KY, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., who are leading the Test, The criminal referral was sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss on Wednesday, saying the alleged false statements “reflect Joe Biden’s knowledge and his family’s role in the influence peddling schemes and appear to be a calculated effort to protect Joe Biden from the impeachment inquiry.”
House GOP claims Hunter Biden lied under oath multiple times during testimony to Congress
Attached to the letter are 60 pages of records supporting their referral.
House Republicans alleged that Hunter Biden “improperly distanced himself from a corporate entity — Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC — and its bank account (the Rosemont Seneca Bohai bank account) that was the recipient of millions of dollars from foreign individuals and foreign entities who met with then-Vice President Biden before and after transferring funds to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai bank account, which then transferred the funds to Hunter Biden.”
“Hunter Biden also made false statements about whether he held any position at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC. After Hunter Biden was deposed, the committees obtained documents that showed that Hunter Biden had stated he was the corporate secretary,” they wrote. “In addition, Hunter Biden provided entirely fictitious details during his testimony about the threatening text messages he sent to his Chinese business partner, while evading his father’s presence when he wrote the messages. Hunter Biden told the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee that he made this threat to an unrelated individual with the same last name. However, documents released by the Committee on Ways and Means conclusively demonstrate that Hunter Biden made this threat to the intended individual, and bank records prove that Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners sent him millions of dollars following his threat.”
Hunter Biden departs the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
He added: “A portion of the proceeds has been traced to Joe Biden’s bank account.”
As for James Biden, House Republicans said he “stated clearly during his written interview that Joe Biden did not meet James and Mr. Tony Bobulinski, a business associate of Hunter Biden, during the 2017 deal with Chinese entity CEFC China Energy.”
“Specifically, James Biden stated that he did not attend the meeting with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Tony Bobulinski at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on May 2, 2017. These statements were denied not only by Mr. Bobulinski, but by Hunter Biden as well.”
“Mr. Bobulinski has also submitted text messages that establish the events leading up to, and immediately following, his meeting with Joe Biden on May 2, 2017,” they wrote.
“Hunter Biden and James Biden made false statements to the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee, as shown by the evidence presented in the attached referral,” House Republicans said.
“The nature of these false statements is not unknown to the Committee: Each instance reveals Joe Biden’s knowledge of and role in his family’s influence,” they wrote.
Comer invites Biden to testify publicly as part of House impeachment inquiry
James Biden, brother of President Biden, arrives to testify before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees as part of the impeachment inquiry, February 21, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
“Hunter Biden’s denial of his connection to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai bank account obscures the account to which foreign individuals who met with Joe Biden sent funds. Similarly, Hunter Biden’s fabrication of a completely fictitious story in which he sent the threat to the wrong person appears to be an attempt to hide the fact that by citing Joe Biden he succeeded in coercing his Chinese partners to send him money,” they wrote. “It also casts doubt on Hunter Biden’s other testimony about the incident, such as his claim that his father was not actually sitting next to him when the messages were sent.”
He also said that James Biden’s “denial that Joe Biden had a meeting with James Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hunter Biden’s business associate Tony Bobulinski about Chinese dealings — despite the evidence being laid before him and multiple opportunities to amend his answers — appears to be a clumsy attempt to shield Joe Biden from the reality that Joe Biden did in fact meet with his family’s business associates.”
From left, Chairman James Comer, Jason Smith and Jim Jordan attend a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled “Influence Peddling: Investigating Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office” at the Rayburn Building on March 20, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Comer said the Republican investigation showed that “President Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from his family’s exploitation of the Biden name around the world.”
“Despite this record of evidence, President Biden continues to lie to the American people about his involvement in these influence schemes. It appears that making false statements is rampant in the Biden family,” they said, adding that lawmakers “have caught President Biden’s son and brother lying to Congress in what appears to be a concerted effort to conceal Joe Biden’s involvement in their family’s schemes.”
“As part of our efforts to hold the Bidens accountable for profiting from their public office, we are today referring Hunter and James Biden to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution for making false statements to Congress,” Comer said.
He added: “This is not the end of our efforts to hold Biden accountable; it’s only the beginning.”
“Lying to Congress is a serious crime with severe consequences. That’s what both Hunter and James Biden did,” Jordan said. “They lied to cover up President Biden’s involvement in their family’s international influence-peddling schemes, which earned millions of dollars.”
Jordan said the criminal referral “is a reflection of criminal wrongdoing by the Biden family, and the Justice Department must take steps to hold the Bidens accountable.”
Last month, Ways and Means Chairman Smith held a mark-up session to discuss documents protected under IRS code 6103 — a part of the tax code that keeps certain information confidential. Discussing that material without it being properly released by the Ways and Means Committee is considered a crime.
The panel voted to release that information. Smith said it included records that “indisputably” prove Hunter Biden lied under oath multiple times during his deposition to Congress earlier this year.
“President Biden claims that no one is above the law. We will soon see his Justice Department put this theory to the test,” Smith said Wednesday. “Congress cannot allow anyone, not even the president’s son or his brother, to get in the way of oversight of the executive branch or deprive the American people of the accountability they deserve.”
President Biden addresses a campaign event at Pullman Yards in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Werner/Getty Images)
Smith said IRS whistleblowers provided “indisputable evidence that Hunter Biden broke the law and lied to Congress during his deposition in February.”
Smith said that “lying to obstruct an ongoing congressional investigation is a serious offense.”
“If the Justice Department fails to act on our criminal referral and hold Hunter Biden accountable, they will once again tell the American people that there are two levels of justice in this country,” Smith said. “One for the wealthy and politically connected, and another for everyone else.”
House Republicans continue their impeachment inquiry against the president. They are investigating his role and information about his family’s international influence-trading schemes, which they say generated more than $18 million for Biden family members and their companies and more than $27 million, including payments made to his business associates, who they say were often used to transfer money to Biden family members.
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Hunter Biden is currently on trial on federal gun charges brought against him by special counsel David Weiss. He has pleaded not guilty.
Weiss also accused the first son of federal tax crimes. The trial is set to begin Sept. 5 with jury selection in California. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty.
