New GOP Oversight chair launches probes into Biden finances, Hunter Biden laptop story

New House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Wednesday launched the GOP’s long-awaited investigation into President Biden and his family’s finances, requesting information from the Treasury Department.

Comer sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking for documents and information on Biden’s family businesses, including any suspicious activity reports (SARs) generated by banks in relation to the Biden family. Comer said in the letter that his committee is investigating Biden’s involvement in his family’s “foreign business practices and international influence peddling schemes.”

Republicans have been preparing to investigate Biden and his family since they won the House majority in the 2022 midterms, saying that the president’s involvement in his family’s businesses, and particularly those related to his son Hunter Biden, could pose a risk to national security.

“The Committee is investigating President Biden’s knowledge of and role in these schemes to assess whether he has compromised our national security at the expense of the American people,” Comer stated in the letter. “Additionally, we will examine drafting legislation to strengthen federal ethics laws regarding employees and their families.”

“We will also examine and make recommendations regarding federal laws and regulations to ensure that financial institutions have the proper internal controls and compliance programs to alert federal agencies of potential money laundering activity,” he added.

Comer said in the letter that the Treasury Department declined the GOP’s requests during the previous Congress, when Democrats held the majority in the House, and that officials later informed him that they would only provide information about SARs if requested by a committee chair.

He said that the requested information should be delivered to the committee no later than Jan. 25.

He also sent a series of letters to former top Twitter executives calling for their testimonies about the company’s handling of news reporting from the New York Post that contained leaked data reportedly obtained from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. He said the executives were responsible for censoring news reporting about the Biden family ahead of the 2020 election.

“Your attendance is necessary because of your role in suppressing Americans’ access to information about the Biden family on Twitter shortly before the 2020 election,” Comer stated in the letters addressed to three different Twitter executives, adding that hearings on the issue will be held the week of Feb. 6.

Twitter temporarily prevented the New York Post and other Twitter users from sharing links to a story that included allegations regarding President Biden and Ukraine with information that reportedly was taken from Hunter Biden’s laptop. At the time, Twitter said the story violated its hacked materials policy.

“This investigation is a top priority for House Republicans during the 118th Congress,” Comer said in a statement. “The investigation will inform legislative solutions to protect Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech and press and prevent public officials and their family members from using public office to enrich themselves.”