Tag Archive for: james comer

CIA Blocked Probe Into Hunter Biden’s ‘Sugar Brother’ Kevin Morris, Docs Show

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The CIA appeared to instruct the Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for Delaware, Lesley Wolf, to block an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) team’s investigation into Hunter Biden from using his benefactor, Kevin Morris, as a witness, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley said in an affidavit the House Ways and Means Committee released Wednesday.

Shapley, as a lead investigator for the IRS Criminal Division, was heading a probe into Biden in August 2021 when Wolf informed him that she and DOJ Tax Attorney Jack Morgan had been summoned to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Wolf, Morgan and the CIA discussed Hunter Biden’s associate and benefactor, Kevin Morris, Shapley said in the affidavit.

Shapley and his team were considering using Morris as a witness for their case against Biden, but Wolf apparently shut the possibility down.

“AUSA Wolf stated that they were provided a classified briefing in relation to Mr. Morris and as a result we could no longer pursue him as a witness,” Shapley stated.

Morris has been a generous donor to Biden, buying 11 of his paintings and loaning him at least $5 million for tax debts and to cover personal expenses, Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer revealed in a January press release.

Shapley asked Wolf to give him a classified briefing on the information she learned that prompted her to eliminate Morris as a viable witness, but she failed to share any information with him, Shapley said.

“Although AUSA Wolf initially appeared to be receptive to facilitating a briefing for me on the information, she ignored multiple attempts by me to arrange the briefing,” Shapley claimed in the affidavit.

Wolf, upon her return from the meeting in Langley, appeared to flaunt agency-branded merchandise she acquired at their headquarters, according to Shapley.

“AUSA Wolf proudly referenced a CIA mug and stated that she purchased some CIA ‘swag’ at the gift shop while she was there,” Shapley shared.

Shapley had been investigating Hunter Biden for potential criminal tax code violations until the DOJ removed him from the investigation in May 2023 after Shapley disclosed concerns to Congress about alleged prosecutorial mishandling of the investigation.

AUTHOR

ROBERT MCGREEVY

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

KEVIN MOONEY: Biden Admin’s New Climate Rules Could Mean Big Payday For His Buddies, Burden For American Businesses

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In a setback for former government officials and attorneys poised to cash in on proposed climate disclosure rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission continued to kick the ball down the road last year.

Many of the objections raised in public comments revolve around so-called Scope 3 emissions that are not directly produced by companies and instead result from what occurs “upstream” and “downstream” of a company’s activities. That’s a problem because if the SEC rule is finalized the commission would effectively extend its jurisdiction to include private companies that transact business with public firms registered with the SEC.

There’s a strong case to be made that under this scenario the commission would be overstepping its authority, which would help to explain why the SEC has continuously slow-walked its proposal.

But there’s additional intrigue involving a somewhat unheralded “carbon accounting” firm equipped with specialized software known as Persefoni that could also gum up the works. The for-profit outfit founded in 2020 has managed to recruit several high-ranking SEC officials who all had a hand in crafting the climate rules first introduced in March 2022.

These include Allison Herren Lee, a former acting chair of the SEC, Kristina Wyatt, who served as the SEC’s senior counsel for climate and environmental, social, and corporate government (ESG), and Emily Pierce who served as the SEC’s assistant director in the Office of International Affairs.

The SEC estimates that it will cost anywhere from $460,000 to $640,000 for companies to comply with the new rules during the first year they are in operation. Given the complexity involved in tracking Scope 3 emissions, it’s not too difficult to imagine how Persefoni stands to benefit financially from software and accounting services specifically tailored for this purpose.

In fact, that appears to have been the plan right from the get-go. Influence Watch describes how the accounting firm and environmental activists joined forces to have substantial input on the disclosure rules. Moreover, Persefoni is prominently mentioned throughout the SEC proposal. But it’s not just carbon accountants who stand to benefit at the expense of companies that fall within the purview of the SEC.

Dan Kish, a senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, a Washington-based nonprofit, sees a potential “big payday for law firms” attached to the SEC’s supply chain reporting mandates.

“This is all about expanding the size and scope of government,” he said in an interview. “Lawyers can get involved with a class action lawsuit and they’ll say this particular company didn’t properly report their emissions. You can expect the lawyers to take a huge chunk from these suits. This gets into very gray areas about how a company can be expected to account for every single item along the supply chain.”

Kish continued:

“You’ll have lawyers intervening supposedly to protect the public interest, but they’ll be raking in all kinds of cash. The process doesn’t stop here since the law firms will then dump campaign contributions into the coffers of the people pushing these policies.”

The SEC’s actions can be viewed as just one small part of President Biden’s “whole-of-government effort” to push climate initiatives at the expense of taxpayers and energy producers.

Companies in the energy-intensive states, such as Pennsylvania, will likely feel a greater financial burden, explained Gordon Tomb, a senior fellow with Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank headquartered in Harrisburg, explained. (RELATED: DAVID BLACKMON: Left-Wing Billionaires Have A New Plan Up Their Sleeves In War On Fossil Fuels)

“Pennsylvania is the second largest net supplier of energy to other states and the largest exporter of electricity to other states,” Tomb said. “As such, private companies supporting enterprises that emit carbon dioxide in the production of energy number at least in the hundreds and their employees in the many thousands. Imposing costs artificially constructed to advance a quasi-religious climate ideology and create ways for the politically connected to make money without producing a benefit is viciously economically destructive.”

Ultimately, it’s up to Congress to reign in overreaching executive agencies. Last June, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, (R-K.Y.) and Senate Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott (R-S.C.) sent a joint letter to the SEC seeking information and documentation providing insight into the commission’s relationship with Persefoni and environmental activist groups. That’s an encouraging sign, but hardly sufficient for the potential victims of burdensome new regulations.

AUTHOR

KEVIN MOONEY

Kevin Mooney is the Senior Investigative Reporter at the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank, and writes for several national publications. Twitter: @KevinMooneyDC.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Hunter Biden Caves To House Republicans, Agrees To Sit For Deposition If Lawmakers Issue New Subpoena

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Hunter Biden caved to House Republican pressure Friday and told lawmakers he will sit for a deposition behind closed doors after all.

His defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote a letter Friday to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan informing lawmakers that Biden will comply with a new subpoena to sit for a deposition.

READ THE LETTER:

“Consequently, the November 8 and 9, 2023, deposition subpoenas to Mr. Biden and the contempt resolutions approved by your committees on January 10, 2024, based on those subpoenas were and are legally invalid. You have not explained why you are not interested in transparency and having the American people witness the full and complete testimony of Mr. Biden at a public hearing,” Lowell’s letter concludes.

“If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition. We will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden’s behalf.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced Friday morning the chamber will hold a floor vote next week on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for dodging subpoenas to appear for a closed-door deposition on Dec. 13. It’s unclear if House Republicans will proceed with holding Hunter Biden in contempt in the wake of Lowell’s letter.

Biden and Lowell previously offered to have him testify publicly and skip the closed-door session. Republican lawmakers rejected Biden’s proposal and told him to appear for the private session before testifying publicly.

Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance Wednesday at the House Oversight Committee’s markup hearing on a resolution and accompanying report to hold him in contempt. He sat in the crowd with Lowell and his financier, Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, for a few minutes before dashing out when Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began her line of questioning.

After he stormed the hearing, Hunter Biden flew back to Los Angeles, California, where he pleaded not guilty Thursday to nine federal tax related charges at an arraignment. He faces up to 17 years in prison for the tax charges.

House Republicans voted on Dec. 13 to officially authorize the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden after Hunter staged a press conference on Capitol Hill instead of attending the scheduled deposition.

The impeachment inquiry began in September without a floor vote to formalize it.

Henry Rodgers contributed to this report

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

James Comer, Jim Jordan Threaten Hunter Biden With Contempt Of Congress

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan are threatening to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of congress if he refuses to appear for a closed-door deposition.

Comer and Jordan wrote a letter Wednesday to Abbe D. Lowell, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, informing Lowell the committees will initiate proceedings to hold Hunter Biden in contempt if he does not abide by a subpoena and appear for a deposition on Dec. 13.

READ THE LETTER:

“Contrary to the assertions in your letter, there is no ‘choice’ for Mr. Biden to make; the subpoenas compel him to appear for a
deposition on December 13. If Mr. Biden does not appear for his deposition on December 13, 2023, the Committees will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” the letter reads.

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Hunter Biden in November to appear for a deposition before the committee. Lowell countered with an offer for Hunter Biden to testify publicly and skip the deposition.

Comer and Jordan are leading the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into Hunter Biden alongside Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith. All three rejected Hunter Biden’s counter offer and demanded he answer questions behind closed doors before testifying publicly.

House lawmakers are also seeking testimony from Hunter Biden’s uncle James Biden and multiple former business associates of the first son.

Henry Rodgers contributed to this report. This is a breaking news story and it will be updated. 

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Hunter Biden Sent Direct Monthly Payments To Joe Biden From Bank Account For Chinese Money, Comer Reveals

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Hunter Biden sent his father, President Joe Biden, monthly payments from the bank account he used to receive money from Chinese business associates, newly released bank records show.

House Oversight Committee James Comer shared a video Monday on Twitter revealing redacted bank records containing direct payments to Joe Biden from Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. bank account.

“Today, the House Oversight Committee is releasing subpoenaed bank records that show Hunter Biden’s business entity, Owasco PC, made direct monthly payments to Joe Biden. This wasn’t a payment from Hunter Biden’s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,” Comer says in the video. The payments appear to have taken place beginning in September 2018, the bank records show.

“Payments from Hunter’s business entity to Joe Biden are now part of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes.”

REDACTED BANK RECORDS:

A payment from Sept. 2018 released by the Oversight Committee appears to be a $1,380 expense, the same amount Hunter Biden owed his father for reimbursements related to a Ford Raptor truck, according to an email from his abandoned laptop archive first reported by the Washington Examiner. Hunter Biden’s Ford Raptor appeared to be insured by Joe Biden, according to a New York Post report of Hunter Biden’s bills based on the laptop archive.

Comer subpoenaed Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden’s personal and business records in late September after the first impeachment inquiry hearing for President Biden. He released bank records Nov. 1 showing how funds originating in China resulted in a $40,000 check to Joe Biden in September 2017.

A Chinese firm sent $5 million to Hunter Biden’s firm Hudson West III in August 2017, shortly after he established the business entity with a Chinese business associate. Hunter Biden proceeded to wire $400,000 to his Owasco P.C. account and over $130,000 to another one of his corporate accounts, according to the bank records.

Next, Hunter Biden provided $150,000 to the Lion Hall Group, James Biden and his wife Sara Biden’s business account. James Biden and Sara Biden put $50,000 into their personal account and then sent a $40,000 check to Joe Biden, the bank records show.

The check to Joe Biden is classified as a loan repayment and the White House has said repeatedly the check was for the purpose of paying off a loan. A bank investigator later flagged the money sent to Hudson West III and redirected to Owasco P.C., according to an email Comer disclosed on Nov. 29.

Hunter Biden made just under $1 million from the Hudson West III arrangement in 2017, according to his failed guilty plea deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for two tax misdemeanors. He admitted in court to making money from the Hudson West III arrangement and direct payments from Chinese infrastructure company CEFC before his plea deal imploded. 

Special counsel David Weiss continues to scrutinize Biden’s taxes and reportedly subpoenaed James Biden with assistance from a California grand jury.

Comer subpoenaed Hunter Biden and James Biden in November to have them appear before the Oversight Committee for closed-door depositions. James Biden “signaled” his cooperation with the Oversight Committee’s subpoena, Comer said in November.

Abbe D. Lowell, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, countered with an offer for Hunter Biden to skip the deposition and testify publicly instead. Comer rejected Lowell’s offer and demanded Hunter Biden appear for the deposition before he testifies in a public setting.

Comer is also seeking depositions from multiple former business associates of Hunter Biden’s, including Rob Walker, a business associate who received and distributed $3 million of payments from Chinese business associates, according to bank records released in March.

Over a period of three months in spring 2017, Walker wired incremental payments to Owasco P.C. and other Biden family bank accounts, the documents show.

Walker told the FBI Joe Biden met with his son’s Chinese business associates at least once after his vice presidency concluded, according to a transcript of Walker’s December 2020 interview with federal agents. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden falsely stated his son never received money from China.

“There is not a single financial transaction between President Biden and his son related to or involving any of Hunter Biden’s business ventures or prior private commercial dealings,” Hunter Biden’s legal team said in a recent memo, according to the Washington Post.

“Hunter Biden’s business transactions were legitimate and well-documented in written agreements, and transactions legally tracked in his businesses’ bank statements.”

Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith are leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. So far, investigators have uncovered more than $24 million received by the Biden family and its business associates from foreign sources over a five year period.

House Republicans are weighing a floor vote on the impeachment inquiry to expand its scope.

Henry Rodgers contributed to this report.

This story has been updated to include more information about Hunter’s payments to Joe Biden. 

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Comer Unveils Bank Records Showing Joe Biden Received $40,000 Of ‘Laundered’ Chinese Money

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer released bank records Wednesday showing President Joe Biden previously took a $40,000 check from his family members soon after they received the money from Chinese business associates.

Comer posted a video on X outlining bank records which show how various Biden family members took money from Chinese business associates and wired it to Joe Biden shortly thereafter.

“Well, not only did he lie about his son Hunter making money in China, but it also turns out that $40,000 in laundered China money landed in Joe Biden’s bank account in the form of a personal check,” Comer says in the video. “First, Northern International Capital, a Chinese company associated with CEFC, wired $5,000,000 to Hudson West III, a joint venture established by Hunter Biden and a CEFC associate.”

“Then, Hudson West III sent $400,000 to an entity owned and controlled by Hunter Biden. Next, Hunter Biden wired $150,000 to Lion Hall Group, a company owned by Joe Biden’s brother James and sister-in-law Sara Biden. Sara Biden then withdrew $50,000 in cash from Lion Hall Group,” Comer continues.

“Later the same day, she deposited it into her and James Biden’s personal checking account. A few days later, Sara Biden cut a check to Joe Biden for $40,000. The memo line of the check said, ‘loan repayment.’”

The Oversight Committee released a memo containing bank records of the transactions between the Biden family and its Chinese business associates which resulted in Joe Biden taking $40,000 of Chinese money in September 2017. Hunter Biden told his office manager he was “office mates” with Joe Biden and CEFC in late September 2017, around the time Joe Biden received a $40,000 check from money originating in China.

READ THE MEMO:

The bank records indicate Hunter Biden wired $400,000 to his Owasco account on Aug. 8, 2017, the same day Hudson West III was sent $5 million. He sent $130,000 from Owasco to his Rosemont Seneca Advisors LLC account, an LLC he previously used to purchase his Porsche.

Hunter Biden wired $150,000 from Owasco to James and Sara Biden’s Lion Hall Group on Aug. 17, 2017, the bank records show. Lion Hall’s balance was reduced to $115,822 because of purchases made between Aug. 14 and Aug. 25, 2017, after the funds came in from Hunter Biden.

Sara Biden wired $50,000 from Lion Hall on Aug. 28, 2017, and $50,000 was deposited into her personal account with her husband on the same day. Sara and James Biden’s personal account had a $46.88 balance prior to the $50,000 deposit, bank records show. She sent the check to Joe Biden on Sept. 3, 2017, for a “loan repayment” less than a month after James Biden’s business relationship with Hudson West III began.

James Biden’s Lion Hall Group took payments directly from Hudson West III throughout 2018 for a total of more than $76,000, the bank records show.

The memo lays out the Biden family’s relationship with CEFC, which began when Joe Biden was vice president, according to an FBI FD-302 summarizing an interview with Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Tony Bobulinski.

“CEFC had used its relationship with HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN – and the influence attached to the BIDEN name – to advance CEFC’s interests abroad. HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN did not receive any monetary compensation for their assistance in these projects. HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN did not receive any compensation because JOSEPH BIDEN was still VPOTUS during this time period,” the document reads.

Bobulinski provided the FBI with a hard drive full of communications with Hunter Biden, and told the FBI the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop reporting was real, the FD-302 form states.

The New York Post first reported on the contents of Biden’s abandoned laptop in October 2020, ahead of the presidential election. One email thread shared by the New York Post included an email from Hunter Biden’s business associate James Gilliar in which he floated giving Joe Biden a 10% equity stake in a business deal.

“10 held by H for the big guy?” Gilliar asked Hunter Biden, Bobulinski and former business associate Rob Walker. The $40,000 Joe Biden received appears to be a 10% cut of the $400,000 Hunter Biden wired to himself from the Hudson West III business in August 2017.

In the email thread, Gilliar appeared to be referring to a proposed $10 million joint venture with CEFC called “sinohawk,” and Bobulinski said he spoke about the deal with Joe Biden at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel in May 2017.

“BOBULINSKI stated that he was in possession of multiple texts from HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN asking BOBULINSKI to leave JOSEPH BIDEN out of any written communications,” the FD-302 form reads. The texts Bobulinski spoke about were shared by the Oversight Committee.

“Further, BOBULINSKI met with JOSEPH BIDEN inperson on May 2, 2017 at approximately 10:30 PM at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel bar in Beverly Hills, California where they discussed SINOHAWK. On the following day, May 3, 2017, BOBULINSKI was JOSEPH BIDEN’s guest at the Milken Institute conference, where JOSEPH BIDEN was a speaker. After his speech, BOBULINSKI met with JOSEPH BIDEN for about fifteen minutes backstage,” the form adds.

A page on the Milken Institute’s website confirms Joe Biden’s speech delivered in May 2017 after his vice presidency had concluded. Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace went through the details of Bobulinski’s FD-302 form at the first impeachment hearing into President Biden. (RELATED: FBI, DOJ Officials Were ‘Openly Mocking’ Congressional Inquiries Into Hunter Biden Investigation, Memo Alleges)

In addition, the bank records memo cites an FBI interview with Walker in which he described a meeting Joe Biden allegedly attended with CEFC associates after his vice presidency. Walker agreed with his FBI interviewer who characterized Joe Biden’s presence as a move by Hunter Biden to secure a deal with CEFC, according to a transcript of his interview.

Walker also indicated that he golfed with Joe Biden up to a dozen times, typically at Hunter Biden’s invitation, the transcript shows. Walker recalled a golf outing with then-Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the late Beau Biden at the Bulle Rock golf course in Havre de Grace, Maryland, which an email from Hunter Biden’s laptop archive appears to confirm.

Walker received $3 million from Chinese firm State Energy HK, an account described by the FBI as a CEFC cutout on an FBI FD-302 summarizing Walker’s interview. Bank records released in March by the Oversight Committee show Walker sent roughly $1 million of the State Energy HK money to the Biden family. The Oversight Committee has requested Walker appear for an interview before the Committee.

Hunter Biden and James Biden entered into a business arrangement with CEFC called Hudson West III in August 2017, according to the Oversight Committee. Hunter Biden admitted in court to the business arrangement with CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked businessman who was arrested by Chinese authorities on bribery charges.

James Biden told FBI and IRS investigators during an interview that Hunter Biden compared Jianming to CCP leader Xi Jinping to promote CEFC, according to an internal memo released by the Ways and Means Committee. He also told investigators he was only paid by Hudson West through Hunter Biden’s Owasco account, a claim contradicted by the Oversight Committee’s bank records, according to the bank records memo. (RELATED: FBI Received ‘Criminal Information’ On Joe And Hunter Biden From Over 40 Confidential Sources, Sen Grassley Finds)

Hunter Biden’s failed guilty plea with the Department of Justice (DOJ) says he made just under $1 million in 2017 from Hudson West III. He also made more than $600,000 from CEFC in the same year, including and a $100,000 payment Hunter Biden received a day after he sent a boastful text to a CEFC associate.

“The Biden’s [sic] are the best I know at doing exactly what the Chairman wants,” Hunter Biden wrote Aug. 3, 2017, the Oversight Committee revealed in June. The next day, CEFC sent $100,000 to Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. shell company.

A few days earlier, Hunter Biden sent a Chinese business associate a threatening text invoking his father’s presence in the room, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley disclosed when he testified to the Ways and Means Committee in May. The transcript of Shapley’s testimony was publicized in late June.

“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter Biden texted, according to Shapley.

“And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father,” Biden added, Shapley testified.

Images from Hunter Biden’s laptop archive show he was with his father on the day he allegedly sent the threatening text, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

Hunter Biden received two payments from Chinese business associates with Joe Biden’s Delaware residence listed as the beneficiary address, the Oversight Committee disclosed in September.

One of those payments was a $250,000 loan in August 2019 from Chinese business associate Jonathan Li, who Joe Biden got coffee with in Beijing and whose daughter secured a college recommendation letter from then-Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified to the Oversight Committee in July.

Hunter Biden was living in California and recovering from addiction at the time of the payments from China featuring Joe Biden’s residence as the beneficiary address, his failed guilty plea indicates. Hunter Biden’s purported financial benefactor, Kevin Morris, later assumed the loan debt, according to the Oversight Committee. Morris was previously identified as the donor who paid roughly $2 million of Hunter Biden’s overdue taxes.

James Biden told investigators he thanked Morris “on behalf of the family” for assisting Hunter Biden, while denying any knowledge of Morris’ relationship with the younger Biden, the IRS memo shows. Morris is reportedly helping Hunter Biden pay his mounting legal bills and advising him to take an aggressive legal stance against his political opponents.

Joe Biden was running for the Democratic presidential nomination at the time of Li’s payment. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden falsely claimed his son did not make any money from China during a debate against then-incumbent President Donald Trump.

The White House responded to the payments by downplaying the significance of Chinese business associates using Joe Biden’s residence as the beneficiary address.

The Oversight Committee subpoenaed Hunter Biden and James Biden’s bank records in September, after the first impeachment inquiry hearing. Comer previously revealed on X a $200,000 payment James Biden sent to Joe Biden on the same day James Biden took on a $200,000 loan from distressed healthcare firm Americore.

James Biden signaled to Americore his last name would “open doors” and promised the company a significant investment from the Middle East, bankruptcy court filings show. The White House defended James Biden’s payment by pointing out that his check classifies the $200,000 as a “loan repayment,” a claim Comer says was not substantiated by the bank records in his possession.

“We previously exposed a $200,000 payment James made to his brother Joe that came from funds provided by a now bankrupt health care company called Americore. Like the payment to Joe from Americore funds, it’s certainly plausible that this payment where James and Sara used funds from China was indeed a loan repayment to Joe,” Comer says in his latest X video.

“But even if this $40,000 check was a loan repayment from James Biden, it still shows how Joe benefited from his family cashing in on his name – with money from China no less. Without his family peddling his name and his son threatening a CEFC associate with consequences that he said Joe Biden knew about, James wouldn’t have had the money to write the $40,000 check to his brother Joe,” he adds.

The House Ways and Means Committee released the FBI documents in September alongside a trove of documents supporting the testimony of IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Both whistleblowers have accused the DOJ of giving Hunter Biden special treatment during its ongoing investigation into his taxes and firearms possession.

Ziegler confirmed the payments from State Energy HK when he testified publicly in July. He also said the Hudson West III business arrangement brought in $3.7 million for all parties involved.

Hunter Biden is suing the IRS because of what his legal team believes are illegal disclosures by the whistleblowers in their testimony and media appearances. He was indicted in September on three federal gun charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The Biden family and its business associates brought in more than $24 million from Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan from 2014-19, according to a House memo publicized prior to the first impeachment inquiry hearing.

The $24 million figure came from suspicious activity reports sent to the Treasury Department by financial services providers, Comer said during the hearing.

The White House in June said Joe Biden was “not in business” with his son upon the release of Shapley’s testimony.

“Comer’s lies and conspiracy theories are getting more desperate by the day,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said on X when the bank records were released. “This has been widely debunked for more than a week now.”

Henry Rodgers contributed to this report.

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

James Comer Announces Subpoenas For Hunter And James Biden’s Bank Records

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Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Thursday he is issuing subpoenas for personal and business bank records from Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden.

Comer announced the new subpoenas at the conclusion of the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden led by the House Oversight Committee.

“I want to thank the witnesses for their testimony today. It confirms the evidence compiled by this committee justifies the investigation of Joe Biden’s role in his family’s international business schemes and justifies the next step of this investigation,” Comer said in his closing statement.

“Therefore, today I will subpoena the bank records of Hunter Biden, James Biden and their affiliated companies,” Comer concluded.

Comer clarified during the hearing that the bank records already obtained by House Oversight came from suspicious activity reports sent by banks to the Treasury Department flagging the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.

The House Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight Committees are leading the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden related to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the IRS whistleblower testimony accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of giving Hunter Biden special treatment during its ongoing investigation into Biden’s alleged tax and gun offenses.

The chairmen of the three committees circulated a memo Wednesday showing the Biden family and its associates brought in more than $24 million from Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan from 2014-19 through a network of shell companies. Joe Biden’s false statements about his knowledge of his son’s business dealings and Hunter Biden’s business dealings with China were also included in the memo.

The House Ways and Means Committee released 700 pages of documents Wednesday substantiating IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler’s testimonies that DOJ investigators allegedly slow-walked and obstructed the Hunter Biden investigation.

Among the documents are text messages from Hunter Biden, a memo summarizing an interview with James Biden, internal DOJ correspondence, internal IRS documents, emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop archive, diagrams outlining Hunter Biden’s network of business entities and communications with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.

Burisma paid Hunter Biden more than $80,000 per month to be a board member of the company despite his lack of experience with Ukrainian affairs and the energy industry, bank records indicate.

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry continue to investigate the IRS whistleblower allegations alongside House Oversight’s investigation of the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Would Have Sent Hunter Biden A Subpoena By Now’: Matt Gaetz Blasts McCarthy On Impeachment, Says He’s ‘Not Serious’

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Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz blasted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy about the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry in an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“We don’t put our pencils down in the investigation of President Biden during a shutdown, so the premise is false,” Gaetz said. “Second, if Kevin McCarthy was actually serious about pursuing the Bidens, he would have sent Hunter Biden a subpoena by now.”

The congressman referred to House Republicans as “fundamentally unserious,” comparing their progress on the Biden investigation to House Democrats who “brought in Donald Trump Jr. three times over nothing” when they had the majority.

Despite Gaetz’s dissatisfaction, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said that the investigation is “following the money” in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. He told Hannity that they will “continue to follow the money” and “if that leads to Joe Biden, or Hunter Biden, or to Jim Biden,” subpoenas will be issued.

On government spending, Gaetz said he is “not pro-shutdown,” proposing “separate, single-subject spending bills” instead of “one up or down vote on the entire government all at once.” The congressman claimed Kevin McCarthy “promised that in January” and is “in breach of that promise.”

“I’m not here to hold the government hostage,” Gaetz told Bartiromo. “I’m here to hold Kevin McCarthy to his word.”

AUTHOR

JULIANNA FRIEMAN

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

House Committee Has Identified ‘Six New Biden Family Members’ Involved In ‘Shady’ Transactions, Rep. Comer Says

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Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said Monday that investigators with the House Oversight Committee identified six more members of the Biden family involved in what he called “shady” transactions.

“I have had staff there over the past two weeks. There are thousands of pages of documents relating to financial transactions,” Comer told Fox Business host and former Trump administration official Larry Kudlow. “Let me be very clear, this isn’t just about the president’s son or the president’s brother.”

“We’ve identified six new Biden family members involved in shady foreign transactions, that we believe were a direct result of influence peddling that brings the number of Biden family members now to nine that were involved in the Biden family influence peddling,” Comer continued.

WATCH:

Comer said many of the deals were tied to Hunter Biden, whose abandoned laptop was the subject of an October 2020 report by the New York Post that was censored by social media companies in the weeks before the 2020 election.

Documents from the laptop were previously authenticated by the Daily Caller in October 2020, while the Washington Post and New York Times confirmed the authenticity of the data in March 2022.

“I have already issued six subpoenas to banks, I already have those bank records in hand,” Comer told Kudlow. “Now we’re looking at additional banks because we learned of new accounts and new LLCs we didn’t know existed.”

A spokesperson for Comer referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a statement released by the House Oversight Committee. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

AUTHOR

HAROLD HUTCHISON

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Joe Biden ‘Knew’ Hunter Was On Burisma Board While Pushing For Fracking In Ukraine, Former Obama Stenographer Says

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

House Republicans Demand Documents From Prosecutor Investigating Trump

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Three House Republican committee chairmen are demanding documents from the New York prosecutor who is investigating former President Donald Trump’s payments to an adult actress.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, and House Administration Committee chairman Bryan Steil are calling on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to provide all documents and communications involving his investigation into Trump, as well as sit for a transcribed interview. A New York grand jury is investigating Trump’s 2016 payments to Stormy Daniels, and the former president said Saturday that he expects to be arrested Tuesday, March 21.

“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority: the indictment of a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office. This indictment comes after years of your office searching for a basis—any basis—on which to bring charges, ultimately settling on a novel legal theory untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue,” the lawmakers wrote.

Elected Republican officials and presidential candidates have defended Trump against the likely prosecution, highlighting liberal billionaire George Soros’ donations to Bragg. The Manhattan DA has also declined to prosecute numerous felonies, the Republicans have noted, while investigating Trump for allegedly falsifying business records, a misdemeanor.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy pledged action against Bragg on Sunday at the House Republican Conference retreat, telling reporters that he was speaking with Jordan about it. He later added that he does not believe people should protest an indictment.

“Your decision to pursue such a politically motivated prosecution—while adopting progressive criminal justice policies that allow career ‘criminals [to] run[ ] the streets’ of Manhattan—requires congressional scrutiny about how public safety funds appropriated by Congress are implemented by local law–enforcement agencies. In addition, your apparent decision to pursue criminal charges where federal authorities declined to do so requires oversight to inform potential legislative reforms about the delineation of prosecutorial authority between federal and local officials. Finally, because the circumstances of this matter stem, in part, from Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, Congress may consider legislative reforms to the authorities of special counsels and their relationships with other prosecuting entities,” the Republicans added.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, paid Daniels $130,000 days before the 2016 election as part of a non-disclosure agreement related to an affair. Daniels later violated the NDA and was ordered to pay Trump $300,000. Prosecutors reportedly believe that the payment violated New York law since Trump classified it as a “legal expense.”

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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RELATED TWEET:

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Treasury Department To Hand Over Hunter Biden’s Banking Records

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The Treasury Department will allow members of the House Oversight and Government Accountability Committee to review Suspicious Activities Reports (SARs) detailing Hunter Biden’s bank records, committee chairman James Comer of Kentucky said Tuesday.

The Oversight Committee initially requested in January that Treasury officials provide Biden’s SARs, which are taken by banks in accordance with federal law when deposits or withdrawals exceed $10,000 or may indicate criminal activity. Assistant Treasury Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jonathan Davidson responded that the Oversight Committee did not identify a purpose for the request. Comer believes that Treasury holds more than 150 reports on Biden.

“After two months of dragging their feet, the Treasury Department is finally providing us with access to the suspicious activity reports for the Biden family and their associates’ business transactions. It should never have taken us threatening to hold a hearing and conduct a transcribed interview with an official under the penalty of perjury for Treasury to finally accommodate part of our request,” Comer said in a statement.

The Treasury Department changed a rule to limit the ability of minority party members to request SARs, Comer asserted in July 2022. He argued that the department made the change to limit Republican investigations into Hunter Biden.

“We are going to continue to use bank documents and suspicious activity reports to follow the money trail to determine the extent of the Biden family’s business schemes, if Joe Biden is compromised by these deals, and if there is a national security threat. If Treasury tries to stonewall our investigation again, we will continue to use tools at our disposal to compel compliance,” Comer added.

The Lion Hall Group, a company controlled by Hunter’s uncle James Biden, paid Hunter Biden a $100,000 monthly retainer. Those payments were reportedly flagged, as was a $100,000 payment from Chinese billionaire Ye Jianming to Owasco, Hunter Biden’s law firm.

Large payments to “politically-exposed people” like Hunter Biden can be part of “malign foreign influence campaigns,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray testified in August 2022.

“It starts to shade into a blend of what we call malign foreign influence with potential public corruption. And it’s something we take seriously,” he told Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

RELATED ARTICLE: Hunter Biden’s Business Dealings Created ‘Counterintelligence And Extortion Concerns,’ Senate Report Says

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.