Biden’s alleged quid pro quo is fueling Congress’ impeachment efforts
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports that Congress is accusing President Biden of conditioning aid to Israel.
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending Hunter Biden and James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress about "key aspects" of the impeachment inquiry of 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 have been leading the inquiry, sent the criminal referrals to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Special Counsel David Weiss on Wednesday, saying the alleged false statements "implicate Joe Biden’s knowledge and role in his family’s influence peddling schemes and appear to be a calculated effort to shield Joe Biden from the impeachment inquiry."
HOUSE GOP CLAIMS HUNTER BIDEN LIED UNDER OATH MULTIPLE TIMES DURING CONGRESSIONAL DEPOSITION
Attached to the letter are 60 pages of records supporting their referral.
House Republicans allege Hunter Biden "falsely distanced himself from a corporate entity — Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC — and its bank account (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 transmitting money to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account that then transferred funds to Hunter Biden."
"Hunter Biden made additional false statements as to whether he held positions at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC. After deposing Hunter Biden, the Committees obtained documents showing Hunter Biden represented that he was the corporate secretary," they wrote. "Additionally, Hunter Biden during his testimony relayed an entirely fictitious account about threatening text messages he sent to his Chinese business partner while invoking his father’s presence with him as he wrote the messages. Hunter Biden told the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee he had transmitted this threat to an unrelated individual with the same surname. However, documents released by the Committee on Ways and Means demonstrate conclusively that Hunter Biden made this threat to the intended individual, and bank records prove Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners wired millions of dollars to him after his threat."
Hunter Biden departs from federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
They added: "A portion of the proceeds has been traced to Joe Biden’s bank account."
As for James Biden, House Republicans said he "stated unequivocally during his transcribed interview that Joe Biden did not meet with Mr. Tony Bobulinski, a business associate of James and Hunter Biden, in 2017 while pursuing a deal with a Chinese entity, CEFC China Energy.
"Specifically, James Biden stated he did not attend a meeting with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Tony Bobulinski on May 2, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. These statements were contradicted not only by Mr. Bobulinski, but Hunter Biden."
"Mr. Bobulinski also produced text messages that establish the events leading up to and immediately following his meeting with Joe Biden on May 2, 2017," they wrote.
House Republicans said, "Hunter Biden and James Biden made materially false statements to the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee, as demonstrated by the evidence presented in the attached referral."
"The nature of these false statements is not lost on the Committees: every instance implicates Joe Biden’s knowledge of and role in his family’s influence peddling," they wrote.
COMER INVITES BIDEN TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY AS PART OF HOUSE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
James Biden, brother of President Biden, arrives for a deposition before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees as part of their impeachment inquiry in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
"Hunter Biden denying his affiliation with the Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account obfuscates the account to which foreign individuals who met with Joe Biden transmitted funds. Similarly, Hunter Biden creating from whole cloth a fiction in which he transmitted a threat to the wrong individual appears to be an attempt to hide the fact that invoking Joe Biden succeeded in coercing his Chinese partners to send him money," they wrote. "It also calls into doubt Hunter Biden’s other testimony about that event, such as his contention that his father was not, in fact, sitting next to him when he transmitted the message."
They also said James Biden’s "denial that Joe Biden’s meeting with James Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hunter Biden’s business associate for a Chinese transaction, Tony Bobulinski, took place — despite evidence being placed in front of him and being given multiple opportunities to amend his response — appears to be a clumsy attempt to protect Joe Biden from the reality that Joe Biden has indeed met with his family’s business associates."
From left, Chairmen James Comer, Jason Smith and Jim Jordan attend the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled "Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden's Abuse of Public Office" in the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C., on March 20. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Comer said Republicans' investigation "has revealed President Biden knew about, participated in, and benefitted from his family cashing in on 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-peddling schemes. It appears making false statements runs in the Biden family," he said, adding that lawmakers have "caught President Biden’s son and brother making blatant lies to Congress in what appears to be a concerted effort to hide Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s schemes."
"As part of our efforts to hold the Bidens accountable for profiting off public office, we are today referring Hunter and James Biden to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution for making false statements to Congress," Comer said.
He added: "This is not the end of our efforts to hold the Bidens accountable; it’s only the beginning."
"Lying to Congress is a serious crime with serious consequences. Both Hunter and James Biden did just that," Jordan said. "They lied to cover up President Biden’s involvement in their family’s international influence peddling schemes that have generated millions of dollars."
Jordan said the criminal referrals are "a reflection of criminal wrongdoing by the Biden family, and the Department of Justice 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 portion 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 felony.
The panel voted to release that information. Included were records Smith said prove "indisputably" that Hunter Biden lied under oath multiple times during his congressional deposition earlier this year.
"President Biden claims no one is above the law. We will soon see his Department of Justice put that principle to the test," Smith said Wednesday. "Congress cannot allow anyone, not even the president’s son or his brother, to stand in the way of its oversight of the executive branch or deny the American people the accountability they deserve."
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards in Atlanta on March 9. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Smith said IRS whistleblowers "have provided indisputable evidence that Hunter Biden broke the law and lied to Congress during his February deposition."
Smith maintained that "lying to Congress to impede an ongoing congressional investigation is a serious crime."
"If the Department of Justice fails to act on our criminal referral and hold Hunter Biden accountable, they will once again be telling the American people there are two tiers of justice in this country," Smith said. "One for the wealthy and politically connected, and one for everyone else."
House Republicans are continuing their impeachment inquiry against the president. They are investigating his role and knowledge of his family’s international influence-peddling schemes that they say generated more than $18 million for Biden family members and their companies, and more than $27 million, when including the payments to their business associates, who they say were often used to transfer funds to Biden family members.
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Hunter Biden is currently on trial stemming from federal gun charges brought against him by Special Counsel David Weiss. He pleaded not guilty.
Weiss also charged the first son with federal tax crimes. That trial is set to begin on Sept. 5 with jury selection in California. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty.
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