House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, in an unprecedented move, invited President Biden to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry against him, stressing that it is \u2018in the best interest of the American people\u2019 for him to answer questions from members of Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer urged Biden to accept his invitation in a letter sent Thursday, obtained by Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018During the 118th Congress, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has been investigating influence peddling conducted by you and your family,\u2019 Comer wrote, noting that the committee has \u2018accounted for over $24 million that has flowed from foreign sources to you, your family, and their business associates.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer said the committee has identified \u2018no legitimate services to merit such lucrative payments.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You have repeatedly denied playing any role in your family\u2019s business activities, but the Committee has amassed evidence\u2014including bank records and witness testimony\u2014that wholly contradicts your position on these matters,\u2019 Comer wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer went on to say that the White House \u2018has taken a position hostile to the Committee\u2019s investigation and refuses to release certain information or make available witnesses to testify regarding issues relevant to the ongoing impeachment inquiry currently authorized by the full House of Representatives.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House\u2019s obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from Members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do so,\u2019 Comer wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer said that the committee is \u2018open to accommodating your schedule but proposes April 16, 2024, for the hearing to occur.\u2019<\/p>\n
Comer said that the impeachment investigation has moved \u2018in phases, beginning with a review of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) held by the Treasury Department. Comer said those SARs gave the committee \u2018sufficient information to determine which bank accounts to narrowly target in issuing subpoenas.\u2019<\/p>\n
Next, Comer said the committee issued subpoenas for bank accounts belonging to Biden family members and their entities that received foreign funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018This phase highlighted the over $15 million received by members of your family, and the Committee has traced tens of thousands of dollars from China to your bank account as well,\u2019 he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer said the next phase was the \u2018interview phase,\u2019 explaining that the committee brought in multiple witnesses, including Hunter Biden and the president\u2019s brother, James Biden, for depositions. Comer said those witnesses provided \u2018inconsistent testimony regarding your role in your family\u2019s businesses.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hunter Biden appeared for his highly anticipated closed-door deposition last month before both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, where he maintained that his father was never involved in, nor ever benefited from his businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The committee also heard testimony from James Biden, the president\u2019s younger brother, who testified the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter Biden did admit, however, that he put his father on speakerphone with his business associates and invited him to drop by his business lunches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Comer said two of those witnesses, Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, testified publicly that Biden \u2018participated in schemes to provide access to your or others\u2019 offices in exchange for payments to your family.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bobulinski worked on a joint-venture with Hunter Biden and a Chinese energy company. Galanis worked with Hunter Biden as well. Galanis is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence related to securities fraud. He has testified as part of the inquiry twice from prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018The public is left with two irreconcilable narratives. The first\u2014asserted by you\u2014is that you did not engage in influence peddling in exchange for payments to your family,\u2019 Comer wrote, adding that the second is that Biden was \u2018indeed involved in these pay-for-influence schemes and that you have been repeatedly untruthful regarding a matter relevant to national security and your own fitness to serve as President of the United States.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer went on to detail the \u2018body of evidence\u2019 collected through testimony and records, including meetings Biden had with Hunter Biden\u2019s Chinese business partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You have asserted your family has not made money from China. However, the Committee has identified approximately $10 million originating from China connected to Biden influence peddling. Former business associates of your family have testified that you personally met with multiple individuals from China who have collectively sent millions of dollars to your family,\u2019 Comer wrote. \u2018Many of these meetings and business development occurred while you were Vice President or campaigning to be President.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer, in the letter, asked Biden to confirm whether those meetings took place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer also questioned Biden on whether he has spoken to or interacted with executives of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, including with the chairman, Mykola Zlochevsky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You have asserted that your pressuring Ukraine in 2015 to fire a government official investigating a company in which your son had a financial interest was wholly in line with U.S. policy. The Committee has received bank records showing that your son was paid $1 million per year for his position on the board of the Ukrainian company Burisma until you left public office and then his salary was inexplicably cut in half,\u2019 Comer wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer also pressed further for information surrounding the decision to push for the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Burisma while Hunter Biden sat on the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for Russia, Comer wrote that witnesses testified that Biden \u2018regularly joined meetings by speakerphone, including with certain Russian individuals with whom your son did business.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018The Committee has identified several instances in which your involvement aligned with your family receiving money originating from Russia,\u2019 Comer wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Comer said the committee \u2018identified and successfully traced money from foreign transactions\u2014including from China\u2014to your own bank accounts.\u2019 Comer said those checks were described as \u2018loan repayments\u2019 from his brother, James Biden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer asked Biden to respond to whether he ever asked his brother about the source of the funds he used to repay him; and asked whether Hunter Biden\u2019s business associate Eric Schwerin, who handled his finances, had insight into all of his bank accounts until December 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018As the foregoing demonstrates, the Committee has compiled evidence\u2014bank records, contemporaneous electronic communications, and witness testimony\u2014showing your awareness, acquiescence, and participation in self-enrichment schemes of your family members,\u2019 Comer wrote. \u2018As Chairman of the Committee, in addition to requesting that you answer the questions posed in this letter, I invite you to participate in a public hearing at which you will be afforded the opportunity to explain, under oath, your involvement with your family\u2019s sources of income and the means it has used to generate it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comer added: \u2018As you are aware, presidents before you have provided testimony to congressional committees, including President Ford\u2019s testimony before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice of the House Judiciary Committee in 1974.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n