In a sharply worded opening volley against the House GOP’s probe into Hunter Biden and the business dealings of President Biden’s family, an attorney for the president’s son denied a request for documents and information from the Oversight and Accountability Committee, saying it has “no legislative purpose.”
“Peddling your own inaccurate and baseless conclusions under the guise of a real investigation, turns the Committee into ‘Wonderland’ and you into the Queen of Hearts shouting, ‘sentence first, verdict afterwords,’” Abbe David Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, wrote a letter sent Thursday.
Lowell said that the committee’s assertion that the influence-peddling investigation will assist with “drafting legislation to strengthen ethics laws regarding public officials and their families” is an “attempt to invent a legislative purpose that is thinly veiled, at best.”
He offered to sit down with House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and committee staff to see whether Hunter Biden has any information “that may inform some legitimate legislative purpose.”
Comer sent letters to the president’s son, the president’s brother James Biden and Hunter Biden’s business associate Eric Schwerin on Wednesday evening to request a wide range of communications and documents, including financial information, contracts, leases and real estate transactions.
“Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections,” Comer said in a statement. “Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world, including individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party, to enrich themselves to the detriment of American interests. If President Biden is compromised by deals with foreign adversaries and they are impacting his decision making, this is a threat to national security.”
The Oversight chairman had asked that the Bidens provide the requested information by Feb. 22. Comer has said it is likely the committee will subpoena Hunter Biden at some point.
Lowell’s argument that the committee’s requests have no legislative purpose echoes those that Republicans made when refusing to cooperate with the select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, in the last Congress.
He also argued that the committee has limited authority to investigate when dealing with a private citizen — and brought up Republicans previously being outraged when congressional Democrats subpoenaed former President Trump’s family members.
The Oversight Committee’s GOP majority dismissed Lowell’s letter.
“It’s no surprise that Hunter Biden is trying to stonewall Congress’ oversight and hide information about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s suspicious business practices,” a committee spokesperson said in a statement. “The American people demand transparency and oversight, not political coverups. The Oversight Committee will continue its oversight and use all tools at its disposal to gather information critical to our investigation and to inform legislative solutions.”