During their closed-door interviews earlier this year, the president’s son and brother were recommended to be charged with making false statements to Congress by the Republican-led committees that are leading the investigation into Joe Biden’s impeachment. On Wednesday, the referral was sent to the Department of Justice.
A letter was sent by the Republican committee chairmen to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing separate criminal proceedings involving Hunter Biden. In the letter, the chairmen outlined the reasons why the DOJ should consider charging Hunter and James Biden.
Hunter’s and James Biden’s reps have been contacted by AWN for comment.
House Republicans are attempting to take the offensive through criminal referrals, regardless of whether their impeachment investigation against the president continues to stall. There is no proof of misconduct on the part of Biden that has been found by that investigation, and Republicans do not have the votes in their slim majority to remove him from office.
While a referral does suggest that the Justice Department investigate and consider charging the persons in issue, it does not necessarily compel federal prosecutors to do so. Thus, for the time being, the letter from House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, and House Oversight Chair James Comer is mostly symbolic.
The referrals were acknowledged by the Justice Department on Wednesday, but the department chose not to comment more.
The referrals rely on information that Republicans voted to release from IRS whistleblowers last month and indicate that James Biden made one false statement during his interview with congressional investigators on February 21 and that Hunter Biden made two false statements during his deposition on February 28.
The Republicans are trying to link Hunter Biden’s current criminal prosecution on felony gun charges to their criminal referral of him. They are contending that the DOJ should consider Biden’s criminal charge of lying on a gun purchase when evaluating their complaints.
The letter notes that the Justice Manual stipulates that when deciding whether to charge Hunter Biden for the false statements detailed below, the DOJ should examine his prior alleged criminal behavior.
Republicans claim that the son of the president “falsely distanced himself” from his ties to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, a business that got millions of dollars from foreign entities. They also assert that he allegedly used his father as a bargaining chip to coerce a Chinese company into paying him through text messages, stating a “entirely fictitious account” in his testimony.
Neither the president’s involvement nor his presence at the time his son sent the texts have been acknowledged by him. In addition, Hunter Biden’s father was not there when he sent the messages, and he was “drunk and probably high” at the time.
When it comes to James Biden, Republicans claim that Bobulinski and Hunter Biden have contradicted his testimony that Joe Biden did not meet with Biden family business associate Tony Bobulinski as a private citizen.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, has urged the Department of Justice to move swiftly.
“If the Attorney General wishes to show that he is not operating with bias and seeking to undermine the political opponents of the president, he should initiate criminal investigations against James and Hunter Biden,” the Republican from Louisiana stated.
Prosecutor Comer stated alongside the criminal referrals, “We’ve 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.”
“The Biden family’s criminal wrongdoing is reflected in these criminal referrals, and the Department of Justice must take steps to hold the Bidens accountable,” Jordan reiterated.
“The IRS whistleblowers have presented indisputable evidence that Hunter Biden broke the law and lied to Congress during his February deposition,” Smith stated, referring to the papers released by his committee and used by Republicans to accuse the men of making false claims.
On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee top Democrat Jamie Raskin slammed the criminal referrals, calling them evidence of the “spectacular failure and collapse” of the president’s impeachment investigation, which was conducted by Republicans.
The 60-page letter from the Chairmen is an attempt to derail the investigation into President Biden’s innocence, according to Raskin. It alleges that the President’s son and brother are being unfairly targeted because of their attempts to remember financial transactions, text messages, and conversations that occurred years ago.