Republican members of the House Oversight Committee sent a formal request to Hunter Biden late Wednesday seeking information and records related to his business transactions.
The panel is also seeking records from James Biden, President Joe Biden’s younger brother, and Hunter’s business partner, Eric Schwerin.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have targeted Hunter Biden for years, but he has stepped up the investigation after taking control of the House this year.
The committee gave all three time till February 22 to respond before they decide on issuing summons.
In a statement Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. said the panel was investigating whether the president was involved in his family’s business dealings and whether they “compromised national security.”
Comer said, “The American people deserve transparency and accountability regarding the influence of the Biden family.” Documents, records and communications from Hunter Biden, James Biden and Eric Schwerin are critical to this investigation.”
Among other records, the committee asked Hunter Biden to return any classified documents in his possession. House Republicans – as well as the Justice Department – are looking to get a handle on the president’s classified documents from his time as vice president.
The committee is also seeking records of any communications Hunter Biden had with his father, his uncle James Biden or his aunt Sarah Jones Biden between January 20, 2009 and January 20, 2021, related to various business matters.
In a letter to Comer, Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said the committee “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting such records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen.” ” Lowell indicated that he would not comply with the Republicans’ request, but offered to meet with committee members “to see whether Mr. Biden has information that might inform any legitimate legislative purpose.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The committee also held a hearing on Wednesday to investigate Twitter’s role in suppressing a New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Comer accused the company of participating in a “coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimise the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop”.
Twitter’s former head of trust and security, Joel Roth, said the company was concerned because the story was “at first glance very similar to the 2016 Russian hack and leak operation targeting the DNC. We had to decide what to do. And that In the moment, with limited information, we made a mistake.”
Republicans have long accused the president’s son of using his father’s political connections for personal gain. Hunter Biden’s involvement with Ukrainian natural gas company Burma led to Trump’s first impeachment after he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden. Multiple investigations into the matter, including an investigation led by Senate Republicans, found no evidence of wrongdoing.
“We want the bank records and that’s our focus,” Comer said during a news conference in November. “We’re trying to focus on: Was Joe Biden directly involved with Hunter Biden’s business deals and is he compromised? This is our investigation.
Besides Burma, Republicans have also focused on Hunter Biden’s trade deal in China. During his father’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden was involved with an investment firm that was trying to raise money in China. In 2019, Trump urged China to investigate Biden and accused Hunter of falsely claiming a 2013 trip he took with his father to China for financial gain.
Federal prosecutors have been probing Hunter Biden’s taxes since 2018, years before his father was elected president. He denied any wrongdoing, saying “I handled my affairs in a legal and proper manner.”