Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is welcoming the decision by House Republicans to subpoena President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, as well as the president’s brother, James Biden.
In an interview with NTD’s “Capitol Report” on Thursday, Mr. Biggs said Hunter Biden and James Biden represent “the hub” of what Republicans allege is a family-wide criminal influence peddling effort. The pair of subpoenas for the Biden family members are part of an ongoing investigation that has turned into an impeachment inquiry.
Mr. Biggs serves on the House Oversight Committee and House Judiciary Committee, both of which are leading the impeachment inquiry. On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued the subpoenas for testimony from the two Biden family members.
As part of their investigative efforts thus far, Mr. Biggs noted Republicans have collected thousands of pages of Biden family bank records, including more than 175 suspicious activity reports that banks have used to flag transactions by the Biden family. The Arizona Republican noted investigations had also identified multiple bank accounts and business entities linked to the various Biden family members.
“We’ve literally received documentation for almost two dozen corporations that appear to be shell corporations. There’s no product that they’re selling, there’s nothing that’s happening there, but money’s being funneled through those corporations and into multiple bank accounts,” he said.
The Arizona Republican said there’s no way to explain these business transactions and that Republican efforts to get responsive information have been unsuccessful.
“We think that it’s important to get these two individuals in, especially since we’ve had other testimony indicating pretty clearly that the product that they were selling was nothing more than Joe Biden and access to Joe Biden, which certainly seems [like] corruption,” Mr. Biggs said.
Paul Fishman of Arnold & Porter, a lawyer representing James Biden, told The Epoch Times that his client “has never involved his brother in his business dealings.”
Ian Sams, special assistant to the president and a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, also pushed back on Wednesday, saying the subpoenas for the Biden family members are part of a “wild goose chase of an investigation” that is “not about pursuing the truth but instead is an exercise in trying to damage the President politically.”
Attorneys for Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bidens Could Face Questions on ‘Loan Repayment’ Checks
In recent weeks, the House Oversight Committee’s Republican majority has highlighted a $40,000 check and a $200,000 check James Biden paid to his brother, Joe Biden. The memo lines on both checks, which were paid in September 2017 and March 2018 respectively, stated the funds were for a loan repayment. On the other hand, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has questioned the legitimacy of the check’s stated purpose.
Mr. Comer has noted James Biden paid the $200,000 check on the same day the president’s brother received a $200,000 loan from one of his business interests, a now-bankrupt rural hospital operator called Americore. Mr. Comer, citing documents tied to Americore’s bankruptcy case, said James Biden received these loans based on claims his last name could “open doors” and that he could use his political connections to attract Middle East-based investors to support the business venture.
Mr. Comer has similarly asserted circumstantial evidence connecting James Biden’s $40,000 check to a series of transactions from a Chinese energy company called CEFC to businesses operated by Hunter Biden.
Mr. Comer, citing bank records he’s reviewed, has alleged an affiliate of CEFC sent $5 million to one of Hunter Biden’s business ventures, known as Hundson West III, on Aug. 8, 2017. Hudson West III sent $400,000 to another entity owned by Hunter Biden called Owasco, P.C. the same day. On Aug. 14, 2017, Owasco, P.C. sent $150,000 to an entity operated by James Biden called Lion Hall Group. James Biden’s wife, Sara Biden, moved $50,000 from Lion Hall Group to their personal bank account on Aug. 28, 2017, just days before they cut their $40,000 check to Joe Biden.
Mr. Comer noted this series of transactions came after Hunter Biden sent a message to a CEFC associate on July 30, 2017, in which he demanded a $10 million payment from CEFC and said his father, Joe Biden, was sitting beside him as he made that demand.
“We were told Joe Biden didn’t know anything about it. But we have found checks going to Joe Biden of significant amounts of money, which correspond with payments by … foreign individuals into these accounts,” Mr. Biggs told “Capitol Report.”
The Biden White House has emphasized that these two checks came through to Joe Biden when he was out of office. Mr. Sams has also insisted the two checks were for the exact “loan repayment” reason stated in the memo line.
“Comer’s financial records show Joe Biden (when he was out of office, no less) giving his brother *his own money*, then his brother paying him back, and Comer claims it’s ‘bribery,'” Mr. Sams wrote in a Nov. 1 X post. “These extreme House Republicans have officially jumped the shark. In case that wasn’t clear already.”
Mr. Comer and Mr. Biggs have not been convinced by the White House’s explanations for the two checks, suggesting that records of the original loans should be easily made available if that is what they are. Mr. Biggs told “Capitol Report” that the “loan repayment” reason could have been a way to conceal a more illicit transaction from the IRS.
“How did [Joe Biden] afford to provide the principal amount upon which supposedly a loan repayment was made? Was it an interest-free loan? Did they declare it as income? Was there interest paid? What were the terms? Was there a document that indicates this?” Mr. Biggs said. “All of these things go to whether this was an attempt to evade paying taxes, which would be another crime on the part of the Biden’s, whether it’s Jim Biden, or Hunter Biden, or Joe Biden.”
