House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
After months of investigation and many public accusations of corruption against Mr. Biden and his family, the first report of the premier House G.O.P. inquiry showed no proof of such misconduct.
After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption.
At a much-publicized news conference on Capitol Hill to show the preliminary findings of their premier investigation into Mr. Biden and his family, leading Republicans released financial documents detailing how some of the president’s relatives were paid more than $10 million from foreign sources between 2015 and 2017.
Republicans described the transactions as proof of “influence peddling” by Mr. Biden’s family, including his son Hunter Biden, and referenced some previously known, if unflattering, details of the younger Mr. Biden’s business dealings. Those included an episode in which he accepted a 2.8-carat diamond from a Chinese businessman. G.O.P. lawmakers also produced material suggesting that President Biden and his allies had at times made misleading statements in their efforts to push back aggressively against accusations of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden.
But on Wednesday, the Republicans conceded that they had yet to find evidence of a specific corrupt action Mr. Biden took in office in connection with any of the business deals his son entered into. Instead, their presentation underscored how little headway top G.O.P. lawmakers have made in finding clear evidence of questionable transactions they can tie to Mr. Biden, their chief political rival.
It has not stopped them from accusing the president of serious misconduct.
“I want to be clear: This committee is investigating President Biden and his family’s shady business dealings to capitalize on Joe Biden’s public office that risks our country’s national security,” said Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the Oversight Committee. He emphasized that the president — not just his son — would be the target of his investigation, which he said would now “enter a new phase,” in which he would subpoena specific financial information based on material learned through bank records.
Federal prosecutors have examined Hunter Biden’s international business activities as part of a criminal investigation. But the only charges they are considering, according to people familiar with the case, are unrelated to his work abroad. They include tax charges related to his failure to file his tax returns over several years, and a charge of lying about his drug use on a federal form he filled out to purchase a handgun.
To date, Mr. Comer’s committee has issued four bank subpoenas, obtained thousands of financial records and spoken with several people he describes as whistle-blowers. Mr. Comer has also hired James Mandolfo, a former federal prosecutor who has experience investigating foreign corruption, to oversee the inquiry.
Here’s what we know so far.
Businesses connected to Hunter Biden received more than $10 million from foreign companies, some with criminal ties.
The House Oversight Committee report focused on payments made to companies connected to Hunter Biden from businesses and individuals in Romania and China. Bank records obtained by the committee show the receipt of money from a foreign company connected to Gabriel Popoviciu, who was the subject of a criminal investigation and prosecution for corruption in Romania.
In 2015, Mr. Popoviciu retained Hunter Biden, who is a lawyer, while his father was vice president, to help try to fend off charges. That effort was unsuccessful and, in 2016, Mr. Popoviciu was convicted on charges related to a land deal in northern Bucharest, the Romanian capital.
Mr. Comer has also focused on John R. Walker, an associate of Hunter Biden who was involved in a joint venture with executives of CEFC China Energy, a now-bankrupt Chinese conglomerate.
A Shanghai-based company, State Energy HK Limited, that was affiliated with CEFC China Energy sent millions to Robinson Walker LLC, a company associated with Mr. Walker, who then made payments to Hunter Biden and other Biden family members.
Hunter Biden had cultivated a business relationship with Ye Jianming, the founder of CEFC, who has been investigated by the Chinese authorities on suspicion of economic crimes. In 2017, Mr. Ye gave Hunter Biden a 2.8-carat diamond as a thank-you for a meeting.
“What would they be bribing me for? My dad wasn’t in office,” Hunter Biden told The New Yorker in 2019, adding that he gave the diamond to his associates. “I knew it wasn’t a good idea to take it. I just felt like it was weird.”
CEFC had hoped to invest in a liquefied natural gas venture in Louisiana, but that deal ultimately flopped.
Representatives of Hunter Biden characterize his business offerings at the time as providing legal and consulting services.
The payments came at a time when Hunter Biden’s life and finances were spiraling amid his drug addiction, and after the death of his brother, Beau Biden, from brain cancer. Hunter Biden had begun a romantic relationship with his brother’s widow. His business partner, Mr. Walker, and his uncle James Biden were pursuing international business work.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that House Republicans had revealed nothing new in their report.
“Today’s so-called ‘revelations' are retread, repackaged misstatements of perfectly proper meetings and business by private citizens.” Mr. Lowell said.
President Biden has falsely denied his son had ties to Chinese businesses.
None of the payments detailed in the report went to President Biden himself, nor has Mr. Comer’s investigation produced any evidence that Mr. Biden ever took a corrupt action in connection with his son’s business dealings.
But Mr. Biden has made several false or misleading statements about the matter.
During the 2020 presidential debate, Mr. Biden claimed that no one in his family had received money from China.
“My son has not made money in terms of this thing about — what are you talking about, China,” Mr. Biden said, turning the charge on his opponent, President Donald J. Trump. “The only guy who made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China.”
This year, Mr. Biden also claimed that it was “not true” that family members received more than $1 million from a Chinese firm.
Aides to Mr. Biden said he was speaking colloquially and was pushing back generally on claims that his administration had been corrupted by Chinese money.
Presidents’ families have long made money off the family name.
During his news conference, Mr. Comer acknowledged that Hunter Biden would have been far from the first relative of a president or vice president to try to make money off the family name.
He invoked Billy Carter, the brother of former President Jimmy Carter, who visited Libya and received a $220,000 loan; and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law whose firm has received hundreds of millions from Persian Gulf nations.
“This has been a pattern for a long time,” Mr. Comer said. “Republicans and Democrats have both complained about presidents’ families receiving money.”
However, Mr. Comer has conceded that he has no interest in investigating Mr. Kushner’s conduct.
Officials allied with Mr. Biden played a role in wrongly discrediting Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The report from Mr. Comer came as a second Republican-led House committee is investigating a related issue. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday released a report about a letter from 51 former intelligence and security officials in 2020 that questioned materials — substantial portions of which were later verified as authentic — from a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware repair shop and suggested they might be part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
The Republicans argue that the letter influenced the public to discount the materials on the laptop, which contained evidence of Hunter Biden’s drug use and sex life, which they believed would harm his father’s electoral chances against Mr. Trump.
The Judiciary Committee report detailed the role played by Antony J. Blinken, now the secretary of state and then a Biden campaign official, in spearheading the letter, and said a C.I.A. employee had been involved in soliciting at least one signature for it.
The intelligence officials maintain their letter stated they had no evidence of a Russian disinformation campaign, and that they were merely stating an opinion.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents seven signatories to the letter, said on Twitter that the report merely proved that “private citizens lawfully exercised 1st Amendment rights” and added that there was not “even one falsehood” in the letter.
“I know of no signatory who retracts a single word,” Mr. Zaid wrote.
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Yet the clown show careens drunkenly onward.
It's the "Benghazi Show" all over again. They're spend the rest of Biden's term trying to dig up dirt on him
I'm sure you are right. They want this to last well into 2024.
Conservatives have been conditioned over a span of many years to knee jerkedly believe conspiracy theories about their opponents. It is a major major problem in this society.
Kind of like Russia Russia Russia conspiracies? Those kind? And yes I will agree, it is a problem and, for your favorite phrase, looks like both sides do it.
This "McCarthy Era" sucks bad as the first.
There are only two degrees of separation...
And what of Trump's term and the democratic backhoe?
you have a point. Millions of dollars and hours wasted on an impeachment that went no where. The Democrats should have known they would never get a conviction
Jordan was the head of both the Bengazi and IRS investigations and he struck out on both. This investigation will be strike number three and it's back to coaching Jimmie.
As my grandfather would say, ''That boy could screw up a one-car funeral''.
I thought Wednesday was suppose to be his big reveal day...
Lets have a little reality check. The DOJ is not planning to indict Hunter Biden for anything related to so called influence peddling in Ukraine, China, or anywhere else.
Doesnt the GOP have the laptop, or at least access to what was on it? I thought that content was supposed to put the Bidens in jail - what are Comer and Jordan waiting for?
Or do they expect the public to care about Hunter Bidens drug use and dick pics ?
Actually, the GOP does not have said laptop or access to what is on it. The device is currently in the possession of the FBI and they are currently keeping it and the contents to themselves for as long as they can get away with it.
nypost.com /2022/10/26/the-634-page-report-on-hunter-bidens-laptop/
The 634-page report on Hunter Biden's laptop — and 459 alleged crimes
Miranda Devine 2-2 minutes 10/26/2022
Right-wing nonprofit research group Marco Polo finally has published its Hunter Biden laptop opus, a thorough forensic examination of every document on the first son’s notorious MacBook computer that he abandoned in a Delaware repair shop in April 2019.
The 634-page report (plus 2,020 footnotes) lists six alleged crimes committed by Joe Biden – including tax evasion and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) – alongside 459 crimes it alleges were committed by Hunter, including illegal foreign lobbying and money laundering.
The group’s firebrand founder Garrett Ziegler, a 26-year-old former deputy to Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro, has sent the report to more than 4,000 people, including every member of the House and Senate, White House staff, US Attorney offices and every contact on the laptop .
He also sent a copy to every one of Hunter’s former classmates in the class of 1988 at the tony Archmere Academy in Delaware.
The accompanying note reads: “We thought you might be interested in reading about your most infamous classmate. We believe that Archmere Academy really molded Hunter into who he is today.”
It sure sounds like the GOP committees know what is on that laptop. What the fuck are they waiting for?
I guess the copies that were given to old Rudy and probably others are now not to be trusted?
So according to some, the reps cannot access the laptop yet they copied the hard drive....
Democrats and leftists still have their heads securely up their fourth point of contacts.
Maybe another futile investigation of Trump will make them feel better? I am sure the Democrat led Senate has more than enough time on their hands. Considering Schumer hasn't done shit about the coming debt ceiling deadline. Poor Chucky, no way to get cloture. No ideas on how to resolve the impasse. No room for anything in his hate filled head.
Funny how the FBI is suddenly so damn uncooperative with a Congressional subpoena. Even worse of an unclassified document.
DOJ did a bang up job on bringing charges against Santos. Meanwhile by all reports their investigation on Hunter is over for almost a year; and still no charges. Must be too close to an election somewhere on the planet. Maybe Garland is waiting to see if Brandon will get reelected? Brandon wins and he can let the statute of limitations on Hunter expire. Brandon loses and Garland brings minimal charges on Hunter- and daddy pardons him.
After the last 7 years and counting of Democrat bullshit investigations, charges, and unsubstantiated accusations- leftists can STFU and wait out the investigation for however long it takes.
Meanwhile Brandon and Democrats can watch the cataclysm they have brought on the southern border unfold; crime continue to rise; inflation; gas prices; housing market crashes; throwing endless tax payer money at Ukraine; China take over as the world's only super power (but at least our armed forces will be woke!); and the economy slides into recession. Just remember "You did that!"
I think the republicans have already shot their wad over anything that was on the laptop and they have been met with a big yawn.
This is the Durham investigation pt 2, with the same result.
I’m so weary of bullshit investigations by Congress. Fill a fuckin pothole or something. Repair a bridge. Figure out a way to increase revenue. Advance justice for more people. Find some cleaner energy. Do something that’s actually useful for the people who live in this country.
This Writeup explains why Donald trump is still a viable candidate.
The Vice President’s family accepted millions of dollars from criminals and hostile foreign governments and the elite media says “so what?”
the same people who freaked out because trumps company exchanged emails with Russians about leasing his corproate name are just fine and dandy with the Bidens taking millions from China and Romanian oligarchs and trying to hide it. Satire is dead.
when the corruption is this deep, trump is normal.
The GOP committees said they were going to present evidence that Joe Biden is a criminal. What are they waiting for? Someone else to find it for them?
It’s absolutely evidence. Do you think corrupt oligarchs give millions to family members of powerful politicians for non corrupt reasons? Do you funnel money to your family through a myriad of corporate shells for convenience?
An independent counsel should be following up to see if their’s enough for an Indictment.
but it’s the Biden DOJ, so no cause for worry John.
According to the New York Times article, the GOP committee admitted they have no evidence of criminality by Biden. They are lawyers. Maybe they are more careful than you are.
Can you imaging if this were Trump accused of doing the same exact thing Biden has been accused (pretty much proven) of doing?
The freak out from JR would be astronomical and this would be the 24hr news cycle for months.
I have no idea what statement you are referencing or the context. But this absolutely evidence of corruption.
Unless you provide proof that these payments could not possibly have been made with corrupt intent, you can't deny they are evidence of corruption.
The facts speak for themselves. Romanian oligarchs and the CCP generally don't give millions to multiple shell companies controlled by the families of politicians for no reason, do they?
That's exactly why the Trump stuff just rolls off people's back now. Biden's corrupt, the institutions that are supposed to be independent aren't, so who cares if Trump lies etc..
I can't even imagine the shitstorm if even Pence had been doing this.
I guess you didnt read the first few sentences of the seeded article
guess you didnt read the first few sentences of the seeded article
I guess I don't see a quote to that effect so who knows what the New York Times is on about.
The headline is factually incorrect. That's not debatable. The House produced a ton of evidence. The issue is whether its conclusive.
Imagine if the Times took this approach to the collusion investigation. Their reporting would have been over in a day.
Your idea of evidence and other peoples idea of evidence must be two different things.
The 2023 Republican committees have been total failures.