U.S House Republicans said on Thursday that their top oversight priority when they officially take power next year will be looking into President Joe Biden and his family's business dealings.
This comes after the GOP won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the just concluded midterm election, Reuters reports.
Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is expected to serve as chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told reporters that the panel will look into bank reports and allegations made by anonymous whistleblowers that, in his opinion, demonstrate connections between President Joe Biden and the business ventures of his 52-year-old son, Hunter Biden.
U.S. Rep.James Comer (R-KY), ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reforms joined by other House Republicans, Image: Reuters
"I want to be clear. This is an investigation of Joe Biden. That's where the committee will focus in this next Congress," Comer told reporters.
"This committee will evaluate the status of Joe Biden's relationship with his family's foreign partners and whether he is a president who is compromised or swayed by foreign dollars and influence," Comer said, adding that the committee has obtained two suspicious activity reports filed by major banks.
In a statement, the White House alleged that House Republicans intended to target Biden "with politically motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories."
The statement by Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House Counsel's office stated that "President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans' priorities."
Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden for years, accusing him of misconduct about Ukraine and China, among other things.
Hunter has worked as a lobbyist, attorney, investment banker, and artist, and he has openly discussed his battles with substance abuse.
In December 2020 Hunter Biden revealed that Federal prosecutors in Delaware were looking into his tax affairs, although they have not accused him of any crime. He has also denied any wrongdoing.
US President Biden has stated that he has not discussed with his son his foreign business dealings and that the Justice Department would be independent in any inquiry involving a member of his family.
As the American political calendar approaches the 2024 presidential election, in which Biden says he currently plans to run for re-election, the House Republicans' investigation will start to take shape next year.
At a press conference on Wednesday, more than a dozen House Republicans joined Comer, many of them were ardent supporters of Trump, who on Tuesday declared his bid for the presidency in 2024.
During Trump's administration, Democrats looked into the business activities of the former president and his family.
Republicans described the upcoming investigation in terms that seemed to echo the accusations leveled against Trump by the Democrats.
Trump was twice impeached by Congress, first for allegedly persuading Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden and his son ahead of the 2020 presidential election and again
for the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol.
Trump was cleared of both charges by Republicans in the Senate.
A probe into allegations of political influence at the Justice Department under Biden to be conducted by the House Judiciary Committee will coincide with the House Oversight investigation of Biden.
Comer and Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who is expected to preside over the judicial panel, pledged to supervise evidence-based investigations that adhered to the law.
With the Republicans set to take charge
in the U.S House of Representatives in the next Congress, they will have a new platform to try to limit President Joe Biden's administrative oversight of business issues ranging from consumer finance to climate regulations.
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