Hunter Biden’s attorney denies request for documents

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The House Oversight committee asked Hunter Biden and the president’s other family members to provide a wide range of documents.
• An attorney for the president’s son denied the request, saying that the investigation has “no legislative purpose.”
• The attorney said the committee had no authority over a private citizen, while the committee argued that “the American people demand transparency.”

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee issued a request for Hunter Biden’s records and information as part of its investigation into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s family. But an attorney for the president’s son rejected the request and said it has “no legislative purpose.”

On Wednesday evening, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) sent letters to Hunter Biden, the president’s brother James Biden, and Hunter Biden’s business associate Eric Schwerin. The letters requested a wide range of documents such as contracts, financial records, leases, and real estate transactions, to be provided by Feb. 22.

Comer also said that the committee will likely subpoena Hunter Biden.

On Thursday, attorney Abbe David Lowell responded with a letter that read, “Peddling your own inaccurate and baseless conclusions under the guise of a real investigation, turns the Committee into ‘Wonderland’ and you into the Queen of Hearts shouting, ‘sentence first, verdict afterwords.’”

Lowell said that the committee is attempting “to invent a legislative purpose that is thinly veiled, at best” when it argued that the investigation will help create legislation strengthening “ethics laws regarding public officials and their families.”

He added that he is open to sitting down with the committee to learn whether his client indeed has any information “that may inform some legitimate legislative purpose.”

Republicans in the previous Congress made a similar argument following the Capitol attack. They argued that the Jan. 6 select committee’s requests had no legislative purpose.

Comer stated, “Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections. Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world, including individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party, to enrich themselves to the detriment of American interests.”

“If President Biden is compromised by deals with foreign adversaries and they are impacting his decision making, this is a threat to national security,” Comer argued.

Lowell, in turn, said that the committee has limited authority to investigate a private citizen. He also called attention to the GOP’s outrage when congressional Democrats subpoenaed family members of former President Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee stated, “It’s no surprise that Hunter Biden is trying to stonewall Congress’ oversight and hide information about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s suspicious business practices.”

“The American people demand transparency and oversight, not political coverups,” the statement continued. The spokesperson added that the committee will keep using “all tools at its disposal to gather information critical to our investigation and to inform legislative solutions.”

Source: The Hill