The House Oversight Committee and its Chairman, James Comer (R-KY), have been relentless in pursuing information into bribery allegations against President Joe Biden and the questionable overseas business deals of his son Hunter. However, the Biden administration has been resistant to transparency and generally slow-walks Comer’s requests or simply ignores them.
On Wednesday, the Committee blasted off a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding that her department provide “all suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to Burisma executives & entities to help further our investigation into the Biden bribery scheme.” They added, “The FBI sat on these allegations for years. We’re not.”
The letter wasted no time in getting right to the point, saying that their evidence shows malfeasance by the Biden family:
Dear Secretary Yellen:
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability has reviewed government documents that allege President Biden, while serving as Vice President, solicited and received a bribe from a foreign source in return for certain actions. These allegations are consistent with the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Biden family’s foreign business transactions—transactions that subpoenaed bank records have revealed allowed Biden family members and associates to profit over $10 million from foreign sources.
They then request all related SARs on file with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The nation’s security is at risk, they write:
The Committee seeks to craft legislative solutions aimed at deficiencies it has identified in the current legal framework regarding ethics laws and disclosure of financial interests related to the immediate family members of Vice Presidents and Presidents— deficiencies that may place American national security and interests at risk.
The Committee is concerned that foreign national have sought access and influence by engaging in lucrative business relationships with high-profile political figures’ immediate family members, including members of the Biden family.
The letter goes on to discuss possible future legislation, then requests that all the eligible SARs from April 2014 to the present be provided by July 12. They go on to remind the Secretary of their authority:
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
Yellen will doubtless try to find as many reasons as possible not to comply with the request or will just respond incredibly slowly, hoping interest in the matter fades. We might end up in a Christopher Wray situation where the House had to threaten to hold the FBI director in contempt earlier this month if he didn’t produce requested materials. Although they didn’t get everything they wanted, the threat did force Wray to at least provide them with some of it.
Some commenters have remarked about similar stories that the various GOP investigations are pointless because the lawmakers have no law enforcement authority and can’t issue arrest warrants or throw anyone in jail. I would argue, however, that although these investigations aren’t a cure-all, they are getting results—so much so that even the biased mainstream press is asking Biden pointed questions and making him extremely uncomfortable.
We obviously can’t count on the politicized Department of Justice to hold what appears to be a corrupt president to account, so it’s up to the Oversight Committee, and they’re revealing some awfully damning information over the last few weeks. We’ll see if this SARs request will add to that list.