Rep. Comer Doesn’t Rule Out Subpoena of President Biden: ‘Anything’s Possible’

Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during a hearing with IRS whistleblowers in Washington on July 19, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden will go “wherever [the money] leads us,” according to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)—even if that means subpoenaing the president.

“Anything’s possible, but right now, we’re following the money,” Mr. Comer told The Epoch Times on Sept. 13 when asked if he would consider that possibility.

The Republican, who chairs the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, was tapped by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to help steer the impeachment investigation alongside Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

Mr. Comer and his committee have conducted a months-long investigation into the Biden family’s foreign business dealings. The probe turned up bank records revealing at least $20 million in payments from foreign entities that were channeled through 20 shell companies to members of the president’s family as well as their business associates.

The payments—sourced from such countries as Russia, China, Ukraine, and Romania—were also observed to have begun during the president’s time as vice president and, in some cases, coincided with his trips to those countries.

Another key finding was that a confidential FBI source had alleged that President Biden received a $5 million bribe to ensure that a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a company his son worked for was fired.

“We continue to find very important information on a weekly basis. So as long as we’re finding new information, we’re going to keep investigating,” the congressman said, adding that one of the next steps in the inquiry would be obtaining more bank records.

As for President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who has been at the center of the committee’s investigation thus far, Mr. Comer said he also wasn’t ruling out sending a subpoena his way.

“Every option is on the table. We’re following the money, and we’ll go wherever that leads us.”

Inquiry Launched

Mr. McCarthy officially announced the impeachment inquiry on Sept. 12, noting that House Republicans had uncovered “serious and credible allegations” about President Biden’s conduct.

“Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption,” he said.

The inquiry, he added, was the “logical next step” to give the three committees “full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public.”

While some might view the investigation as an extension of the probe Mr. Comer has already been leading, he noted that one key benefit of the inquiry was that it could help speed the process.

“If the Bidens don’t comply with our subpoenas, with respect to bank records—which is what I’ve said we’re following all along—then this will force the judge to rule quicker,” he said.

That benefit was also emphasized by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the chamber’s Weaponization of the Federal Government panel.

Mr. Issa stressed to reporters that, going forward, any subpoenas issued by the three specified committees would have “the full force of an impeachment inquiry, which is generally considered by the court to be immediate.”

There would also be no need for the subpoenas to have a “valid legislative purpose”—a requirement the Supreme Court has upheld for other congressional inquiries.

“The committees ... will issue their subpoenas or reissue their subpoenas explaining that it is not a legislative purpose—that, in fact, these inquiries are related to bribery and other high crimes,” Mr. Issa said.

Democrats ‘Disappointed’

While House Republican leadership said at a Sept. 13 news conference that the inquiry was an important step toward transparency and accountability, the Democrats’ response has been less favorable.

At a news conference on Sept. 12, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) described the move as a “witch hunt.”

“I have sympathy with Speaker McCarthy. He’s in a difficult position. But sometimes you have got to tell these people who are way off the deep end ... that they can’t go forward with it.”

“I’m disappointed,” he added. “I think it’s absurd.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) expressed a similar view, holding that the impeachment inquiry is “illegitimate” and that Republicans’ decision to pursue that path was “regrettable, reckless, and reprehensible.”

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Ian Sams took to social media to denounce the inquiry as “extreme politics at its worst.”

“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,“ he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. ”[Mr. McCarthy’s] own GOP members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip-flopped because he doesn’t have support.”

President Biden has maintained that he had no knowledge of or involvement in his family’s foreign business dealings.

Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Joseph Lord, and Reuters contributed to this report.