Rep. Comer Says He’s Delaying Hunter Biden Subpoena to Ensure Win If It Goes to Court

With a poster of a New York Post front page story about Hunter Biden's emails on display, Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) announces a recess because of a power outage during a hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 8, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has ignored a House Oversight Committee request for records of his business activities and potential access to classified information, but Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is holding off on a subpoena for now.

On Feb. 8, Comer sent Hunter Biden a letter (pdf) requesting that he turn over a variety of records, including any communications with his father about his various foreign business activities and associates and any classified documents he may possess. Comer gave Hunter Biden a Feb. 22 deadline to respond to the information request.

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, outright rejected the information request in a Feb. 9 response letter shared with the Washington Post.

Despite Lowell’s rejection letter and the missed deadline, Comer has yet to follow up his information request with a more forceful request through a legal subpoena. In comments with Punchbowl News, which were published on Wednesday, Comer said he is holding back on a subpoena for now, in order to ensure better odds that the subpoena will succeed if Hunter Biden’s legal team challenges the legal demand in court.

“It’s not just issuing a subpoena, it’s about winning,” Comer said.

“We give people plenty of time. When you do subpoenas, if you want to win in court, you have to show good faith effort that you tried to get the information. So we’re checking some boxes,” Comer continued.

“When we do subpoena, if we have to, then we’re going to win the subpoenas in court,” Comer added.

Biden’s Lawyer Says Records Request Not Legitimate

In his letter rebuffing Comer’s initial effort to recover Hunter Biden’s records, Lowell said the Oversight Committee lacked a legitimate reason for seeking the records.

“As your Letter is a sweeping attempt to collect an expansive array of documents and communications from President Biden and his family, I write to explain that the Committee on Oversight and Accountability lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting such records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen,” Lowell wrote.

Case law states that a House committee must have a specific legislative purpose to pursue records and it cannot simply be an excuse to launch an investigation.

In his Feb. 8 letter, Comer said the activities of Hunter Biden and his business associates “raise significant ethics and national security concerns” and the Oversight Committee “will examine drafting legislation to strengthen federal ethics laws regarding public officials and their families.”

“We will also analyze and make recommendations regarding federal laws and regulations to ensure that financial institutions have the proper internal controls and compliance programs to alert federal agencies of potential money laundering activity,” he wrote. “The Oversight Committee is committed to exposing the waste, fraud, and abuse that has taken place at the highest levels of our government, and your documents are critical to our investigation.”

While Comer contended the records request could serve a specific legislative purpose, the records could also serve a political purpose in demonstrating the extent to which Joe Biden had knowledge or involvement in his son’s business activities while he has continued to serve in political office. In November, Comer and other House Oversight Committee Republicans published a report (pdf) laying out allegations that the Biden family peddled influence and promised their business associates access to Joe Biden and a future Biden administration.

Joe Biden had claimed throughout the 2020 campaign cycle that “I’ve never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”

Cooperating Witnesses

While Comer said he’s holding back on issuing a subpoena, he has also said other witnesses have begun to cooperate with his investigative efforts.

Last week, Comer told Just The News that one of Hunter Biden’s business associates, Eric Schwerin, had begun cooperating with the Oversight Committee to provide information about their business activities.

According to the November Republican investigative report, Schwerin and Hunter Biden “made increasing references to Joe Biden” in the course of their business communications and Schwerin had frequent access to the White House when Joe Biden was the vice president.

Schwerin allegedly visited the White House at least 27 times between 2009 and 2016. In 2015, President Barack Obama named Schwerin to serve on the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. The Republican investigative report raised allegations that Schwerin had access to Joe Biden’s personal bank account and transferred money from that account to his son Hunter.

Comer had also sought information from Kathy Chung, a former assistant to Joe Biden who was involved in his handling of classified documents as vice president and who handled the Biden family’s access to Joe Biden during his vice presidency. Comer had asked Chung to provide information about the classified documents as well as her communications between Joe Biden and his family members and Schwerin.

Chung has agreed to provide some information about her handling of classified documents. Her lawyer, Bill Taylor, declined to comment when asked if Chung would also provide the specific information Comer requested about her communications with the Biden family.

From NTD News