The White House has formally rejected a request by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to testify against President Biden regarding his son Hunter’s business dealings.
“As our office has proven and you acknowledged in your recent fundraising emails, your impeachment investigation is over,” Richard Sauber, the presidential special counsel, said in a letter to Comer on Monday. said. “It is past time for the House to focus on the issues that matter to the American people instead of continuing to waste time and taxpayer resources on this partisan charade.”
Sauber said the House Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry “succeeded in uncovering a wealth of evidence that the president actually did nothing wrong.”
“Yet, far from acknowledging this reality, your March 28, 2024 letter has been repeatedly debunked by the very witnesses you called to the committee and by the numerous documents you obtained. It contains a litany of the same false claims that have been refuted,” the special paper said. the lawyer told Comer. “Your insistence on promoting these false and unsubstantiated claims despite ample evidence to the contrary makes one thing abundantly clear about your investigation: It’s not important to you.”
House Republicans say Biden impeachment effort is ‘losing momentum’
President Biden has refused to testify under oath about his son Hunter’s business. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
national review It also released a complete copy of the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press and other news organizations.
In response to President Biden’s refusal to testify, Comer issued a fiery statement on his X account, declaring that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in the Biden family.”
“Like his son Hunter Biden, President Biden has refused to testify publicly about the corrupt influence of the Biden family,” Comer wrote. “This is not surprising since President Biden continues to lie about his relationship with his son’s business partners, denying their existence when his son says they exist in a sworn statement. No. It’s a shame that President Biden isn’t willing to answer any presidential questions. Why are the American people refusing to answer the very simple and straightforward questions we included in our invitation? Is it so difficult for the White House to answer these questions? The American people deserve transparency from President Biden, not more lies. ”
Despite testifying privately, Hunter Biden has accused former business associate Tony of an alleged “influence pay” scheme that provided Biden with access to certain offices in exchange for payments. Along with Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, he refused to testify before the public committee. family.
Notably, Bobulinski accused Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden of lying under oath regarding the nature of their dealings with Chinese conglomerate CEFC during a committee hearing. did.
In a March 28 letter, Comer asked President Biden to “account under oath” about his involvement in the Biden family’s business, and the committee said it “has no knowledge of foreign sources.” “Accounting for more than $24 million that went to you, your family, and your loved ones.” Their business associates. ”
FBI informant indicted for giving false information about Hunter Biden in 2020
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is leading the impeachment investigation of President Biden into his family’s business dealings. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The letter included questions about Biden’s interactions with certain foreign company officials.
Comer told President Biden: “In 2015, you pressured Ukraine to fire a senior government official investigating a company in which your son had a financial stake.” He insisted that it was in line with policy.”
The committee obtained bank records showing Hunter Biden was paid $1 million a year for his position on the board of Ukrainian company Burisma until Joe Biden left office. Hunter’s salary was “inexplicably cut in half,” Comer wrote. The letter specifically asks whether President Biden has had any interactions with executives from Burisma Holdings, a former FBI informant that the Justice Department accused in February of providing false information to the FBI. It was at the center of the donor’s prosecution.
Tony Bobulinski, a former colleague of Hunter Biden, speaks at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to the indictment, former informant Alexander Smirnov admitted in a meeting with Burisma executives that he had hired Mr. Hunter “to protect him from all kinds of problems through his father,” and later paid specifically for those expenses. He claimed to have paid $5 million. protection. But the Justice Department continues to insist that the events, which Smirnov first reported to FBI agents in June 2020, are “fabricated.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Sauber, who took office in 2022 to oversee the president’s response to the congressional investigation into the Biden family, plans to leave the White House early next month and return to the private sector.
To replace him, the White House has promoted aide Rachel Cotton.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
