- The Oversight and Accountability Committee identified $1.3 million paid to Hunter Biden and others.
- The panel said payments also went to James and Hallie Biden, as well as companies affiliated with Biden.
- Democrats have dismissed the probe as a bipartisan attack on President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans announced Thursday that President Joe Biden’s relatives received a total of $1.3 million from a business partner with ties to China, the latest salvo in an investigation the Biden administration described as political dismissed motivated.
Hunter Biden, the President’s son; James Biden, the President’s brother; Hallie Biden, the President’s daughter-in-law; and a fourth unnamed Biden received the payments from his business partner Rob Walker, according to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The money was paid after Walker received a $3 million wire transfer from a Chinese company, according to the panel.
“It is unclear what services were provided to obtain this exorbitant amount of money,” said Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
Comer said he released the memo in response to criticism from top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who said the panel had intruded on the private lives of Biden family business associates by subpoenaing bank records.
A White House spokesman, Ian Sams, criticized the “bizarre” release. The White House had previously dismissed the Hunter Biden investigation as bipartisan and politically motivated.
Here are the investigations:
What did Comer publish?
Comer released figures from bank records from 2015 to 2017, ranging from Walker’s account to multiple accounts held by President Biden’s relatives, from a time when he was vice president until shortly after he left the Obama administration. The release doesn’t include the full $1.3 million in that period.
But the payments ranged from $5,000 to $300,000, either to Biden’s relatives or to companies affiliated with them such as Owasco PC, First Clearing LLC, JBBSR Inc. and RSTP II LLC.
When were the payments made?
Comer’s payment schedule while Joe Biden was VP:
- On November 5, 2015, Walker received a wire transfer of $179,837 from an account the committee remains investigating.
- On November 6, 2015, Walker deposited $59,900 into his personal checking account.
- On November 9, 2015, Walker transferred $59,900 from his personal checking account to Hunter Biden.
According to Comer’s schedule, the bulk of the payments were made after Joe Biden left the vice presidency:
- On March 1, 2017, State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese energy company, transferred US$3 million to Robinson Walker LLC. At this point, the account had a balance of $159,000.
- On March 2, 2017, Walker transferred nearly $1.1 million to the European Energy and Infrastructure Group in Abu Dhabi. Comer said the company is affiliated with James Gilliar, a Hunter Biden business partner.
- March 6 and 13, April 21 and May 17: Walker collectively transfers $70,000 to an unnamed Biden.
- On March 20, 2017, Walker wired Hallie Biden $25,000.
- On March 27th and 31st and April 18th, 2017, Walker transfers a total of $500,000 to Owasco.
- March 29, 2017, Walker sends first clear of $100,000.
- On April 3, 20, 24, and May 18, 2017, Walker transferred JBBSR a total of $360,000
- April 14, 2017, Walker remits $10,692 to RSTP.
The committee also found a $10,000 payment to Hallie Biden on February 13, 2017 – before the Chinese wire transfer. Hunter Biden began dating Hallie, his brother Beau’s widow, in 2016, according to a New Yorker profile. The two exchanged payments during this time, according to emails on a Hunter Biden laptop turned over to the FBI.
“Following a sickening attack lamenting that the President’s late son Beau was never prosecuted during his lifetime, Congressman Comer has now decided to pursue Beau’s widow,” said Sams, the White House spokesman. “Perhaps rather than bizarrely attacking the president’s family, House Republicans should focus on working with the president to get results for American families on important priorities like cutting costs and strengthening health care.”
How did the Democrats react on the panel?
Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, said after four years of House and Senate investigations into Hunter Biden, Republicans have found no connection to the president or any other government official.
“It must be frustrating for my GOP colleagues that even Fox News commentators roll their eyes at this pesky fishing expedition, but I want to stress that there’s always an opportunity to do some serious bipartisan legislative oversight,” Raskin said.
What’s next?
Thursday’s release was part of a wide-ranging investigation by House Republicans into Joe Biden and his relatives, which Democrats have dismissed as politically motivated.
Comer has subpoenaed bank documents related to Hunter and James Biden and others. The committee’s investigators will review these Treasury Department reports to see where they lead.
In response to the bank subpoena, Raskin criticized committee Republicans for dropping a demand for financial records from Mazars USA, former President Donald Trump’s longtime accounting firm.
“While I agree that the ethics and disclosure laws for executive branch officials require reform, as actions taken by the Trump administration have shown, the actions you have taken are not consistent with a good faith interest in this matter,” Raskin said.
