Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison on federal gun charges

President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was indicted Thursday on federal firearm charges and could face up to 25 years in prison, according to court documents.

Biden is facing three criminal counts, including making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, which carries a maximum of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, the documents show.

The second count, a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, can garner up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

The third count, possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, can land up to a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, according to the documents. 

The counts combine to carry a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Special counsel David Weiss, a Donald Trump appointee, has overlooked the investigation.

Hunter Biden's charges follow his collapsed plea agreement in July. At the time, he was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

The news of the charges come amid a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday said House Republicans have "uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct" that will serve as the basis of an impeachment inquiry. 

"Today, I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe," McCarthy announced in a statement at the Capitol Tuesday. "This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public." 

Hunter's lawyer blasted the "MAGA Republicans’ improper and partisan interference in this process" in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

"As expected, prosecutors filed charges today that they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case," Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell said. "The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans’ improper and partisan interference in this process."

Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 day was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice," he continued. "We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court."

Key Republican on impeachment inquiry says Hunter Biden indictment a ‘very small start’

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Thursday indicting Hunter Biden on federal gun charges is a "very small start," while calling on Special Counsel David Weiss to "investigate everyone involved" in the Biden family's alleged "fraud schemes and influence peddling." 

Comer's comments come shortly after Hunter Biden was indicted on federal gun charges out of Weiss' investigation. 

Biden was charged with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

These are the first charges Weiss has brought against the first son since being granted special counsel status last month. 

"The Justice Department’s sweetheart plea deal fell apart after a federal judge refused to rubberstamp it," Comer told Fox News Digital. "Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally." 

"Today’s charges are a very small start, but unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden’s DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy," Comer said. 

Comer, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith are running the House of Representatives' formal impeachment inquiry against President Biden. 

House Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings and President Biden's alleged involvement in those business dealings. 

Other House Republicans reacted to the charges Thursday afternoon. 

Rep. Darrell Issa posted on X: "Biden's DOJ thinks you're stupid."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green questioned where additional charges against Hunter Biden could be posting on X: "Where are the indictments for tax fraud, FARA abuse, money laundering, and sex trafficking??? 

Rep. Eric Burlison posted: "Hunter being indicted is a sacrificial lamb Joe and the Deep State are hoping will be enough to distract the American people from all their crimes. Don’t fall for it. We want the ‘Big Guy.'" 

"What are the odds that Hunter Biden is indicted on felony gun charges 6 DAYS before AG Garland testifies before Congress? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence," Rep. Troy Nehls posted on X. 

Attorney General Garland is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20 at 10:00 a.m. 

As a next step in the impeachment inquiry, a source familiar told Fox News Digital that Comer will now pursue bank records from the personal and business accounts belonging to the president’s son Hunter and his brother, James. 

COMER TO PURSUE HUNTER, JAMES BIDEN PERSONAL BANK RECORDS AS NEXT STEP IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The source said Comer will also seek additional transcribed interviews with Hunter Biden business associates, including Eric Schwerin and Rob Walker. 

The source also told Fox News Digital that the House Oversight Committee could hold a public hearing related to the investigation in the coming weeks, but a witness for that expected hearing has not yet been decided. 

Meanwhile, the charges against Hunter Biden come after an original plea agreement collapsed in July. Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

Hunter Biden was forced to plead not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge.

Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Weiss to serve as special counsel with jurisdiction over the Hunter Biden investigation and any other issues that have come up, or may come up, related to that probe.

The White House declined to comment. 
 

GOP rep calls for impeachment inquiry into Biden energy secretary Granholm: ‘she lied, under oath’

FIRST ON FOX: Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York called for Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry into Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Thursday for giving false testimony to Congress about her family's stock ownership.

Tenney called for the investigation during remarks, shared in advance to Fox News Digital, at a House Science and Technology Committee hearing where Granholm testified about her agency's science and technology priorities. Tenney, who is the first lawmaker to demand an impeachment inquiry into Granholm, cited a series of violations she said Granholm has made since taking office in 2021.

"Since taking office in January of 2021, Secretary Granholm has violated the Hatch Act multiple times," Tenney remarked during the hearing. "She owned Proterra stock while her boss, President Biden, repeatedly promoted the company. Her husband owned Ford stock while she personally promoted the companies’ work with official resources."

"And most critically, she lied, under oath, to Congress, claiming that you did not own any individual stocks when in fact she did. If anyone would like to dispute these charges, all the evidence you need is in the articles I submitted into the record," the New York Republican continued.

BIDEN ENERGY SECRETARY REVEALS STOCK OWNERSHIP OF EV LOBBY GROUP FOUNDING COMPANY

Tenney added that Granholm "chose to ignore the rules and lied to Congress under oath." She cited the Department of Energy's ethics guidelines which state that "public service is a public trust; employees must place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain."

"That's perjury, period," Tenney continued. Why should you not resign or why should we not consider some kind of impeachment inquiry into you for your perjury charges?" Tenney said.

JOSH HAWLEY DEMANDS HEARING AFTER TOP BIDEN OFFICIAL ADMITS FALSE TESTIMONY ABOUT STOCK PURCHASES

In June, Granholm admitted in a letter to lawmakers that she falsely testified under oath during a Senate hearing in April that she didn't own any individual stocks. 

While Granholm divested from a variety of stocks in 2021, she acknowledged in the letter — which was sent to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee leadership — that she maintained shares of six companies worth up to $120,000. On April 20, however, Granholm testified in response to a question from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that she had sold all of her shares of individual companies.

In addition, Granholm said she discovered on May 13 that her husband Daniel Mulhern owned $2,457.89 worth of shares in Ford Motor Company. Those shares were then sold on May 15, a Monday, when the stock market opened.

"As a public servant, I take very seriously the commitment to hold myself to the highest ethical standards, and I regret the accidental omission of my spouse’s interest in Ford," Granholm wrote in the letter. "This is a commitment I made to you, the President, and most importantly the American people."

And in response to Tenney's questions Thursday, Granholm said she had made an honest mistake during the April hearing.

"Of course I do not believe it's okay to violate ethics laws. Nor does anyone else in the Department of Energy," Granholm told Tenney. "I made a mistake when I testified saying that I had sold all stock. I honestly thought we had."

Granholm has also sparked criticism for maintaining shares of electric vehicle maker Proterra after being confirmed to lead the Energy Department and while the White House promoted the company. She also violated the STOCK Act nine times by failing to disclose $240,000 worth of stock sales within the legally-mandated time frame.

And last year, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel found Granholm guilty of violating the Hatch Act during a 2021 interview where she explicitly endorsed Democratic Party candidates in her official capacity as energy secretary.

Hunter Biden sues former WH aid for altering, publishing ‘pornographic’ photos from ‘laptop’ he still denies

Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump aide Garrett Ziegler on Wednesday, alleging that Ziegler had violated federal computer laws by hacking into the now-infamous laptop that was left in a Delaware repair shop in 2019.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accuses Ziegler and his company — Marco Polo USA — and 10 unidentified associates of spreading "tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings" that were considered "pornographic" on the laptop. 

Ziegler’s company website claims to be a nonprofit research group "exposing corruption & blackmail." The website has several sections pertaining to Biden’s laptop, including his emails, text messages, phone calls and financial data that culminates into a massive "online searchable database."

In the 14-page civil complaint, Biden’s attorneys allege that Ziegler is a "zealot" who has unleashed a "sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign" against the entire Biden family for over two years and "spent countless hours accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data" with his associates.

FBI AGENT INVOLVED IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE DOES NOT BELIEVE POLITICS WERE INVOLVED

"While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda," attorneys Abbe Lowell, Bryan Sullivan, Zachary Hansen and Paul Salvaty wrote.

"Defendants not only admit to accessing, tampering with, manipulating and copying Plaintiff’s data from their claimed Plaintiff’s ‘laptop’ computer without Plaintiff’s authorization or consent, they regularly brag about their illegal activities in interviews with members of the media, on social media, and on right-wing podcasts," they wrote.

Attorneys argue data on the laptop — which included bank and credit card records — was backed up on Biden’s iCloud.

Thus, the lawsuit alleges Ziegler and his associates hacked into the storage "by circumventing technical or code-based barriers that were specifically designed and intended to prevent such access" and significantly "tampered with, manipulated, damaged and copied" the data without Biden’s permission.

BIDEN'S NIECE UPDATED HUNTER'S COMPANY ON CHINESE SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND DURING STINT AT TREASURY: EMAILS

Ziegler "required more time and effort than uploading photos from Plaintiff’s data because Defendants needed ‘to use AI tools’ on the data as part of their purported efforts to 'censor' portions of videos that Defendants consider to be ‘pornographic,’" the lawsuit states.

Ziegler said in a statement to Politico that either he nor his company "have been served with any lawsuit."

"But the one I read this morning out of the Central District of California should embarrass Winston & Strawn LLP," he wrote.

"Apart from the numerous state and federal laws and regulations which protect authors like me and the publishing that Marco Polo does, it’s not lost on us that Joe’s son filed this SLAPP one day after an Impeachment inquiry into his father was announced."

According to the court filings, Biden’s team is requesting a jury trial based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE LEAVES DURING A QUESTION ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN

The federal law prohibits various forms of computer-related activities such as hacking, unauthorized access, and the distribution of malicious software, while the state law provides legal protections against unauthorized access, use, or manipulation of computer data within California. Both carry lengthy sentences if convicted. 

Prior to this suit, Biden had already taken steps to punch back in the courtroom over the contested laptop, which some of his attorneys argue may not belong to him.

In March, he initiated a countersuit, asserting that the Wilmington repair shop owner, John Pul Mac Isaac, had unlawfully disseminated Biden's personal information, and leveled six invasion of privacy charges against him. Mac Isaac first filed a lawsuit against the president’s son — as well as CNN, Politico, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.— in October 2022 for defamation.

According to Mac Isaac, Biden did not return for the laptop within three months days after dropping it off, and he could not be reached. He then alerted the FBI after seeing emails on the laptop illustrating information about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s purported foreign business dealings and videos of Biden taking drugs and performing sex acts with prostitutes.

Before federal agents picked up the laptop, Mac Isaac made a copy of its hard drive and gave it to Trump’s campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani the following year.

Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge last month.

Comer to pursue Hunter, James Biden personal bank records as next step in impeachment inquiry

FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer will pursue personal and business bank records belonging to Hunter Biden and James Biden as the next step in the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, who are leading the formal House impeachment inquiry, briefed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the status of their probe into Biden’s alleged corruption. 

COMER DEMANDS STATE DEPT. EXPLAIN 'SUDDEN' DECISIONS LEADING TO FIRING OF UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR PROBING BURISMA

During the meeting Thursday morning, Comer, R-Ky., laid out House Republicans’ findings since July related to the president’s alleged involvement in his family’s business dealings, and next steps in their investigation. 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Comer will now pursue bank records from the personal and business accounts belonging to the president’s son Hunter and his brother, James. 

The source said Comer will also seek additional transcribed interviews with Hunter Biden business associates, including Eric Schwerin and Rob Walker. 

DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED

The source also told Fox News Digital that the House Oversight Committee could hold a public hearing related to the investigation in the coming weeks, but a witness for that expected hearing has not yet been decided. 

Since July, the committee took a transcribed interview from Hunter Biden’s business associate Devon Archer, who claimed then-Vice President Joe Biden was "the brand" Hunter sold around the world to foreign business partners. Archer also testified that Biden joined conference calls with Hunter’s business partners and attended business dinners with his son’s foreign associates in Washington D.C. 

HOUSE GOP RELEASE BANK RECORDS ON HUNTER BIDEN PAYMENTS FROM RUSSIAN, KAZAKH OLIGARCHS, TOTAL CLEARS $20M

Also this summer, Comer released the third bank records memo, revealing that the Biden family and their business associates received millions of dollars from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine and Kazahkstan during the Obama administration. Those records revealed the family received more than $20 million from these business arrangements during that time period. 

Comer has also sought information from the National Archives related to the Biden family’s alleged misuse of Air Force Two, and all unredacted documents in which Biden used a pseudonym—Robin Ware—to communicate with his son Hunter Biden. 

WITNESS SAYS JOE BIDEN TALKED TO HUNTER’S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES; GOP SEES SMOKING GUN, DEMS DOWNPLAY

More broadly, Comer, Jordan and Smith have interviewed whistleblowers who allege politics influenced all prosecutorial decisions throughout the Justice Department’s years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden. Those allegations led to Attorney General Merrick Garland granting U.S. Attorney from Delaware David Weiss—who has been leading the probe—special counsel authority. 

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Comer sought information from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the "sudden foreign policy decisions" during the Obama administration that led to the dismissal of the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings while Hunter Biden sat on the board of the company.

The State Department has not yet turned over those records. 

The White House maintains that President Biden was "never in business with his son."

Top House Republican says 2015 Blinken speech contradicts Biden White House narrative on Shokin: ‘Alarming’

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., on Wednesday accused President Biden of "corruptly [changing] the United States’ policy towards Ukraine," during the Obama administration, pointing to a 2015 speech from now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken praising Ukraine’s "anti-corruption" efforts when Viktor Shokin was the country’s prosecutor general.

"This is corruption at the highest levels of federal government and one of many reasons why House Republicans have launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden," Stefanik told Fox News Digital.

The timing of Blinken’s praise toward the Ukraine government in March 2015 raises questions about the White House’s insistence that then-Vice President Joe Biden was pushing for Ukraine officials to fire Shokin because he was not fulfilling his duties in prosecuting corruption.

Nearly a year after Hunter Biden joined Burisma’s board in April 2014, Shokin was appointed the prosecutor general of Ukraine, inheriting multiple investigations into Burisma and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. Shokin was fired in March 2016 amid international pressure, including from the Obama administration, over alleged corruption. 

REPUBLICANS ERUPT OVER 2015 EMAIL EXPOSING ‘ULTIMATE PURPOSE’ OF HUNTER'S INVOLVEMENT WITH BURISMA

Republicans claim that Biden’s push for Shokin’s firing was linked to Hunter’s work with Burisma, but the White House has said he was fired because he was not effectively prosecuting corruption.

Just a year before Shokin's firing, when Blinken was serving as deputy secretary of state to John Kerry, he gave a speech in Berlin on March 5, 2015, saying Ukraine had achieved "probably the best government" it had seen "since its independence."

"It’s been working to undertake deep and comprehensive economic and political reforms," Blinken said at the time. "These include laws to enhance transparency in public procurement, to reduce the government inefficiency and corruption. To clean up Ukraine’s energy sector, to make the banking system more transparent, and measures to improve the climate for business and attract foreign investment. To create a new anti-corruption agency. To strengthen the prosecutor general’s office."

Stefanik told Fox News Digital that the video of Blinken's remarks "is further evidence that the Obama-Biden Administration thought the Ukrainian government and Prosecutor General Shokin were indeed successfully combating corruption in Ukraine.

"Yet, Joe Biden corruptly changed the United States’ policy towards Ukraine along with the assessment of Shokin to illegally and corruptly benefit his son’s foreign business partners in Ukraine when he decided to withhold aid to Ukraine until Shokin was fired," she said. "The most alarming part of this video is that Hunter Biden contacted Blinken shortly after this speech while Hunter Biden was serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that Shokin was allegedly investigating to have a meeting."

HUNTER BIDEN GUSHED OVER ‘EXTRAVAGANT’ GIFTS FROM BURISMA EXEC WHO WAS FOCUS OF CORRUPTION PROBE

Blinken’s comments in Germany came roughly four months before he held a meeting with Hunter Biden at the State Department on July 22, 2015, Fox News Digital previously reported.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Stefanik's claim is "based on dubious allegations" and reiterated the White House position that the international community expressed legitimate concerns about Shokin's inadequate prosecution of corruption.

On Tuesday, House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to Blinken highlighting comments from multiple Obama administration officials also praising Shokin’s office in 2015.

Comer accused the State Department of taking a "sudden change in disposition towards the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General in late 2015." His letter included past comments from State Department officials revealed through a FOIA lawsuit by Just the News media outlet.

The letter cited then-Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, who wrote a letter to Shokin on Kerry’s behalf, applauding his office’s "ambitious reform and anti-corruption agenda of your government" on June 11, 2015.

On Sept. 24, 2015, then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said at the Odesa Financial Forum, "We want to work with Prosecutor General Shokin so the PGO is leading the fight against corruption. We want the Ukrainian people to have confidence in the Prosecutor General’s Office, and see that the PGO, like the new patrol police, has been reinvented as an institution to serve the citizens of Ukraine."

On Oct. 1, 2015, the National Security Council’s Interagency Policy Committee said in a memo that Ukraine had made "sufficient progress on its reform agenda to justify a third guarantee" of a $1 billion loan, and that "it is in our strategic interest to provide one."

Comer’s letter also said that on Nov. 5, 2015, Biden participated in a call with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and "provided no indication that the United States’ policy regarding Ukraine required the dismissal of Prosecutor General Shokin."

"By late 2015, however, the removal of Prosecutor General Shokin became a condition of the loan guarantee by the United States," Comer wrote. "In March 2016, Shokin was dismissed from his position by the Ukrainian Rada after months of public pressure most adamantly applied by then-Vice President Biden."

Comer pointed to recent statements to Congress made by former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer, who said that on Dec. 4, 2015, Hunter "called D.C." in a private meeting with Zlochevsky, Burisma's founder, and Vadim Pozharsky, Burisma’s corporate secretary, in Dubai following Pozharsky’s request.

Biden traveled to Ukraine days three days later, where he threatened to withhold the loan unless Shokin was fired.

On March 29, 2016, Shokin was fired.

A year after leaving the White House, Biden recounted his closed-door conversations with Poroshenko during the 2015 trip. He explained how he told Ukrainian officials the U.S. would withhold up to $1 billion in aid money earmarked for the country if Shokin remained in his position.

"I said, ‘Nah, I’m not going to – we’re not going to give you the billion dollars.’ They said, ‘You have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said –.' I said, ‘Call him,’" Biden recounted during a January 2018 event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. "I said, ‘I’m telling you, you’re not getting the $1 billion.’"

"I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here,'" Biden continued. "I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch, he got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."

OBAMA-ERA EMAILS REVEAL HUNTER’S EXTENSIVE TIES TO NEARLY A DOZEN SENIOR-LEVEL BIDEN ADMIN AIDES

During an interview with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade that aired on Aug. 26, Shokin said he was fired by Poroshenko at Biden’s insistence specifically because he was investigating Burisma.

"There were no complaints whatsoever and no problems with how I was performing at my job. But because pressure was repeatedly put on Poroshenko, that is what ended up in him firing me," Shokin said.

The White House has forcefully pushed back on Shokin’s claims.

"Years of independent reporting has found that Shokin was not investigating Burisma or Hunter Biden at the time," the White House told Fox News in a lengthy response to Shokin’s interview. 

The White House listed multiple reports, including one from The New York Times in 2019 that said the probe went "dormant" under Shokin. However, multiple reports, also from the Times, simultaneously suggest Shokin posed a real threat to Burisma, whether through a legitimate investigation or through abusing his office to extort its owners. 

"Among both Ukrainian and American officials, there is considerable debate about whether Mr. Shokin was intent on pursuing a legitimate inquiry into Burisma or whether he was merely using the threat of prosecution to solicit a bribe, as Mr. Zlochevsky’s defenders assert," The Times added in a 2019 report.

"Mr. Zlochevsky’s allies were relieved by the dismissal of Mr. Shokin, the prosecutor whose ouster Mr. Biden had sought, according to people familiar with the situation," The Times reported. "Mr. Shokin was not aggressively pursuing investigations into Mr. Zlochevsky or Burisma. But the oligarch’s allies say Mr. Shokin was using the threat of prosecution to try to solicit bribes from Mr. Zlochevsky and his team, and that left the oligarch’s team leery of dealing with the prosecutor." 

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

House GOP fires back at ‘smear merchant’ Dem operative targeting families of lawmakers investigating Bidens

FIRST ON FOX: A longtime Democratic operative and activist says he will be investigating the families of Republican lawmakers in response to the move by the GOP to investigate President Biden and son Hunter’s overseas business dealings, sparking backlash from a pair of House Republicans.

"Gloves are off, families are on," David Brock, Democratic activist and president of Facts First USA, recently told Puck News. "We’ve been looking into how the children of those same members may have benefited from their parents’ position. We’re not shy about going after the members."

Brock, a longtime Clinton ally who founded Media Matters for America and American Bridge 21st Century, announced in November he was leaving the left-wing groups after nearly two decades to launch Facts First USA to help President Biden fight Republicans in the new Congress.

"This work has been ongoing, and we will soon have more to share publicly about a key member of Republican leadership whose family has gotten multiple jobs from their Congressional donors," a spokesperson for Facts First USA told Fox News Digital. 

HUNTER BIDEN SEEN SNEAKING FROM BUSINESS WHILE VACATIONING WITH DAD IN LAKE TAHOE AMID INVESTIGATIONS

"If people want to investigate the Biden family, then what's good for the goose is good for gander. But no one should feel intimidated if they aren't doing anything improper."

Brock, who got his start as a conservative freelance reporter before switching to the Democratic Party in the mid-1990s, was once described by former Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden, who is currently a top Biden aide, of being "bats--- crazy." 

He's been a prominent face in Democratic circles for nearly two decades. The New York Times reported in November that Brock's progressive groups "play important roles in the Democratic Party’s ecosystem."

BIDEN'S NIECE UPDATED HUNTER'S COMPANY ON CHINESE SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND DURING STINT AT TREASURY: EMAILS

GOP Congressman Darrell Issa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital the move from Brock reeks of desperation. 

"Nothing says desperation like threatening to sic a smear merchant on innocent families," Issa said. "This is all you need to know about how worried Democrats and the White House are about having to answer for Joe Biden’s culture of corruption." 

Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, told Fox News Digital that Republicans will not be intimidated by "radical outside groups."

"The far left and their radical outside allies are desperately trying to cover up and distract from Joe Biden's illegal corruption," Stefanik said. 

"They know they cannot pressure House Republicans into stopping our investigation into President Biden, so they are now attempting to intimidate Republicans into stopping our investigations by targeting our families with opposition research attacks from dark money groups. House Republicans will not be intimidated by these radical outside groups."

That alleged culture of corruption led to an announcement this week that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is directing House committees to launch an official impeachment inquiry against Biden looking at ties between the president and son Hunter’s overseas business dealings.

"Over the past several months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct — a culture of corruption," McCarthy posted on social media Tuesday.

Democrats have insisted that the impeachment inquiry is politically motivated, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday Republicans have "no evidence, none, that [Biden] did anything wrong."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report

Romney uses Biden’s own words against him, calls for president to join him in retirement: ‘Time to transition’

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, used President Biden's own words against him on Wednesday while calling on him to drop his 2024 bid for re-election and join him in retirement at the end of his term.

Romney's challenge to Biden comes just hours after the first-term senator officially announced he would not be seeking a second term, citing his own advanced age as his main reason for the decision.

"President Biden, when he was running, said he was a transitional figure to the next generation. Well, time to transition," Romney said when asked by a reporter if his decision not to run for re-election because of his age should also apply to Biden, 80, and former President Donald Trump, 77.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE RANTS AGAINST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY, SNAPS AT REPORTER IN TESTY MOMENT

Romney's comments were in reference to Biden calling himself a "transition candidate" during his 2020 campaign for the presidency, something he later meant he would be someone who would help pave the way for a new generation of Democratic leadership.

"I think it would be a great thing if both President Biden and former President Trump were to stand aside and let their respective party pick someone in the next generation … I think both parties would be far better served if they were going to be represented by people other than those of us from the baby boom generation," he added.

Concern over Biden's age amid his re-election has continued to grow, even from within his own party. A recent Associated Press-NORC poll found 69% of Democrats think Biden is too old to run again.

WATCH: SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN GIVES ODD, ANIMATED REACTION TO NEWS OF BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Romney's inclusion of Trump in his concern about the age of the two presidential front-runners joins that of Trump's closest rival in the Republican primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said during a recent interview on CBS that the former president's age was "a legitimate concern" for voters going into 2024.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

House Oversight to hold first Biden impeachment hearing this month

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., previewed the next steps for the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden Wednesday, announcing plans to hold a hearing this month. 

Comer spoke at the weekly House GOP leadership news conference Wednesday, telling reporters House investigators will seek additional emails dating back to the Obama era, when Biden served as vice president, and witness testimony from people who allege the Biden family made millions of dollars in corrupt business deals with foreign nationals. 

"We plan on having a hearing in September that will kind of evaluate some of the things that we believe have happened from the Biden family that are in violation with our law," Comer said at the weekly House GOP leadership news conference. 

Comer's spokesman said specifics on the time and location of the hearing would be forthcoming. 

TUBERVILLE SAYS HOUSE GOP MUST ‘NOT WASTE TIME’ WITH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday directed Comer to lead the inquiry in coordination with House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo. 

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN

The effort to impeach Biden follows months of GOP-led investigations into the Biden family's foreign business dealings. Republicans have accused the president's son, Hunter Biden, of selling access to his father's influence in exchange for payments, some of which were allegedly reserved for Joe Biden.

The White House has denied any wrongdoing and called the GOP accusations baseless and politically motivated.

Comer defended the GOP impeachment drive Wednesday and claimed Republicans have shown that Biden lied repeatedly about his involvement with his son Hunter's business arrangements.

"I just want to kind of go back to where we were in January when we started this investigation," Comer said. "The narrative was that the laptop, [Hunter Biden's] laptop was Russian disinformation. Hunter Biden was a legitimate business guy, just like Jared Kushner. 

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"No Biden ever took from China because that's what Joe Biden said. No money ever changed hands while Joe Biden was vice president, and I actually believe that. Joe knew nothing about his son's dealings. And Joe never met with or spoke with any of the foreign nationals who had wired the family money. All of those things have been proven wrong because of the Republican majority and our investigation." 

As House Republicans move forward with impeachment, several of their Senate counterparts have voiced skepticism about the effort. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said House Republicans must "not waste time" and deliver an "ironclad" case to impeach President Biden for the effort to succeed in the Senate. 

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said last week she does not believe there is enough evidence to impeach Biden. Senators Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., similarly questioned whether their House counterparts have alleged high crimes or misdemeanors against Biden specifically, Axios reported.

WATCH: Karine Jean-Pierre launches rant over Biden impeachment inquiry, snaps at reporter in testy moment

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went off Wednesday when asked repeatedly about the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, even snapping at a reporter who tried to push back against her claim that the president "didn't do anything wrong."

The exchange occurred during the daily White House press briefing after Jean-Pierre was asked how confident she was that there would be no evidence incriminating Biden in his son Hunter's foreign business dealings, his alleged involvement in which has been the centerpiece of House Republicans' investigation into the family's finances.

"Any specifics to the inquiry, certainly — I want to say this at the top … I'm going to refer you to my colleagues at the counsel's office," Jean-Pierre responded, something she noted throughout the briefing when asked questions related to the inquiry.

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She attempted to deflect, referencing Biden's upcoming speech on "Bidenomics," and arguing it was part of the "real issues" the American people truly wanted to hear about, rather than Republicans' investigations.

"They have spent all year investigating the president. That's what they've spent all year doing and have turned up with no evidence, none, that he did anything wrong. I mean, that is what we've heard over and over again from their almost year-long investigation. And that's because the president didn't do anything wrong," she said.

New York Post reporter Steve Nelson attempted to push back against Jean-Pierre's claim, prompting her to snap at him.

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"Even House Republicans have said the evidence does not exist. House Republicans have said that to my friend in the back who just yelled at, which is incredibly inappropriate," she said, appearing frustrated. 

"But House Republicans have said that there doesn't — there doesn't — it doesn't exist. Their own investigations have actually debunked their ridiculous attacks. And the only reason Speaker McCarthy is doing this — is doing this political stunt — and we have seen it, you all have reported, is because Marjorie Taylor Greene has said — she threatened to shut down the government," she said. 

Jean-Pierre went on, listing the Republicans she said were threatening House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's speakership, and calling the impeachment inquiry "baseless."

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McCarthy announced the formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, stating at a press conference that House Republicans had "uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct."

He listed allegations of "abuse of power, obstruction and corruption" made against Biden by several GOP-led committees who have been investigating the president and his family's foreign business dealings.

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.