Democrats seek to switch Biden impeachment inquiry hearing focus to Trump

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly sought to refocus the attention on former President Donald Trump during the Republican-led impeachment inquiry hearing on President Biden Thursday.

The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., held its first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where members presented evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

Committee Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of taking cues from Trump in launching the inquiry and used the opportunity to highlight the former president’s myriad legal issues.

"President Trump has gone on his social media account and said we should be impeaching President Biden," Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. "Kevin McCarthy said we have an impeachment inquiry. You draw the conclusion. Directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump's pressure."

WHITE HOUSE, HUNTER BIDEN'S TEAM KEEP SHIFTING GOALPOSTS IN DENYING DAD'S INVOLVEMENT WITH BUSINESSES

"It's scandalous to use impeachment to establish a counterfeit moral equivalence between President Biden, an honorable public servant who has never been indicted or convicted of anything in his career of more than 50 years in public life," Raskin continued. "And Donald Trump, a twice impeached president who's recently been found in court to have sexually abused and defamed a woman and fraudulently inflated the value of his real estate properties, while facing 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments on everything from conspiring to overthrow an election and defraud the American people to making criminal hush money payoffs, to stealing classified government documents and hiding them while obstructing justice."

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused the Republicans of trying to "distract" and "deflect" before launching into a guessing game with the only Democrat-appointed witness, law professor Michael Gerhardt, in which he inserted Biden's name for Trump's in order to try to illustrate that Trump, not Biden, should be investigated.

"Hold on to those two words ‘distract’ and ‘deflect,’ because I think this hearing's all about, ‘Look over here, not over there,’" Connolly said.

"So, Professor Gerhardt, I've heard concern about branding, so shouldn't we be concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the United States?" Connolly said, knowingly alluding to Trump Towers located in cities across the globe.

"I think we are talking about Mr. Trump," Gerhardt responded.

Connolly continued, "Shouldn't we be concerned that a New York judge just found President Biden's organization committed fraud every year for the last ten or 15 years, and that under the Martin Law in New York, that Biden organization is now subject to dismemberment and dismantlement because of the fraudulent activity."

"That should be of concern with respect to Mr. Trump," Gerhardt replied.

"Mr. Trump again," Connelly responded, feigning incredulity.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., mused that the former president "lives free in the Democrats’ heads."

"I'm amazed at, and I love the fact that Trump lives free in the Democrats’ heads every day," she said. "That is a beautiful thing. Even though we're here talking about the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden."

Committee Democrats also repeatedly mentioned Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Trump, during the impeachment inquiry hearing.

Democrats say Giuliani promoted a "big lie" that then-Vice President Joe Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was threatening to investigate Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter Biden served on.

Raskin said this was the "opposite of the truth," and that Biden led a "coordinated global effort" to remove Shokin because he was corrupt. He asserted that Giuliani twisted the facts to accuse Biden of corruption — an accusation repeatedly made by Trump — and quoted Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, who said there was "no evidence that Shokin was engaged in an investigation of Burisma or that Joe Biden's role in his firing was in any way connected to Burisma."

Raskin later pointed to a letter Giuliani associate Lev Parnas sent to Congress urging Republicans to drop their Burisma investigation, calling it a "wild goose chase."

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., demanded to know why Giuliani was not testifying at the hearing, since Trump sent Giuliani to Ukraine to urge the government there to open investigations into the Biden family. The pressure Trump exerted on Ukraine to investigate Biden ultimately became the basis for the first impeachment effort led by Democrats against Trump, of which the former president was acquitted.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

These are the questions Republicans want answered in the Biden impeachment inquiry

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith R-Mo., on Wednesday night released a memo outlining the scope of the House Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

The memo comes ahead of the first impeachment inquiry hearing hosted by House Oversight Committee, which will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The memo largely goes over the facts Republicans have already collected about Hunter Biden's business dealings and President Biden's potential involvement in them. But it also outlines the key questions Republicans seek to answer with their inquiry and emphasizes that the time frame the committees are investigating will not only include Biden's presidency and vice presidency but also the time between when he held those offices.

"The purpose of this inquiry—and at this stage, it is just that, an inquiry—is to determine whether sufficient grounds exist for the Committees to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House," the memo states. "This impeachment inquiry will enable the Committees to gather information necessary to assess whether President Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct."

HOUSE GOP TO PRESENT EVIDENCE AGAINST BIDEN IN FIRST IMPEACHMENT HEARING

Republicans outlined four key questions they will seek to answer before the House moves forward, or abandons, articles of impeachment against Biden.

HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME

The memo also explains the span of time that the inquiry will investigate. "Necessarily, the impeachment inquiry will span the time of Joe Biden’s Vice Presidency to the present, including his time out of office," the Republicans wrote.

GOP lawmakers argued that the Constitution covers offenses committed while in office or out of office.

"Given that impeachment is designed, among other things, to protect the American people from corrupt public officials, it makes sense that the Constitution does not limit impeachable offenses to those an officer committed while serving in his current office. In fact, the Constitution says nothing at all about the timing of impeachable acts," the memo states.

Biden faces accusations that he was involved in foreign business deals set up by his son, Hunter Biden, who allegedly promised his father would use his public office to grant favors in exchange for payments.

IRS OFFICIAL SAYS HE WAS FRUSTRATED DOJ DID NOT BRING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN FOR 2014, 2015 TAX YEARS

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

White House officials have blasted House Republicans for the impeachment inquiry, calling it an "evidence-free" probe and a "political stunt." The White House is also slamming GOP lawmakers for holding the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding.

Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country," White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," Sams said.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Hunter Biden’s $250K wire from China labeled as a ‘personal investment’

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: The $250,000 wire Hunter Biden received from his Chinese business partners was labeled as a "personal investment," despite his legal team claiming the funds were part of a loan and previously saying he never "received any return on his investment," Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital first reported Tuesday that Hunter Biden received wires that originated in Beijing totaling $260,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME

The revelations come after Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell told CNN that the wires were "a documented loan (not a distribution or pay-out) that was wired from a private individual to his new bank account which listed the address on his driver’s license, his parents’ address, because it was his only permanent address at the time."

The wires for the funds originated from Beijing and were linked to BHR Partners.

BHR Partners is a joint-venture between Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca and Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital. BHR Partners is a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited. Hunter Biden reportedly sat on the board of directors of BHR Partners.

The first wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin.

Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

Fox News Digital has learned that the $10,000 wire was labeled as "ACC/LOAN TO BENEFICIARY."

DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO 'REMOVE ANY REFERENCE' TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated Aug. 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng — also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners — and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

Fox News Digital has learned that $250,000 wire was labeled as "ACC/PERSONAL INVESTMENT."

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." in Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for President Biden.

Back in October 2019, despite Hunter having received more than a quarter of a million dollars from BHR-linked associates, then-attorney for Hunter Biden, George Mesires, explained Hunter’s role at BHR Partners by saying he "served only as a member of the board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets."

Messires, at the time, added: "To date, Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest."

Hunter resigned from the board of BHR at the end of October 2019.

DOJ REVEALS HUNTER BIDEN STILL UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR POTENTIAL FARA VIOLATIONS

Meanwhile, as the White House declines to comment on the beneficiary address and wire payments, President Biden has had several interactions with BHR Partners CEO Jonathan Li.

The wires were sent just several months after then-Vice President Joe Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, in August 2019, said he "never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period."

As for Jonathan Li, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Devon Archer, as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, Joe Biden sat down for coffee in Beijing with the CEO of BHR. Archer also testified that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li’s daughter to Georgetown. Archer said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for at least one call with Li in addition to meeting for coffee.

Separately, Fox News Digital first reported in 2022 that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li's son to Brown University.

"Bank records don’t lie, but President Joe Biden does," Comer told Fox News Digital.

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

"In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for president of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children," Comer said.

"Joe Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing? Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the first family’s corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

The discovery of the records comes ahead of the first hearing, to be held by Oversight, as part of House Republicans' impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

The White House declined to comment on the wires.

House GOP to present evidence against Biden in first impeachment hearing

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House Republicans on Thursday morning are set to hold their first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where they will present all evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will "examine the value of an impeachment inquiry and present evidence House Republicans have uncovered to date regarding President Joe Biden's knowledge of and role in his family's domestic and international business practices," according to the panel. The hearing is to begin at 10 a.m.

HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME

Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting – and who the committee says has testified in more than 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud – will testify, along with former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor, who served in the Department of Justice Tax Division.

Law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

IRS OFFICIAL SAYS HE WAS FRUSTRATED DOJ DID NOT BRING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN FOR 2014, 2015 TAX YEARS

"Since January, House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," Comer said this week. "Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family."

The House of Representatives formally launched the impeachment inquiry this month – something Comer said Congress had a duty to do while stressing that Americans "demand and deserve answers, transparency and accountability" for Biden’s alleged corruption and "abuse of public office."

JORDAN WANTS SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY NEXT MONTH BEFORE CONGRESS

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

White House officials, though, have blasted House Republicans for the impeachment inquiry, calling it an "evidence-free" probe and a "political stunt." The White House is also slamming GOP lawmakers for holding the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding.

Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

WHITE HOUSE HAMMERS UPCOMING BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING AS 'EVIDENCE-FREE' STUNT

The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation.

The hearing comes after Comer subpoenaed Hunter Biden's financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners.

Fox News Digital first reported that Hunter Biden received the wire payments, which originated in Beijing, for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

The White House declined to comment.

DOJ ordered Hunter Biden investigators to ‘remove any reference’ to Joe Biden in FARA probe warrant: House GOP

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered FBI and IRS investigators involved in the Hunter Biden probe to "remove any reference" to President Biden in a search warrant related to a Foreign Agents Registration Act probe, new documents released by the House Ways & Means Committee reveal.

Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a vote Wednesday to release new documents provided by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that "corroborate their initial testimony to the Committee and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues."

"The Biden Administration — including top officials at the Justice Department — lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself," the committee said.

One document released Wednesday was an August 2020 email sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf in which she ordered investigators to remove any reference to "Political Figure 1" from a search warrant. Subsequent documents released Wednesday revealed that President Biden is "Political Figure 1."

"As a priority, someone needs to redraft attachment B," Wolf writes in the email. "I am not sure what this is cut and pasted from but other than the attribution location, and identity stuff at the end, none of it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant."

Wolf adds: "Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here."

A document released Wednesday and reviewed by Fox News Digital states that "Political Figure 1" is "Former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr."

"VP BIDEN is currently the Democratic Party Presidential candidate for the United States and served as the 47th officeholder for the position of the Office of the Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS) in the Barack Obama Administration from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017," the document states. "He is the father of SUBJECT 1."

"SUBJECT 1" is presumably Hunter Biden, the target of the investigation.

The Justice Department indirectly revealed that Hunter Biden is still under investigation for a potential violation of FARA during his first court appearance in July, in which his "sweetheart" plea deal collapsed.

When asked by federal Judge Maryellen Noreika of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware whether the government could bring a charge against Hunter Biden related to FARA, the DOJ prosecutor replied, "Yes."

Meanwhile, the committee said that documents also revealed that the Hunter Biden federal investigation was being "hampered and artificially slowed."

The committee said during a September 2022 interview with the president’s brother, James Biden, that investigators were "not allowed to ask if then-Vice President Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s deal with CEFC China Energy," or follow "normal investigative leads."

The committee also said a May 2021 report from investigators detailed that they were "not allowed to follow investigative leads on potential campaign finance violations related to a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, Kevin Morris, who was enlisted to help the family, and who paid millions of dollars to help Hunter around the time that Joe Biden becomes president."

"Investigators wrote that ‘there may be campaign finance criminal violations. AUSA Wolf stated on the last prosecution team meeting that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation,’" the committee said Wednesday.

Chairman Jason Smith said the new documents show a "clearer connection between Joe Biden, his public office, and Hunter Biden’s global influence peddling scheme that resulted in over $20 million in payments to the Biden family."

"In addition to then Vice-President Joe Biden attending lunches and speaking on the phone with his son’s business associates, the details released today paint a fuller picture of how Joe Biden’s vice presidential office was instrumental to the Biden Family’s business schemes," Smith said.

Smith said that the evidence included in the documents shows "a pattern of Hunter Biden creating for-profit entities to shield at least $20 million from foreign sources from taxes and hide the trail of payments that led to members of the Biden family."

A congressional aide told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the Biden family and their associates collected more than $24 million in foreign payments between 2014 and 2019.

"The growing body of evidence further calls into question the Justice Department’s attempted sweetheart plea deal for Hunter Biden, and the reasons for appointing the architect of that plea deal as the special counsel for Hunter Biden’s case, in light of officials’ efforts to protect President Biden and his son," Smith said. "This evidence makes clear Hunter Biden’s business was selling the Biden ‘brand’ and that access to the White House was his family’s most valuable asset — despite official claims otherwise."

Smith, who is leading the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden alongside House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said his committee will continue to take "appropriate steps" in its investigation, including sharing documents with committee Democrats ahead of their release.

"We have promised to go where the facts lead us, and that is exactly what we will do to get answers for the American people," Smith said.

The documents come out as part of House Republicans' formal impeachment inquiry investigation against President Biden. The House Oversight Committee is set to hold its first public hearing as part of the inquiry on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

Neither the White House nor the Justice Department immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Hunter Biden received $250K wire from Beijing with beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden’s Delaware home

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden received wires originating in Beijing for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019—wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating the Biden family business dealings and Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in those ventures.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATE TEXTS HINT AT PUSH TO ‘GET JOE INVOLVED,’ MAKE IT LOOK LIKE ‘TRULY FAMILY BUSINESS’

As part of the investigation, Comer subpoenaed financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing, China and linked to BHR Partners.

The first wire sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin. There is a Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated August 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng—also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners—and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden, with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." In Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for Joe Biden.

Comer and the House Oversight Committee have obtained bank records as part of their investigation revealing that the Biden family and their business associates received millions of dollars from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan during the Obama administration.

Fox News Digital has also learned that the committee has records revealing that from 2014 to 2019, the Biden family and their associates received $24 million in foreign payments--$15 million to the Bidens, and $9 million for their business associates, $4 million than previously known

Committee aides told Fox News Digital that beneficiary addresses are either the address listed to the recipient account, or listed by the individual sending the wire. It is unclear, based on the wire records, who listed the address.

Hunter Biden spent a period of time in 2017, 2018 and 2019 living at the Biden family home in Wilmington. It is unclear if he was living at the home at the time of the wire transfers in July and August 2019.

As for Jonathan Li, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, Joe Biden sat down for coffee in Beijing with the BHR CEO. Archer also testified that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li’s daughter to Georgetown. Archer also said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for at least one call with Li, in addition to meeting for coffee.

Separately, Fox News Digital first reported in 2022 that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li's son to Brown University.

EXCLUSIVE: BIDEN WROTE COLLEGE RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR SON OF HUNTER'S CHINESE BUSINESS PARTNER, EMAILS REVEAL

"Bank records don’t lie but President Joe Biden does," Comer told Fox News Digital.

"In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing, and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children," Comer said.

"Joe Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing? Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the First Family’s corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

Despite Hunter Biden receiving more than a quarter of a million dollars in the summer of 2019 from BHR-linked individuals, in October 2019, then-attorney for Hunter Biden George Mesires explained Hunter’s role at the company by saying he "served only as a member of the board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets."

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

"It was an unpaid position," Mesires said on Oct. 13, 2019. "In October 2017, Hunter committed to invest approximately $420,000 USD (as of 10/12/2019) to acquire a 10% equity position in BHR, which he still holds. To date, Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest."

Hunter resigned from the board of BHR at the end of October 2019.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

The White House, attorneys for Hunter Biden, and Mesires did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The White House maintains that the president was "never in business with his son."

The subpoenaed financial records come amid House Republicans' impeachment inquiry investigation against President Biden.

House Republicans announce first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing to be held this week

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans announced Monday that the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden will be held on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

According to the office of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the hearing "will examine the value of an impeachment inquiry," and will present all evidence to date uncovered by the committee in its investigation into the Biden family finances.

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"Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family," he said.

Comer's statement said that Congress had a duty to open the impeachment inquiry into Biden's alleged corruption, and that Americans "demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office."

"This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests," he added.

WATCH: BIDEN FORGETS TO SHAKE HANDS WITH PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL IN LATEST AWKWARD GAFFE

The witnesses who will testify at the hearing include Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting, and who the committee says has testified in over 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud.

Former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor, who served in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, and law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

Last week, the Biden administration blasted House Republicans for planning to hold the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding, while dismissing the "evidence-free" probe as a "political stunt." Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

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The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation.

However, the hearing won’t necessarily tread any new ground. It is expected to be a review of the existing evidence and explain the status of the inquiry, sources familiar said.

Democrat Rep Eric Swalwell calls House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry a ‘continuation of the insurrection’

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called the GOP House-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden a "continuation of the [Jan. 6] insurrection" during an interview Sunday.

"Many of [Kevin] McCarthy's folks go to the January 6 prisoners and visit them to give them comfort and aid, and so they've never accepted President Biden as a legitimate president," Swalwell said to MSNBC host Jen Psaki. "And this week, even as we are hurtling toward a shutdown, they'll hold impeachment proceedings, which is just a continuation of the insurrection — and so this is all about just putting Donald Trump in charge."

Psaki asked Swalwell — who sat on the Jan. 6 House committee — what he thinks of former PresidentTrump’s purported role in the House’s decisions. The Democrat congressman said, "Donald Trump and McCarthy and the other pro-insurrection Republicans have never accepted Joe Biden as the president."

"The House, unfortunately, has become a law firm with just one client, Donald Trump," he said.

SWALWELL, NEHLS CLASH AT CHILD MIGRANT HEARING OVER ALLEGED CHINESE SPY TIES: 'YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT S---'

The House is probing Biden’s foreign business ties with his son, Hunter, in Ukraine and China. Republicans hope to unearth bribery negotiations that suggest Biden leveraged his position as then-vice president under former President Obama for personal gain.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry alongside House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

ERIC SWALWELL DENIES WRONGDOING IN CHINESE SPY SCANDAL

House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power against President Biden on Thursday.

"Kevin McCarthy is a spectator speaker. He may have the title, but Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, they all share the job," Swalwell said.

Swalwell’s comments come as time is ticking in the House to reach a spending deal before funds run out from the previous fiscal year and the government shuts down on Saturday.

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

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Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on CNN’s "State of the Union" he would "look strongly at" ousting McCarthy from speakership if he doesn’t pass the 12 appropriation bills needed to fund the government.

"They're all talking about this promise that he made with Biden a year ago — what about the promise we made to the American public that we were going to be responsible Americans?" Burchett asked CNN host Dana Bash.

GOP congressman dismisses anti-McCarthy insurgents, says ‘95% should not cower’ to 5 people

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Moderate lawmaker Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said Saturday that threats from hardliners to unseat House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., were all bark and no bite.

Bacon told Fox News Digital that McCarthy is supported by some 200 Republicans in the House GOP conference and that a handful of insurgents, the loudest being Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., would only play into the Democrats' hands with an attempt to unseat the speaker.

"[Gaetz] represents two or three percent of the conference, frankly. And I do think a lot of the folks, partisan Democrats, want to see Matt force the issue because it creates problems for us," said Bacon, who represents Omaha and surrounding counties to the west.

"The bottom line is the 95% should not cower to or be bullied by five people. We've got to do the right thing. Let's just work in a bipartisan manner to begin with and move these five people to the side and start governing for the country," he added.

HOUSE ABRUPTLY CANCELS VOTES FOR THE WEEK WITHOUT SPENDING DEAL AFTER SERIES OF DEFEATS FOR GOP LEADERS

The immediate problem for House Republicans is the looming deadline to fund the government by Sept. 30. Divisions in the GOP conference derailed the annual defense spending bill last week, one of the 12 appropriations bills considered must-pass to prevent a government shutdown.

Most of the disagreement is centered around whether to pass a stopgap funding bill extending the current year's spending agreements, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to fund the government for 30 days while lawmakers hash out a deal on 12 appropriations bills.

GOP proposals for a CR have included deep spending cuts for those 30 days. But there are still several conservatives who said they would not vote for a CR no matter what, arguing it would extend the previous Democratic Congress's priorities.

Gaetz is one of them. He went to the House floor on Sept. 12 and threatened to bring up a motion to vacate the chair — which would remove McCarthy's gavel — "every day" so long last the GOP leader did not comply with his demands.

"No continuing resolutions — individual spending bills or bust. Votes on balanced budgets and term limits. Subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the members of the Biden family who've been grifting off of this country. And the impeachment for Joe Biden that he so richly deserves," Gaetz listed. "Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair."

TRIPLE HOUSE MELTDOWN ON DEFENSE BILL MAY MARK THE WORST RUN FOR A HOUSE MAJORITY IN MODERN HISTORY

McCarthy accommodated hardliner demands to begin an impeachment inquiry against Biden but so far has not been able to come up with a deal on spending that Republicans can pass with their narrow majority. It only takes four dissenting GOP votes to block a bill from passing if Democrats unite in opposition.

However, Bacon says Gaetz's threat is empty. "It only takes four Republicans to potentially put [McCarthy] at risk and lose the speakership, but the fact is they have no alternative," he said Friday in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press NOW.

"They have nobody else that they can offer to put up there that the 200 of us would ever vote for," Bacon added.

He said McCarthy's position is "secure" and suggested that were the speaker to ignore the five to 10 hardliners making demands and make a bipartisan spending deal, "you'd have some Democrats vote ‘present’ and not vote to vacate."

THE SPEAKER'S LOBBY: THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO A POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

"We have 5 people who want it their way or the highway," Bacon said. "The problem is the other 210 don't."

Reached for comment, Gaetz said his efforts have forced conservative concessions from McCarthy.

"In the last two weeks, Kevin McCarthy has relented on a number of fronts, most notably moving single subject spending bills (finally!). He didn’t do this because I just asked nicely," he told Fox News Digital.

"Moreover, the premise of Mr. Bacon’s argument is that Democrats would save McCarthy. That would mean he works for them. I doubt that would sit well with Republicans in Pensacola or Omaha," Gaetz added.

In response, Bacon said it was Gaetz and the other insurgents who were helping Democrats by voting against Republican appropriations bills and making demands that "keep growing."

He said that a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Problem Solvers Caucus would soon roll out the "Keep America Open Act" to fund the government with a continuing resolution, including money for disaster relief, border security, aid to Ukraine, and funds for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and community health centers.

"The majority of Republicans have tried to push conservative bills, knowing it's going to the Senate," where Democrats have the majority, Bacon said. "But since we can't get five to 10 people on the team we need to get the best deal ew can get right now."

"The rest of the conference can't put up with this crap, we've got to move forward."

Fox News' Chad Pergram, Elizabeth Elkind and Houston Keene contributed to this report.

AG Garland testifies that Weiss had full authority in Hunter Biden probe, but never discussed specifics

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Attorney General Merrick Garland testified that he never had any discussions with U.S. attorney David Weiss regarding details of the Hunter Biden investigation, while at the same time affirming to the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the prosecutor had total authority over the probe — despite just granting him special counsel authority only month.

Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday as part of the panel’s hearing to examine how the Justice Department has "become politicized and weaponized under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland."

GARLAND DOCUMENT TOUTS DOJ'S WORK AHEAD OF HOUSE TESTIMONY ON DEPARTMENT OVERSIGHT

Garland, during testimony, stressed that he is "not the president’s lawyer," and that the Justice Department’s "job is to follow the facts and the law, and that is what we do."

Republicans pressed Garland on whether he had any discussions about the Hunter Biden investigation with Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware who has been leading the probe since 2018, to which he repeatedly denied.

"I promised the Senate that I would not interfere… I would not influence the investigation," Garland said. "I do not intend to discuss internal Justice Department deliberations, whether or not I had them."

Garland also said he does not know "the specifics of the investigation."

Meanwhile, Garland explained that Weiss "knows how to conduct investigations," and maintained that he has "not intruded or attempted to evaluate that."

Garland repeatedly said during the first hours of his testimony that he never had discussions with Weiss about the investigation, and said the prosecutor had the necessary tools to continue his years-long probe into President Biden’s son.

HUNTER BIDEN TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

But whistleblowers testified to Congress that Weiss had requested special counsel authority from the Justice Department back in 2022, but was denied.

In August, Garland ultimately granted Weiss that authority.

"Mr. Weiss asked to be made special counsel. I had promised that I would give him all the resources he needed and I made him special counsel," Garland testified Wednesday.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, though, pressed Garland on what changed, again noting whistleblower testimony that said Weiss requested special counsel authority much earlier, but was denied. Jordan referred to a letter Weiss sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in July.

"Mr. Garland, What changed on July 10th, 2023? David Weiss wrote the Senator Graham and said, I have not requested special counsel designation. August 11th, you announced that he's now the special counsel. What happened in that 31 days?" Jordan asked.

"As I said publicly, days before my announcement, I think three days, Mr. Weiss had asked to become special counsel," Garland said. "He explained that there were -- he had reached the stage of his investigation where he thought that appropriate… I had promised to give him the resources he needed."

HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

Jordan pressed Garland on "what stage" of the investigation he was referring to after "five years" of investigating.

"What stage are we in? … the beginning stage, the middle stage, the end stage? They keep hiding the ball stage? What stage? When?" Jordan asked.

"I'm not permitted to discuss ongoing investigation," Garland said.

Jordan fired back: "Isn't that convenient?"

"Something changed in 31 to 32 days from July 10th to August 11th," Jordan continued. "I think it's that two whistleblowers came forward and a judge called B.S. on the plea deal. You guys tried to get past them," Jordan said.

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

Hunter Biden, in July, planned to plead guilty as part of what critics called a "sweetheart" plea deal to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. That deal would have allowed him to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. That plea deal collapsed in federal court in July.

Hunter Biden ultimately pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge.

Since Weiss has been granted special counsel authority, the president's son was indicted on three federal gun charges. 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 is expected to plead not guilty.