Republicans announced the investigation shortly after securing a majority in the House of Representatives. Even during his presidency, Donald Trump tried to cast doubt on Biden because of his son Hunter’s businesses.
In the United States, the Republicans plan to use their fresh-from-the-oven majority in the House of Representatives for the president Joe Biden for investigating actions.
Republicans announced shortly after securing their election victory that their central goal is to investigate the business dealings of the Biden family.
The focus of the research is the president’s son Hunter’s businesses that already Republican President Donald Trump stepped into the spotlight during his tenure to cast a shadow over Biden’s presidential campaign.
However, Republicans emphasize that the investigation is focused on President Biden himself: whether he directly participated in his son’s business transactions and whether the millions of connections abroad endanger his ability to act as president.
Biden’s ability to serve as president is being questioned
Republicans most of them intend to investigate (you will switch to another service) a whole host of things Biden and his administration have done, from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to immigration across the Mexican border.
However, the central role is given to the investigation of Hunter Biden’s business connections with his father. Republicans are interested in whether businesses make Joe Biden unfit to be president or even a national security threat.
At least some Republicans in Congress (you’ll switch to another service) has hoped to find evidence on the basis of which Congress could indict Biden.
In any case, the goal of the research is probably to find something that would question Biden’s character and honesty and bring material to the 2024 election campaign, evaluate, among others, the British newspaper The Guardian (you will switch to another service).
Trump, who lost the presidential election to Biden in 2020, announced on Tuesday that he will run for president again in 2024. Biden has not ruled out the possibility that he too would seek another term.
Hunter Biden is suspected of a tax crime
In 2018, federal prosecutors launched an investigation into Hunter Biden’s actions.
According to the US media, the investigations have focused on two issues: Whether Biden was guilty of a tax crime and whether he lied about his drug use when buying a gun. The prosecutors believe that there is enough evidence to press charges, news channels say, among other things CNN (switch to another service) and CNBC (switch to another service).
However, the Republican accusations run deeper. Trump and his allies have claimed that Hunter Biden’s foreign transactions, especially in Ukraine and China, point to corruption.
News channel according to NBC’s report (you will switch to another service) they would have generated around 11 million euros for his company between 2013 and 2018.
Opponents have suspected that Hunter Biden, who ran an advocacy company, has benefited from his father’s political position in his business dealings. Joe Biden is not only the president and former vice president, but also a long-time senator.
Trump claimed suspicious transactions in Ukraine and China
Trump has claimed that, among other things, the fact that between 2013 and 2016 Hunter Biden sat as a member of the Chinese private equity fund BHR Partners and later received a ten percent stake in the company points to corruption, says, among others, the British broadcasting company BBC. (you switch to another service)
Trump also claimed that Hunter Biden’s membership in the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, which began in 2014, was suspicious.
At the time, Joe Biden was the vice president promoting anti-corruption work in Ukraine. He and other Western countries are calling for the dismissal of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin, which was criticized for obstructing corruption investigations. Trump has claimed that Šok was ousted because of the Burisma investigation.
In 2019, a phone conversation in which Trump pressured the president of Ukraine was leaked to the public Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden’s dealings with Burisma. Democrats in Congress tried to press charges against Trump due to the pressure, but the plan failed in the Senate.
Hunter Biden has since resigned from the boards of both BHR Partners and Burisma Holdings.
He has publicly admitted that he has done things he regrets, but denies having committed any crimes.
Hunter Biden is not involved in the presidential administration in any way.
Republicans accuse Biden of lying
The Bidens have denied that Joe Biden was involved in any way in their son’s business dealings. Therefore, according to the Bidens, the son’s businesses do not endanger the father’s activities as president.
However, Republicans do not believe this. Republican member of the Congressional Oversight Committee James Comer on Thursday directly accused the president of lying to the American people.
Comer said that Republicans want to assess Joe Biden’s relationship with his family’s foreign business partners, as well as whether he was influenced from abroad financially or otherwise, says, among other things The Hill magazine. (you switch to another service)
If the Republicans end up impeaching Biden, it would require almost unanimity from them, because they only got a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, states Politico magazine. (you switch to another service)
Democrats accuse Comer of being Trump’s defender, who wants to damage the president with an investigation done with dishonest motives.