The House Oversight Committee will subpoena President Joe Biden and his beleaguered son Hunter as Republicans approach the conclusion of their more than year-and-a-half-long investigations into the Biden family.
Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), who chairs the committee, made the announcement Thursday morning on Fox Business and said Republicans "have put together a case that would stand up in any court of law in America." Comer did not specify when those subpoenas would come.
House Republicans concluded by late July they would move to haul members of the Biden family before Congress, sources close to the investigation told the Washington Free Beacon, but have been concerned about the prospect of a lengthy legal battle from Hunter Biden’s legal team in response to any subpoenas.
Although Comer said the investigations "were always going to end with the Bidens" receiving subpoenas, House Republican investigators have internally urged caution over moving too quickly. Prior to Comer’s announcement, some House Republican staffers were hesitant to disclose any future plans about subpoenaing the Bidens. Individuals close to the investigation told the Free Beacon that they believed if subpoenas came too soon, a federal judge could be persuaded by the argument that the investigation is nothing more than a fishing expedition.
But the revelation that Joe Biden’s family members received more than $20 million in foreign payments during his time as vice president prompted Comer and other Republicans to escalate the investigation. Comer called those payments evidence of "the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes" in a press release with the findings.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer told the committee last month that their relationship rested on the former’s ability to sell the Biden family "brand." In his testimony, Archer said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone in more than 20 business meetings.
Several individuals close to Comer said the investigation into Hunter Biden has taken three "phases." The first was chiefly concerned with obtaining financial records related to Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, while the second focused on gathering testimony from his former associates. The third, the individuals said, would result in subpoenas for members of the Biden family.
Those close to the House Oversight Committee investigation remain confident they will find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited from his son's business dealings. "An impeachment inquiry is inevitable at this point," one of the individuals told the Free Beacon.
Although Republicans feel they are on the cusp of obtaining a smoking gun in their investigation, their fears of a legal challenge from Hunter Biden are warranted. The first son’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, previously refused to comply with their request in February for records related to the first son's business dealings and said the committee "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting the records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen." That position was likely a preview of what is to come once Hunter Biden is subpoenaed.
Hunter Biden’s high-powered legal team also moved aggressively to quash the IRS’s long-running criminal tax investigation into their client. Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark threatened prosecutors that they would be committing "career suicide" if they charged their client, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley told the House Ways and Means Committee in June.
Clark has since accused Shapley of breaking the law by asserting his rights as a whistleblower to reveal to Congress that Justice Department officials had stonewalled the agency’s investigation into Hunter Biden. Clark did not respond to a request for comment.