House Republicans announced an investigation into the plea deal Hunter Biden reached with the Department of Justice that was ultimately rejected by a federal judge who called it "not standard."
Republicans Jim Jordan (Ohio), James Comer (Ky.), and Jason Smith (Mo.), who chair the Judiciary Committee, Oversight and Accountability Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee, respectively, wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking more details on the approval process of the deal, which would have allowed Biden to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax crimes and receive immunity on a broad range of criminal charges, all while avoiding jail time.
Federal judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the deal and told prosecutors and Biden's legal team to craft a new one. She said the deal was "not standard" and "different from what I normally see."
"Given recent unusual events relating to the Department’s plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden, we write to better understand the Department’s decision to sign off on such apparently atypical agreements," the committee chairmen said in the letter.
The Republicans added that there is "serious concerns about how the Department has handled this matter."
The investigation follows testimony on Monday from Devon Archer, who sat on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma with Biden. Arher told the House Oversight Committee that President Joe Biden was put on speakerphone during Hunter Biden's calls with foreign business partners.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) confirmed to the media that Joe Biden would join the calls, but he attempted to play them down.
"It was clear that it was part of the daily conversations that Hunter Biden had with his father, and it sounded like most of the time now-president Biden didn’t even know who the people were with at dinner and was just asked to say hello and he would talk about the weather," Goldman said.
Joe Biden has frequently distanced himself from his son's lucrative foreign business dealings.
"I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period," Biden said in August 2019.