House Republicans on Wednesday escalated their actions against members of President Joe Biden’s family by issuing criminal referrals for his son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden. The Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees have accused the Bidens of making false statements to Congress during the impeachment inquiry into the president.
In their pursuit of charges, the Republicans have called on the Justice Department—whom they have previously criticized for its alleged political weaponization against former President Donald Trump—to act against Hunter and James Biden. The referral letter released by the Republicans alleges specific misconduct involving false distancing from business entities and misleading testimony.
“Hunter Biden falsely distanced himself from a corporate entity, Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC, and its bank account,” the referral letter claims. It further accuses Hunter of providing a “fictitious account” about threatening text messages sent to his Chinese business partner, purportedly while his father was present.
James Biden is similarly accused of falsifying information about a 2017 meeting that also involved Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, along with Tony Bobulinski, a witness with reported ties to Russian oligarchs. “Hunter Biden and James Biden made materially false statements to the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee, as demonstrated by the evidence presented in the attached referral,” the letter states.
These allegations are framed by the Republicans as implicating not only the direct actors but also President Joe Biden himself, suggesting his knowledge and involvement in what they term his family’s “influence peddling.”
The release of these criminal referrals comes at a sensitive time, as an informant associated with the impeachment inquiry was recently arrested for allegedly lying to the FBI about corruption claims related to the Biden family.
In a parallel development, Hunter Biden is currently on trial in Delaware federal court facing charges unrelated to the referrals. He is accused of lying about his drug addiction on a firearm purchase application in 2018, to which he has entered a plea of not guilty.
This series of events marks a significant intensification of the political and legal scrutiny surrounding the Biden family, spotlighting the complex interplay of allegations and the ongoing investigations into their activities.