The Republican leading the GOP probe into Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals said Thursday that there are no plans to subpoena their real focus – his father, President Joe Biden.
“There are no plans to subpoena Joe Biden. There are plans to subpoena Hunter Biden,” Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) said in an interview with CNN, noting trying to compel testimony from a sitting president is “complicated.”
“The Democrats sent out subpoenas like junk mail, and that’s why it’s hard to get people to come in,” Comer added.
The Kentucky Republican is the likely next chairman of the House Oversight Committee after Republicans retook the House in the midterm elections.
On Thursday morning, Comer and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, accused President Biden detailed plans to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings.
At the press conference, Comer said House Republicans have heard form whistleblowers about "numerous schemes" centered around the Biden family's global business plans based on "influence peddling," some of which allegedly involved personnel linked to foreign governments beyond China such as Russia and Middle Eastern countries.
As an example, the incoming House oversight chief cited a whistleblower, first reported by the Daily Mail, who claimed they were on a conference call for a Latin American online gambling company in 2012 with Joe – who was Vice President at the time – acting like “chairman of the board.”
Comer reiterated to CNN that the upcoming probe will be focused on Joe Biden’s connections to his son’s business dealings.
“This needs to be called the Biden investigation and not the Hunter Biden investigation,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump and his administration raised executive privilege and other legal protections to shield him from House Democrats’ subpoenas, especially during the House’s first impeachment inquiry.
