Pattern of Influence Peddling’
“I want to be clear that this committee is investigating President Biden and his family’s shady business deals that capitalized on Joe Biden’s public office and risked our country’s national security,” Comer told reporters at a press briefing on May 10.
“This committee has a duty to ask questions and to pursue the facts no matter where they take us. Through the committee’s investigation, we intend to provide transparency to the American people … in only four months, we have made astonishing progress.”
House investigators found new information showing money transfers from foreign entities to the Biden family, he said.
“Many of the wire payments occurred while Joe Biden was vice president and leading the United States efforts in these foreign countries,” Comer said.
As an example, Comer pointed to public comments by Biden when he was vice president in which he was critical of Romanian officials for the high level of corruption in their government.
“In reality, he was a walking billboard for his son and his family to collect money. Hunter Biden and his associates capitalized on a lucrative financial relationship with a Romanian national who was under investigation for and later convicted of corruption in Romania,” Comer said.
“The Bidens received over $1 million for the deal and 16 of the 17 payments to Biden associates’ accounts occurred while Joe Biden was vice president. In fact, the money stops flowing from the Romanian national soon after Joe Biden leaves the vice presidency,” Comer said.
“This is a pattern of influence peddling,” he said.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) cited his prior experience working in the banking industry in concluding that the multiple LLCs set up by the family were intended to hide the transactions.
“The question is, ‘To serve what purpose?’ The purpose of all these companies that were created is to conceal money that the Biden family has been gaining because Joe Biden has been sitting in the upper echelon of our national politics for almost five decades,” Donalds said.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said, “For years, the left has said no one is above the law. Well, put your money where your mouth is and prove that because the American people do not trust the federal government, they don’t trust Congress, they don’t even trust current presidents because of the kind of possible and alleged corruption we see at every level but no one is ever held to account.”
Heightened Scrutiny
Comer’s press conference comes after years of steadily increasing media reports on the alleged dealings, sparked in 2015 when it was learned that Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was appointed to the board of directors of Burisma, a controversial Ukrainian energy firm, and was paid more than $50,000 a month despite having no experience in the field.