WASHINGTON — A House leadership committee issued subpoenas Monday to five current and former aides to President Biden — including former White House counsel Dana Remus — to discuss Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified records and his role in his family’s foreign business dealings.
The Judiciary and Oversight Committee also issued legally binding subpoenas for testimony to Oval Office operations director Annie Tomasini, Jill Biden adviser Anthony Bernal, assistant chief of staff Katharine Reilly and special assistant Ashley Williams.
“The committee is also investigating whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House,” House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote to five.
President Joe Biden’s current and former aides have been issued subpoenas by a Republican-led committee of the House of Representatives.AP
The impeachment inquiry, which was launched on September 12, focused primarily on Joe Biden’s role in the business dealings of his son Hunter and brother James Biden in countries such as China and Ukraine during his vice presidency.
The new subpoena indicates that Republicans are considering impeachment charges that refer to his handling of government documents.
Katharine “Katie” Reilly, White House Chief of Staff Counsel was among those subpoenaed to testify. LinkedIn
Comer said last month that the Oversight Committee obtained evidence that Biden aides began examining classified material in his personal vice presidential office in DC nearly 20 months before the sensitive papers were allegedly discovered last year.
In a letter to attorneys for Remus, Comer and Jordan wrote that the former top White House counsel “had knowledge of why White House staff began visiting the Penn Biden Center with frequency in 2022, where classified material, including material related to Ukraine, had been then found.”
“Therefore, your client is in a position to provide information related to whether, among others, Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President: (1) took action to conceal or cover up his improper possession of classified material; (2) abused his position of public trust by knowingly using Executive Branch employees to attempt to repair any political fallout when found to be in improper possession of highly sensitive classified material; or (3) knowingly maintained improper possession of classified material relating to the country from which his family received millions of dollars.”
CNN reported in January that around 10 classified documents, some marked “top secret,” were found in Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center related to the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Iran.
First son Hunter Biden earns up to $1 million a year serving on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, starting in 2014 when his father was vice president. His salary was cut for half a month after his father left office.
Anthony Bernal, assistant to the President and senior adviser to the First Lady.AFP via Getty Images
Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky allegedly told an FBI informant in 2016 that he was “forced” to pay Joe and Hunter Biden $10 million in exchange for helping compel the country’s top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, to seize the energy executive’s assets in a corruption investigation.
In addition to his former DC office, other classified documents were found from Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del. — where images from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop show a battered “Important Documents” box and indicate Hunter had access to the family garage where the documents were stored.
“Facts continue to emerge that show that the White House’s narrative regarding President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents is insufficient,” Comer said in a statement.
Former White House counsel Dana Remus was included in the subpoena. AP
“It is important to know if President Biden maintains sensitive documents related to any country involving his family’s foreign business dealings that bring in millions for the Biden family. The Oversight Committee looks forward to hearing directly from Dana Remus and other central figures to continue our investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and determine whether our national security has been compromised.”
The issuance of the subpoena coincided with the release of 73 pages of emails by the National Archives dating back to November 2022 that reported to archivists about the discovery of the document.
Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations Ashley Williams (R).Getty Images
Special counsel Robert Hur is investigating Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of documents.
Hunter Biden’s business dealings and Joe Biden’s alleged involvement, meanwhile, have been delegated to the US attorney’s office in Delaware, which has conducted a lengthy and controversial investigation focused on tax fraud and related crimes.
Biden’s challenger in 2024, former President Donald Trump, is scheduled to go on trial in May for allegedly improperly handling sensitive records after he left office. Biden’s potential impeachment vote and subsequent Senate trial could offset the political damage to Trump over a conviction in that case and three unrelated criminal prosecutions.
US President Joe Biden, next to Annie Tomasini, Director, Oval Office Operations.AFP via Getty Images
Jordan said Sunday on Fox News that House GOP leaders will decide “early next year” whether to submit formal articles of impeachment.
Congressional Republicans last week subpoenaed testimony from Hunter and James Biden and from a number of other figures close to the family, including Hunter art dealer George Bergès, who reportedly arranged the sale of Hunter’s novice work for at least $1.3 million, and the presidential appointment of Elizabeth Naftal, who reportedly bought at least one piece.
The transfers from China were discovered after the James Comer panel subpoenaed Hunter Biden’s financial records. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the latest subpoena during her regular press briefing on Monday.
The White House counsel’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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