White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday declined to discuss Hunter Biden’s art sale or specify the Biden family “brand” the first son allegedly sold abroad.
Jean-Pierre said only that federal agencies should “cooperate” with a House panel looking into the matter because Speaker Kevin McCarthy has threatened an impeachment inquiry if the records are withheld.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told The Post that Jean-Pierre’s statement was “ironic” and that there has been too little cooperation so far.
“It is ironic that the White House press secretary is calling on federal agencies to cooperate with Congress when the Biden administration has sought to undermine congressional oversight at every turn,” Comer said.
“The Biden administration has not provided all of the information requested related to President Biden’s irresponsible mishandling of classified documents, the White House’s secret arrangement with art gallery owner Hunter Biden to conceal the identity of his art client, then-Vice President Biden – also known as Robert L . Peters – emails where he used a pseudonym, and more,” Comer added.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to discuss Hunter Biden’s art sale or specify the Biden family “brand” the first son allegedly sold abroad.Getty Images/Alex Wong
“Not only has the Biden administration not cooperated with Congress, President Biden has continued to lie to the American people about his involvement in his family’s influence peddling scheme. It is time for the Biden administration to fully cooperate with Congress and provide the transparency that the American people expect from their government.”
Comer also joined House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) Monday in demanding documents regarding the Aug. 11 appointment of Attorney General Merrick Garland from Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in Justice Department investigation into Hunter.
Weiss previously presided over what IRS whistleblowers described as a cover-up in Hunter’s tax fraud case.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer called out President Joe Biden and Jean-Pierre for their small collaboration.rfaraino
Weiss’ office allegedly prevented IRS agents from investigating Joe Biden’s role in Hunter’s dealings despite communications directly involving him prior to the 2017 transfer of $5.1 million from a Chinese government-linked entity to Hunter.
The whistleblower said Weiss’ team also informed Hunter Biden’s attorney about the planned search and storage locker interview, blocking both, dragging out the charging decision, allowing several statutes of limitations to expire, and withholding information from tax agents before signing the trial-only agreement. a plea that collapsed last month under scrutiny by a federal judge.
Garland is accused by whistleblowers of misleading Congress about Weiss’s ability to independently prosecute the president’s son and allowing Biden-appointed US attorneys in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, to block charges.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre said at his regular briefing that federal agencies should cooperate with questions from House Republicans, although he declined to address some of the same points.
“We know that from Hunter Biden’s current associates that he sold what appeared to be access to then-Vice President Biden. Are you sure that he has stopped doing that?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre after noting that Hunter was selling new artwork – reportedly raking in at least $1.3 million since his father became president.
Buyers include Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who has enjoyed frequent access to the West Wing and presidential appointments to prestigious boards.
The White House struck a secret deal with art gallery owner Hunter Biden to hide the identity of his art clients.AP/ Andrew Harnik
Jean-Pierre responded to Doocy, “That’s a question for Hunter Biden and his representative.
Doocy followed up by saying that Hunter Biden’s former business partner “Devon Archer talked about how he and Hunter Biden were trying to cash in on the Biden ‘brand’. What is the Biden brand?”
A White House spokesman responded, “I’m not going to discuss it from here. We will continue.”
Also on Monday’s briefing, CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe asked about McCarthy saying Sunday that Republicans were close to launching an impeachment inquiry into the Biden family’s foreign affairs during the president’s vice presidency and the alleged tax fraud cover-up to Hunter
“The Speaker of the House said yesterday that moving toward impeachment now is a ‘natural step forward’ and will be an opportunity for Congress to get all the information they need, in his words,” O’Keefe said, asking if it made the budget discussion between the two parties is “more difficult” ahead of the September 30 government funding deadline.
Jean-Pierre responded, “I can’t speak to House Republicans and what they’re focusing on.
“This is a president who wants to work in a bipartisan way, and he has been able to do that as it relates to historic legislation,” he said. “He wants to continue to do that, and he hopes congressional Republicans will continue to join him, or join him, in doing that. And that will be the focus rather than more baseless political stunts.”
O’Keefe pointed out, “Is the White House likely to urge the department to cooperate with the ongoing investigation?
“We always insist [sic] different agencies and departments to work with Congress of course – that’s something we’re always urging,” he said. “I can’t talk about it, what they’re complaining about.”
Republicans have obtained a wide variety of documents, including dated records of Biden’s vice president dealing with his relatives’ foreign affairs and documents on alleged cover-ups in the tax fraud case against Hunter.
The Delaware US Attorney’s Office, David Weiss, is accused of preventing IRS agents from investigating Joe Biden’s role in the Hunter affair despite communications directly involving him. AP/ Susan Walsh
McCarthy said this month that Republicans also want Joe Biden’s personal bank records.
House lawmakers could launch an impeachment inquiry as early as next month, though it’s unclear whether they will seek additional witness testimony linking the president to foreign efforts.
Acher told the Oversight Committee on July 31 that then-Veep Joe Biden attended DC dinners in 2014 and 2015 with his son’s Eastern European and Central Asian clients, and had coffee in 2013 with the CEO of a Chinese government-backed investment fund he co-founded with Hunter. and used speakerphone during about 20 of his son’s business meetings.
Archer revealed that Joe Biden also wrote him a letter in 2011 thanking him for attending an official lunch with then-Chinese President Hu Jintao and expressing his delight that Archer and Hunter were working together on foreign endeavors.
GOP leaders have used political tact before to obtain documents, including by threatening to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt for refusing to hand over whistleblower files accusing Joe Biden of corruption. Wray relented.
Archer said he knew nothing about FBI whistleblower allegations that Burisma Holdings owner Mykola Zlochevsky, who paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million a year starting in 2014 to serve on the company’s board, was “forced” to pay $10 million in bribes to Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for the removal of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
But Archer said Hunter, Zlochevsky and Burisma’s board adviser, Vadym Pozharskyi, left a December 2015 business meeting in Dubai to call the then-vice president, who went on to successfully press for Shokin’s removal by threatening to withhold $1 billion in US loan guarantees.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
