More evidence released ahead of Biden’s first impeachment inquiry hearing

(The Center Square) — House Republicans released new evidence this week ahead of the first impeachment hearing inquiry for President Joe Biden.

Republican leadership on the House Ways and Means Committee released newly revealed documents and messages obtained from IRS whistleblowers that back up allegations that Hunter Biden, the president’s son, sold access to then-Vice President Joe Biden around the world for millions of dollars.

“Hunter Biden sold his family’s ‘brand’ and ‘only asset,’ Joe Biden’s political power and influence, even bragging in a 2017 email to a Chinese business executive that he negotiated a contract for $10 million per year for ‘introductions alone,'” the Republican-led committee said in its announcement.

“IRS investigators detailed in a worksheet that then-Vice President Biden’s April 2014 official visit to Ukraine occurred only days after a series of White House meetings with Hunter Biden and his business associates, and a Burisma executive sent an email saying a ‘reasonable balance’ could be reached about Hunter Biden,” the committee added. “One month later, Burisma announced Hunter Biden’s appointment to its board.”

Burisma is a Ukrainian energy company which has become key to the investigation in part because a confidential human source for the FBI reported that they had a conversation with a Burisma executive who said a $5 million bribe was paid to President Biden.

That news comes after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., dropped a bombshell report saying that during the time Biden was running for president, two bank wires from Chinese nationals to Hunter Biden list the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware as the beneficiary address.

These and other updates from both committees will likely be front and center at the hearing Thursday.

“In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China,” Comer said. “We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing, and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children.”

Comer says Li is one of the Chinese nationals who made one of the wires in question.

“Jonathan Li and Hunter Biden developed a business relationship during Joe Biden’s vice presidency,” the Republican-led committee said in its release. “On July 26, 2019, Hunter Biden received a $10,000 wire from Wang Xin. On August 2, 2019, Hunter Biden received a $250,000 wire from Jonathan Li and Tan Ling.

“Nearly three months later, on October 13, 2019, Hunter Biden’s attorney George Mesires stated that Hunter Biden received no money from BHR and did not disclose any payments from Jonathan Li,” the committee added.

The impeachment hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning where House Republicans are expected to present the evidence compiled so far and hear from expert testimony.

Biden has repeatedly dismissed allegations that he benefited from any kind international payments connected to his son. The White House immediately blasted the impeachment inquiry, calling it “extreme politics at its worst.”

Witnesses at Thursday’s hearing will be Bruce Dubinsky, a long-time forensic accountant who has testified as an expert witness more than 100 times, and Eileen O’Connor, former Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division

Professor Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at George Washington University Law School, is also expected to testify.

Earlier this month, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kicked off the impeachment inquiry, pointing to other evidence obtained by House investigators. That evidence includes roughly 150 Suspicious Activity Reports from the U.S. Treasury Department as well as testimony from IRS whistleblowers who said that the Biden family and associates received about $20 million through an array of shell companies and bank accounts connected to the Biden family and associates.

Bank records show those payments came from entities in adversarial nations like Russia and China as well as Ukraine.

“Based on the evidence, Congress has a duty to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s corruption,” Comer said earlier this week. “Americans demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office. This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests.”