The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is going to provide House Oversight Committee lawmakers access to more than 1,700 emails from President Joe Biden’s vice presidency.
NARA will give the committee access to 1,799 emails and attachments, 62,610 pages of records in total, from Biden’s vice presidency tied to Hunter Biden and his business dealings with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, the agency said in a Monday letter to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer obtained by the Daily Caller. (RELATED: National Archives Set To Give House Oversight Records Tied To Joe Biden’s Email Pseudonyms)
READ THE LETTER:
Comer wrote NARA a letter in August demanding “unrestricted special access” to then-Vice President Biden’s email communications with Hunter Biden and his business associates in connection with Burisma and Ukraine. As part of his request, Comer sought access to records from email pseudonyms then-VP Biden appeared to use for government purposes. He specifically demanded access to “Case Number 2023-0022-F” which appears to contain records related to Hunter Biden and Ukraine.
In September, Comer followed up with a letter to NARA demanding access to communications between then-VP Biden’s staffers and Hunter Biden’s former business associates. (RELATED: National Archives Identifies Key Documents Related To Joe Biden’s Apparent Email Aliases)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – JULY 26: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prosecution on an additional gun charge. However, the federal judge overseeing the case unexpectedly delayed Biden’s plea deal and deferred her decision until more information is put forth by both the prosecution and the defense. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
His letter cited archived emails between Hunter Biden’s former business associate Eric Schwerin and members of Joe Biden’s staff in December 2015 where they appeared to collaborate on a response to media inquiries surrounding Burisma.
The Biden administration gave Oversight Committee lawmakers access to a few pages of the records in its possession covered by Comer’s request, such as emails praising Joe Biden and his late son Beau Biden. NARA said in October it possesses up to 82,000 potential records tied to Joe Biden’s apparent email pseudonyms.
NARA told Comer Monday it will be able to give the committee access to Joe Biden’s communications with email pseudonyms and any communications with Hunter Biden, Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer, another one of Hunter Biden’s former business associates and a former Burisma board member who testified to the Oversight Committee in July.
Burisma paid Hunter Biden as much as $83,333.333 per month to sit on its board, according to bank records released by the Oversight Committee. The Ukrainian firm significantly reduced Hunter Biden’s salary when his father left office, Hunter Biden’s newest indictment shows. (RELATED: Hunter Biden Indicted On 9 Tax-Related Charges In California)
“The White House is trying to make an appearance of cooperation after two brave IRS whistleblowers provided information revealing Joe Biden used an alias as Vice President to email directly with Hunter Biden’s business associate,” Comer said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller.
“Just last week, President Biden lied again when confronted with information that he interacted with his family’s business associates. The White House must comply with all of our requests for records from Joe Biden’s time as Vice President and all other Committee requests related to the impeachment inquiry. Anything less is obstruction,” he added.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Internal Revenue Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley (2nd L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler (R), who both worked on the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, arrive for a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Ways and Means Committee is hearing testimony from Internal Revenue whistleblowers Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, who both claim they were blocked from pursuing leads that would lead to more serious charges during their five-year investigation into Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Dec. 5 to follow up on their previous testimony accusing Department of Justice (DOJ) officials of giving Hunter Biden special treatment during the ongoing criminal probe into Biden’s taxes and firearms possession.
The Ways and Means Committee released documents provided by Ziegler including email metadata showing then-VP Biden communicated one-on-one with Schwerin by using his “Robin Ware” alias.
The pair exchanged over 50 emails privately with most of the emails occurring around a June 2014 trip Joe Biden took to Ukraine on behalf of the Obama administration, according to the Ways and Means Committee.
White House spokesman Ian Sams circulated a memo on Dec. 1 pushing back against House Republicans who accused the Biden administration of obstructing the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Sams’ talking points were based on testimony from DOJ, FBI and IRS officials about the Hunter Biden case and financial records in House Republicans’ possession.
The House Oversight, Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees are spearheading the impeachment inquiry over Joe Biden’s role in Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the IRS whistleblower allegations.
House lawmakers are weighing a floor vote to officially authorize the inquiry and strengthen its legal authority.
Henry Rodgers contributed to this report