Senate Republicans demand Biden withdraw nominee with Hunter Biden and Burisma ties

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans pressed the White House on Tuesday to withdraw President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead a key government office due to the nominee’s connections to controversial business Hunter Biden did in Ukraine while his father was vice president.

Hampton Dellinger, Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, served on a team at the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner that worked with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma after Hunter Biden joined the Burisma board in spring 2014.

HUNTER BIDEN WILLING TO TESTIFY BEFORE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IN PUBLIC HEARING, HIS ATTORNEY SAYS

The independent Office of Special Counsel investigates whistleblower complaints, among other duties, and is different from the Justice Department-designated special counsel investigating Hunter Biden’s business.

Emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop showed that Dellinger enjoyed a close relationship with his colleagues who worked on the Burisma account, attending a dinner with them and Hunter Biden in March 2014 and a lunch with Hunter Biden in February 2014.

Boies Schiller attorneys went on to advise Burisma executives on everything from press strategies to State Department outreach because the Ukrainian company sought to free its founder from a corruption investigation led by the country’s top prosecutor.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote in their letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday that Dellinger’s nomination is “particularly concerning” given the Office of Special Counsel’s role in whistleblower protection.

“It is important to note that Mr. Dellinger, as Special Counsel, would be charged with ensuring retaliation against whistleblowers — including the IRS whistleblowers in the Hunter Biden matter — is investigated,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.

They were referring to a pair of IRS agents who spent years working on a criminal investigation of Hunter Biden’s finances before then-U.S. Attorney David Weiss informed their IRS supervisor that he would no longer work with either agent.

The IRS agents, meanwhile, have testified to Congress that they believe their removal from the case was a result of Weiss’s frustration with concerns they raised about perceived political bias in the investigation.

Hunter Biden faces criminal charges in Delaware related to an alleged gun offense and the prospect of additional tax charges in California. While the statute of limitations has expired for some of the alleged tax crimes Hunter Biden may have committed in 2014 and 2015, the years he was most heavily involved with Burisma, investigators looked closely at the work Hunter Biden performed for the Ukrainian company and how he was paid for it.

Prosecutors discussed whether to charge Hunter Biden with violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws by advocating for Burisma, the IRS whistleblowers said.

Joe Biden announced Dellinger’s nomination in October, and the former Boies Schiller attorney quickly drew scrutiny for his proximity to the Burisma controversy.

Republicans have claimed Joe Biden, then vice president, secured the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor in 2016 because the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was investigating Burisma’s founder for corruption and complicating the energy company’s business affairs.

Joe Biden has said he pushed for Shokin’s firing because the U.S. viewed Shokin himself as corrupt.

But Dellinger’s work for the firm that fought to help shield Burisma from corruption investigations could make his Senate confirmation difficult.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Dellinger was, in 2014, a member of Boies Schiller’s crisis management and government response team, according to the GOP senators; that team took on Burisma as a client at Hunter Biden’s request.

Hunter Biden worked with Boies Schiller at the time in an of counsel position.