Republican leaders of three House committees sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending charges against Hunter Biden and James Biden for making false statements to Congress. They claim the lies from the president’s son and brother implicate President Biden’s role in an alleged effort to profit off family overseas business dealings while he was vice president. The Justice Department has not commented on the referrals, and the president denies any wrongdoing. The investigation has not yielded evidence of improper conduct by President Biden.
The GOP chairmen of the Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means panels wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss, accusing Hunter Biden and James Biden of making provably false statements to the committees. Republicans claim that Hunter Biden lied about his involvement with a firm called Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC, and gave a false account of text messages with a Chinese business partner. They also allege that James Biden falsely testified about a meeting with one of Hunter Biden’s business partners in 2017. The referral claimed that the false statements were a conscious effort to protect President Biden from the impeachment inquiry.
The criminal referrals from Republicans stem from interviews with James Biden and Hunter Biden in which they allegedly made false statements to lawmakers. The committees received documents showing that Hunter Biden was the corporate secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC, despite his denial. They also claim that Hunter Biden gave an inaccurate account of text messages with a Chinese business partner mentioning his father’s involvement. Republicans also allege that James Biden falsely testified about a meeting with one of Hunter Biden’s business partners in 2017, contradicting statements from the business partner and Hunter Biden.
The GOP leaders claim that the false testimony is part of a deliberate effort to shield President Biden from the impeachment inquiry and an investigation into alleged influence peddling by the Biden family. Republicans have been investigating the president and his family for over a year but have not found evidence to support their claims. The House GOP voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry in December, but progress has stalled. Melissa Quinn, a politics reporter for CBSNews.com, covers U.S. politics with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.
