House Oversight Republicans subpoena more bank records in Biden family probe

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has subpoenaed several more banks for records on the Biden family’s business dealings, following Bank of America records that revealed suspicious payouts months after President Biden left the vice presidency.

The newly revealed subpoenas went to Bank of America, Cathay Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC. The committee is also demanding information from Hunter Biden associate Mervyn Yan.

The latest volley of demands was first reported by Fox News on Friday.

In a Twitter post linking to the Fox News reporting, committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, accused committee Democrats of once again disclosing the committee’s subpoenas “in a cheap attempt to thwart cooperation from other witnesses.”

“No one should be fooled by Ranking Member [Jamie] Raskin’s games,” Mr. Comer wrote. “We have the bank records, and the facts are not good for the Biden family.”

The staff of Mr. Raskin, Maryland Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The revelation follows accusations by Mr. Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, that Republicans were squeezing out Democrats and stretching the truth with the public as the panel probes the presidential family.

In a letter to Mr. Comer on Thursday, Mr. Raskin said that he has grown “increasingly alarmed” by Republicans’ efforts to shield information obtained in the probe from committee Democrats.

Mr. Raskin also accused Mr. Comer of “apparent public misrepresentations about certain investigative steps.”

“Our committee has always adhered to the principle that equal access to information is the cornerstone of legitimate congressional oversight,” Mr. Raskin wrote. “I fear you have repeatedly offended this core understanding of our committee’s work by going on cable television to tout investigatory steps undertaken in secret or, more disturbingly, which may not have been taken at all.”

Mr. Raskin cited Mr. Comer’s appearance on Fox News last month in which the chairman said four different people affiliated with “Biden influence peddling all across the globe” had recently come forward with information “that has been very helpful.”

According to Mr. Raskin, Democratic staff reached out to the majority after the appearance to get access to that information, but were told that “no new witness information, including from whistleblowers, had actually been provided to committee Republicans.”

Democratic staff were told that Mr. Comer was referring to testimony from two individuals — Hunter Biden associate Eric Schwerin and President Biden’s former aide Kathy Chung.

Mr. Raskin said neither Mr. Schwerin nor Ms. Chung “have claimed to have — nor have they provided — any information about any wrongdoing by President Biden or his family.”

Nonetheless, Mr. Raskin said, the chairman repeated the claims in multiple subsequent interviews.

“Your repeated statements about ‘four people’ suggest that either you have intentionally misrepresented the committee’s investigative progress to your conservative audience or that key investigative steps have been deliberately withheld from committee Democrats,” he said.

Mr. Comer dismissed his colleague’s claims in a statement on Thursday, saying “multiple individuals” have approached the committee confidentially as whistleblowers.

Mr. Comer also accused Mr. Raskin of releasing “disingenuous, misleading financial information from the committee’s investigation” referring to the top Democrat’s disclosure last month that committee Republicans had subpoenaed Bank of America records dating back more than a decade related to Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

Soon after Mr. Raskin publicized the subpoena, Mr. Comer disclosed that the bank documents revealed payments totaling roughly $1 million to members of the Biden family after Hunter Biden associate Rob Walker received a $3 million wire transfer from a communist-backed Chinese energy company.

Mr. Walker received the multimillion-dollar wire transfer from State Energy HK Ltd., a Chinese company affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party-backed CEFC China Energy Co., just two months after Joe Biden ended his tenure as vice president under President Obama.

Mr. Walker then made payments to President Biden’s brother James Biden, son Hunter Biden and daughter-in-law Hallie Biden.

The reason for the payments remains a mystery.

Hunter Biden’s legal team said the House oversight memo exposing the suspicious payments was baseless. The White House also brushed off the memo.

“Ranking Member Raskin is playing lawyer for the Biden family instead of engaging in real oversight for the American people,” Mr. Comer said on Thursday. “When the facts don’t go the Biden family’s way, Ranking Member Raskin lodges baseless accusations. But unlike Ranking Member Raskin’s distortions, bank records don’t lie.”