By Reese Gorman, Congressional Reporter. Media: Washington Examiner.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the three federal charges wouldn’t have any effect on the House’s investigation into an alleged bribery scheme between Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden, and a Ukrainian energy executive.
If anything, the speaker said, the deal will “enhance” the GOP’s efforts.
Talking to reporters after the news that the president’s son plans to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun possession charge, McCarthy said the investigation by the House Oversight Committee wouldn’t be swayed by the “sweetheart deal” Hunter Biden received from the Department of Justice, rather, it might help the investigation gather more information.
The Oversight Committee is investigating unverified information that came from a paid FBI informant through an FBI-generated FD-1023 tip sheet. The document alleges that Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden each took $5 million bribes from an executive at the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, where Hunter sat on the board.
“This does nothing to our investigation,” McCarthy said. “It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that there’s a pending investigation. They should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires.”
David Weiss, the U.S. attorney leading the Hunter Biden investigation, said: “The investigation is ongoing.” So, it will likely still be difficult for Comer to get the information he requests.
When asked about the DOJ saying the investigation is still ongoing, McCarthy said it was a ploy for them to continue withholding information from the House of Representatives under the pretext of an ongoing investigation.
“How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say there’s still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? That’s unacceptable and will not stand,” McCarthy said. “You cannot plead guilty, say you’re not going to do jail time, and then say you can’t give papers to the U.S. House of Representatives. That’s not going to stand. That’s not going to work.”
Comer said earlier on Tuesday that his committee would continue investigating the alleged bribery scheme involving Biden and his son.
McCarthy hit back on what he said is a two-tiered justice system where Biden’s top opponent, former President Donald Trump, is facing jail time for keeping classified documents in his home, and Biden’s son Hunter gets off with no jail time.
“Because the question is, is it equal justice?” McCarthy asked. “So you have one leading opponent of the current president that is now indicted is supposed to do jail time. You have a president’s son that the investigation went on for a very long time that now has to do no jail time.”
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