FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans say Hunter Biden “gratuitously” used his father's role as vice president in an effort to “discourage” further scrutiny in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation. of 2016 involving its business partners and their entities, Fox News Digital learned.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote a letter to the SEC chairman as part of the impeachment inquiry. ongoing against President Biden.
“In 2016, attorneys with the SEC's Enforcement Division were investigating a tribal bond scheme in which several people were charged with violating federal securities laws. As part of this investigation, several of the business partners and interconnected entities of Robert Hunter Biden (Hunter Biden) were implicated by the alleged conduct,” Comer and Jordan wrote.
House Republicans say Hunter Biden “gratuitously” used his father's role as vice president in an effort to “discourage” further scrutiny in a 2016 SEC investigation. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFER HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BID FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AMID IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION
As part of the investigation, the SEC subpoenaed individuals and entities “to present documents, communications and testimony.”
At the time, the SEC subpoenaed Hunter Biden's former business partner Devon Archer and Rosemont Seneca Bohai, an entity used by both Archer and Hunter Biden.
Comer and Jordan revealed that Hunter Biden was also subpoenaed as part of the investigation in March 2016, while Joe Biden served as vice president.
The subpoena for Hunter Biden forced him to produce documents and communications about Rosemont Seneca Bohai.
Comer and Jordan wrote that Rosemont Seneca Bohai “was directly involved in the tribal bond scheme.”
Citing the initial complaint, Comer and Jordan noted that in October 2014, Rosemont purchased “the entire Second Tribal Bond Issue” for $15 million.
Archer, during his interview before the House Oversight Committee last year, testified that Hunter Biden, at the time, was “a corporate secretary” for Rosemont and that they “had a 50-50 ownership handshake.” .
Comer and Jordan also noted that last month the House Ways and Means Committee voted to release IRS documents showing that Hunter Biden certified in a document that he was, in fact, the secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai.
Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“According to Mr Archer, 'Rosemont Seneca Bohai was created to own the capital of BHR', which stands for Bohai Harvest Rosemont. [Partners]. “BHR was supposed to be a China-based private equity fund for cross-border investments,” they wrote. “RSB's bank account was used to funnel other foreign payments and benefits to Hunter Biden, including money from Ukraine and a new sport. car of an oligarch in Kazakhstan.”
Comer and Jordan revealed that Hunter Biden responded to the subpoena in 2016 and provided 1,749 response documents to the SEC as part of the investigation.
But Comer and Jordan said that, “disturbingly,” Hunter Biden's lawyer recalled in his response that his father was the sitting vice president.
GOP claims Hunter Biden lied under oath multiple times during congressional testimony
“As a preliminary matter, we request that you treat this matter with the highest degree of confidentiality, consistent with Commission policy and applicable law,” Hunter Biden's attorney wrote on April 20, 2016. “The confidential nature of This investigation is very important to our client and it would be unfair, not only to our client, but also to his father, the Vice President of the United States, if his participation in an SEC investigation and a parallel criminal investigation became an issue. of media attention.
Comer and Jordan said Hunter Biden's response “gratuitously invoked his father's position as vice president in what could be interpreted as an effort to discourage further SEC scrutiny.”
Comer and Jordan also noted that on May 11, 2016, the SEC released its press release announcing the indictment of seven people, without mentioning or charging Hunter Biden.
However, his business partners Devon Archer and Jason Galanis were charged.
Jason Galanis worked with Hunter Biden's partner, Devon Archer, before pleading guilty to fraud. (Facebook profile)
Galanis pleaded guilty to securities fraud based on bonds issued by a company affiliated with a Native American tribe in South Dakota. The funds were reportedly supposed to be used for certain projects, but were instead used for his personal finances. He was sentenced in 2017 to 14 years. House Republicans interviewed Galanis from his prison cell as part of the impeachment inquiry.
Archer was also linked to the scheme and convicted in 2018 of defrauding the Native American tribal entity and several investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars in connection with the tribal entity's issuance of bonds and subsequent sale of those. bonuses through fraudulent methods and deceptive means. Archer was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
As part of the ongoing impeachment investigation, Comer and Jordan are demanding all documents and communications between the SEC and the White House, including the Office of the Vice President and all documents provided by Rosemont Seneca, Archer and Hunter Biden in the impeachment investigation. the SEC.
COMER INVITES PUBLIC WITNESS AS PART OF THE INVESTIGATION OF THE CHAMBER'S PERFORMANCE
They also demand the SEC's “justification for requesting documents from Hunter Biden” in the matter; all internal documents and communications related to Hunter Biden's response; and any internal ethics opinions issued by the SEC regarding Hunter Biden or then-Vice President Biden.
From left, Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in the Rayburn Building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Getty Images)
Comer and Jordan are also asking the SEC to have Tejal D. Shah, a former lawyer who led the investigation and now serves as senior counsel, appear for questioning by the committees in the form of a transcribed interview.
“In short, the records sought by this request are critical to the impeachment inquiry,” they wrote.
The requests come after Comer, Jordan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith earlier this month sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Hunter Biden and James Biden be charged with make false statements to Congress about “key aspects” of the impeachment inquiry.
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One of the false statements allegedly made by Hunter Biden was about his role at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC as corporate secretary.
House Republicans allege that during his testimony before Congress earlier this year, Hunter Biden made false statements about holding a position at Rosemont Seneca Bohai. The committees describe the entity as one that was used to receive millions of dollars from foreign individuals and entities who met with then-Vice President Biden before and after transferring money to the RSB account that then transferred funds to Hunter Biden.
House Republicans continue their impeachment inquiry into the president. They are investigating his role and knowledge of his family's international influence-peddling schemes that they say generated more than $18 million for members of the Biden family and their companies, and more than $27 million, if They include payments to his business partners, who they say were often used to transfer funds to members of the Biden family.
