The House probe into Hunter Biden will extend to U.S. intelligence agencies and leaders who almost certainly knew about his shady foreign activities while his father was vice president, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy says , at Post.
“They should come in and talk to us,” McCarthy said in an exclusive meet and greet with The Post. “You would ask these people what they knew and when.
“People can come and talk to us and answer questions. If not, there are times when we will use subpoena as well,” he added.
In October 2020 – just days after The Post published the first stories documenting Hunter Biden’s potentially criminal overseas business dealings found on his abandoned laptop – 51 former intelligence agency officials issued a public letter denouncing the story as ‘Russian-pushed disinformation’.
“The arrival on the American political scene of emails allegedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son, Hunter, largely related to his tenure on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic hallmarks of a Russian information operation,” said the letter read just 14 days before the presidential election.
“Our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case,” he continued solemnly. “If we’re right, it’s Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we strongly believe Americans need to be aware of that.”
The hard drive information The Post first revealed — which the Bidens have never denied — has since been accepted as fact by even the most liberal media, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. .
Yet when The Post contacted the 51 officials in March, most ignored the survey and none apologized. A few even doubled.
“Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME. … I think such a warning AT THE TIME was appropriate,” said James Clapper, who served as Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2017 when Joe Biden was veep.
John Brennan, who served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, and Leon Panetta, CIA director from 2009 to 2011 and secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013, were also signatories.
“You would first ask these people, ‘Would you still like to sign the letter today, and who asked you to sign the letter and why did you sign the letter, and what information did you have before? ‘” McCarthy said. “Why did you feel comfortable – especially with your own reputation – signing this letter? Was it someone from [Biden] campaign who asked, where was it people from the intelligence community?
“I think these questions need to be answered. You can’t allow an Intel community to use their name inappropriately without correction,” McCarthy said.
Even if there is evidence that intelligence chiefs knew about Hunter Biden’s illicit activities and did nothing, then publicly lied about it, insiders say a public disgrace, not criminal prosecution, is expected.
So far, House investigators have not contacted any of the signatories to the letter.
The House GOP is just four votes from a majority in the House. If Republicans retake the House — an outcome widely expected by both parties — McCarthy is on track to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as president.
Even without a majority, the House Oversight Committee crumbled. On Thursday, GOP corps members ripped into FBI Director Christopher Wray — demanding to know why his agency was sitting on the Hunter Biden laptop, which they had possessed since at least December 2019. Critics like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) said they had “no confidence” in the FBI or the Justice Department to investigate Hunter Biden.
” I am going to give [Wray] the benefit of the doubt right now,” McCarthy hesitated. “We’re going to ask the hard questions and if we don’t get honest answers there are consequences.”
House Republicans have already vowed to subpoena Hunter Biden himself.
The Hunter Biden probe is the most high-profile of a blizzard of investigations the GOP leader is planning. Other hit investigations will include the origins of the coronavirus and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
McCarthy boasts that Republicans have already sent more than 500 “preservation letters” – demanding not to destroy specific data and documents – to various agencies and individuals to secure the information they need, and bristled at the suggestion that the Hunter Biden investigation is political. He said the investigation would continue at full speed even if President Biden were to announce he did not plan to seek re-election in 2024.
“We have an oversight responsibility,” McCarthy insisted.
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