Hunter Biden’s attorney asks House Speaker Johnson to stop ‘partisan’ probes into his client, Biden family
Hunter Biden’s attorney asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to stop House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith from ‘continuing their partisan political games’ as the three top Republican lawmakers lead the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, penned a lengthy letter to Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday, asking him to use his ‘newly minted leadership post responsibly’ and to ‘think twice before joining’ the ‘spectacle’ of House Republican-led investigations into Hunter Biden and the Biden family’s business dealings.
‘Before you cast your lot with and cede additional authority to those who have betrayed the trust placed in their offices by the Constitution, you should consider the numerous lies, falsehoods, and fabricated illustrations by your chamber’s chairmen in the course of peddling baseless allegations of misconduct by our client or his family that now will form the basis for them abusing their power with improper demands for records and testimony,’ Lowell wrote.
‘Even in the era of ‘alternative facts,’ your colleagues’ manipulation and disregard for the truth is breathtaking,’ Lowell continued. ‘Please remind those who sat with you on November 1 what you recently said: that House Republicans have a ‘constitutional responsibility to follow th[e] truth,’ wherever it leads, and you promised to ‘only follow facts’ and not ‘use this for political partisan games.’’
He added, ‘These chairmen are about to ignore your admonition by continuing to pursue baseless allegations.’
Hunter Biden’s attorney slammed Republican lawmakers, saying they are ‘using ‘oversight’ proceedings to distort text message conversations’ between Hunter and James Biden while also ‘falsely claiming a Burisma executive asked for Hunter Biden’s help to stymie efforts of a Ukrainian prosecutor general,’ among other lines of inquiry, while casting whistleblower allegations as false.
‘Mr. Speaker, over the past few months, these three chairmen and various of their colleagues have participated in interviews and led or attended many proceedings regarding the investigation (and now prosecution) of our client,’ Lowell wrote. ‘They have dumped into the public transcripts of interviews and entire IRS case files that they were given as part of that investigation, and they have adopted so-called ‘whistleblowers’ to champion their efforts (while ignoring other witnesses) despite often-contradictory narratives.’
‘When another law enforcement agent or U.S. Attorney has contradicted a witness’s past statements, one or another of these three ‘don’t let the facts get in the way’ chairmen either ignore or misrepresent what the witness said as mere inconvenient truths,’ Lowell continued. ‘Their clear willingness to bend the facts, at any cost, to support a distorted and made-up version of events is stunning but has become the norm of many in the Republican Party’s baseless inquiries into Hunter Biden and his family.’
‘Now, perhaps believing he has your blessing, Chairman Comer announced he will plow ahead by issuing around two dozen new subpoenas. Two dozen,’ Lowell said.
‘Ending this letter the way it began, we want to go back to our hope that you will be a different Speaker — one who restores the integrity and reputation of your chamber; one who, as you promised, ‘restore[s] the people’s faith’ and ‘regular order’ in the House; and one who declared his role would be to ‘only follow facts’ and not ‘use this for political partisan games,’ he wrote.
‘This can begin with your holding Chairmen Comer, Jordan, and Smith to the facts and stopping them from continuing their partisan political games,’ he continued. ‘The latest example of their hoping to do the opposite is ripe for your intervention.’
Lowell added, ‘We look forward to working with you in your new role as Speaker of the House.’
Raj Shah, who is Johnson’s deputy chief of staff for communications, dismissed Lowell’s letter.
‘President Biden and the White House have repeatedly lied to the American people about his involvement and knowledge of the Biden family’s business dealings – receiving millions through their shell companies – from foreign adversaries,’ Shah said in a statement. ‘We have learned this because of the diligent work of House investigators, who will continue to follow the facts where they may lead.’