The Republican-led House Oversight Committee revealed on Wednesday that while Joe Biden was vice president, his staff colluded with one of Hunter Biden’s business partners to coordinate a response to media questions about potential Burisma corruption—and Joe Biden himself signed off on the response.
Biden has repeatedly claimed that he never spoke to his family about their business dealings and in fact operated with “an absolute wall between the personal and private, and the government.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Wednesday called on the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to provide complete unredacted docs related to the Office of the Vice President and the Biden family and their business associates.
“Joe Biden never built an ‘absolute wall’ between his family’s business dealings and his official government work,” wrote Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on X.
????????????
Joe Biden never built an ‘absolute wall’ between his family’s business dealings and his official government work.
I am calling on the @USNatArchives to provide unredacted docs related to the Office of the VP colluding with the Biden family and their business associates. https://t.co/sNqAuenuoP
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) September 6, 2023
Records recently released the National Archives revealed that Hunter Biden’s firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, exchanged over 1,000 emails with the office of then-Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama Administration. Many of those records provided by NARA have been redacted for publication, however, preventing the Oversight Republicans from viewing information relevant to their investigation.
In one example, longtime Biden family business associate, Eric Schwerin, allegedly provided then- Vice President Joe Biden’s office staff with talking points to deal with media inquiries into Hunter Biden’s lucrative position at the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings.
At the time, Joe Biden was the Obama regime’s “point man” on Ukraine, a frequent visitor to the country with a mission to root out its endemic corruption. After Hunter was hired in May of 2014 to sit on the Burisma Board for $1 million per year, there were questions about a potential conflict of interest.
On December 4, 2015, Schwerin wrote to Kate Bedingfield in the Office of the Vice President, and suggested quotes for the White House to use to explain Hunter’s role at Burisma, the records show.
Later that day, Bedingfield responded to Mr. Schwerin saying, “VP signed off on this[.]”
The timing of this exchange is of special interest to the Committee because according to Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer, Hunter Biden, Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky, and Vadym Pozharski, an executive at the firm, “called D.C.” on the evening of December 4, 2015, to ask the Obama White House to fire the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the firm for corruption. The trio allegedly made the call following a Burisma board of directors meeting in Dubai.
Archer testified that Zlochevsky and Pozharski “placed constant pressure on Hunter Biden to get help from D.C.” in getting then-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted.
In a letter to National Archivist Colleen Shogan, Oversight Chairman James Comer called on the National Archives to provide complete and unredacted documents regarding communications between the Office of the Vice President and Hunter Biden or his business associates.
◾️ Complete and unredacted versions of all documents from Records on Hunter Biden, James Biden, and their Foreign Business Dealings, Case Number 2022-0121-F;
◾️ All documents and communications to or from the Executive Office of the President (including but not limited to the Office of the Vice President) to, from, copying or regarding Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer, Vuk Jeremic, John Robinson “Rob” Walker, or Jeffrey Cooper;
◾️ All documents and communications to or from Kate Bedingfield, Michael Carpenter, Kathy Chung, Amos Hochstein, Colin Kahl, and Alexander Mackler to, from, copying or regarding Hunter Biden or James Biden; and
◾️ All executive calendars created for then-Vice President Joe Biden dating from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability has specific jurisdiction over NARA under House Rule X,” Comer wrote. “Additionally, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.”