Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) took advantage of the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on July 20, 2023 to play the race card. 

The House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. James Comer (R-KY), was able to produce $17 million in bank transactions and witness testimony. This hinted at the Biden family engaging in acts of bribery, influence peddling with foreign officials, and general corruption. 

The witnesses in question, two IRS agents who are registered Democrats, put forward financial receipts and testimony. This could potentially implicate President Biden, his son Hunter, and their business partners in a series of crimes. 

As a response to the testimony and financial evidence, Rep. Brown brought racial questions into the mix. 

She specifically responded to Comer’s come about a “two-tiered justice system” with regards to how Hunter Biden recently reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors to sort out a federal investigation.

This investigation took five years and centered around Hunter’s failure to pay roughly $1 million in taxes to the federal government, along with his felony possession of a firearm in 2018.

After five years of investigation, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice found Hunter Biden guilty of two misdemeanors and one gun charge. 

Hunter Biden’s punishment naturally provoked outrage among conservative politicians and political pundits. They all believe the president’s son received a slap on the wrist for otherwise serious crimes. 

Comer believes any other individual who does not possess Hunter Biden’s political privilege as the president’s son would face the full force of the law. 

Rep. Brown took issue with Comer’s assertion and shifted the discussion to the topic of race.

She believes the real two-tiered justice system is the one that non-white minorities allegedly face in the US, where they are subject to much harsher punishments for the crimes they commit. 

Brown has served as congresswoman for Ohio’s 11th congressional since 2011.