Republicans Are Using Impeachment Inquiry to Launder Foreign Disinformation

After the bombshell revelations that House Republican Chairs James Comer and Jim Jordan were duped by Russian spies into laundering Putin based lies about President Biden, a picture is coming together about the entire Republican based impeachment project against Biden being used to launder foreign disinformation.

This is especially pertinent as this same body refuses to fund aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal invasion, at a time when to fail to do so compromises U.S. national security and could well inevitably draw the U.S. into a troops on the ground conflict to defend our allies.

In July, Chairman Comer’s star whistleblower turned out to be an agent for Chinese interests (https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-against-co-director-think-tank-acting-unregistered) and a weapons trafficker on the run from a federal indictment. Last week, Chairman Comer’s vaunted Form FD-1023 turned out to be “a tissue of lies (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-calls-on-house-republicans-to-end-impeachment-inquiry)” told to the FBI by an individual with ties to Russian intelligence (https://newrepublic.com/post/179163/republicans-star-hunter-biden-witness-epic-disaster). This impeachment inquiry is not simply a sham and an utter waste of congressional time and taxpayer dollars, it is increasingly apparent that it has become a platform for echoing and amplifying foreign misinformation (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/14/trump-russia-guiliani-biden-ukraine/).

This devastating blow to the GOP’s “already struggling (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/us/politics/biden-impeachment-republicans-informant.html)” impeachment effort came “after witness after witness (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/46psbv7z4sm2ay534d8qf/20240215-Newshour-Witnesses-Say-No-Evidence.mp4?rlkey=ngefojoqg5t812dib9zjlv042&dl=0)…have essentially said that there is no evidence that President Biden was involved in any of Hunter Biden’s business dealings.”
 
Republicans’ own witnesses have repeatedly “undercut Republican allegations (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/politics/john-robinson-walker-house-republican-interview/index.html__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUuipg52k$)” against Joe Biden, including Tony Bobulinski (https://abcnews.go.com/US/raskin-blasts-gops-top-biden-impeachment-witness-tony/story?id=107350891), Karen Tramontano (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karen-tramontano-deposition-impeachment-inquiry-biden_n_65ca7209e4b0fb721d6230e4?ijk), Joseph Langston (https://x.com/stephen_neukam/status/1753168709487575482?s=20), Eric Schwerin (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/abcnews.go.com/US/hunter-biden-business-associate-tells-house-oversight-committee/story?id=106797455__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUj0q3zLH$), Rob Walker (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.axios.com/2024/01/26/hunter-biden-rob-walker-deposition-congress__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUrOruK3D$), Mervyn Yan (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-blast-impeachment-inquiry-gop-witness-unaware-joe-biden-role-family-biz__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUvjPdZri$), Kevin Morris (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/s-kevin-morris-says-paid-hunter-bidens-back-taxes-rcna135277__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUrl5EiqQ$), Georges Berges (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/another-witness-disappoints-gop-anti-biden-investigation-rcna133222__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUoTblS77$), and Carol Fox (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/19/house-impeachment-inquiry-witness-no-evidence-joe-biden/71973729007/__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUjbC4QjF$), as well as Devon Archer (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.factcheck.org/2023/08/republicans-oversell-archers-testimony-about-hunter-and-joe-biden/__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUsE3UNK1$) and a former FBI special agent (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.reuters.com/world/us/former-fbi-agent-says-he-was-not-aware-interference-hunter-biden-probe-2023-08-14/__;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!I68uq3-ZnuCVMBzQgJkk37btm4aHPi5_hJ4INNV8fZqimN7lT-7fuPa99KQPlvylCgtzSmsmozB6PTIPdlnSF4598cixUgvgU6gh$) last summer. Chairmen Jordan and Comer have only succeeded in uncovering “exculpatory,” “exonerating” evidence and (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/20/biden-impeachment-inquiry-james-hunter-testimony/) have “compiled an extensive record of sworn statements from firsthand witnesses saying the president was never involved.”
 
In the letter that Chairmen Jordan and Comer sent alongside their subpoena to Jim Biden, the Chairmen stated (https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Letter-to-JamesBiden-11.8.23-1.pdf) that they sought information related to whether “Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President” took any official action or abused his public office in exchange for payments to enrich him or his family.
 
The evidence could not be any clearer: Joe Biden was not involved in, did not profit from, and took no official action to benefit his family’s business dealings. Tens of thousands of pages of bank records, more than 70,000 pages of documents from the National Archives, more than 2,000 pages of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), and testimony from more than 10 witnesses have established that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden, much less an impeachable offense.
 
Chairman Comer has cited Jim and Hunter Biden’s legitimate (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/17/how-republicans-overhype-findings-their-hunter-biden-probe/) business dealings with CEFC to falsely claim, “Joe Biden was working for China (https://x.com/NEWSMAX/status/1757762949718897132?s=20),” but witness testimony proves that Joe Biden was not involved in that venture (or any other).
    •    Mervyn Yan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/20/biden-impeachment-inquiry-james-hunter-testimony/), “who worked as a consultant for CEFC a
nd was often an intermediary with the Bidens, testified that Hunter never mentioned his father or used him to arrange any deals. Neither Hunter nor James raised the idea of Joe Biden being part of the arrangement, he added, and he has no reason to believe the former vice president benefited financially.” Bank records produced to the Committee related to Yan’s work with Hunter and Jim Biden confirm the
legitimacy (https://www.factcheck.org/2023/12/gop-misleading-claims-in-biden-impeachment-investigation/)
of their business related to CEFC.

    •    
“When pressed,
[Tony] Bobulinski (https://abcnews.go.com/US/raskin-blasts-gops-top-biden-impeachment-witness-tony/story?id=107350891)
— who Comer has described as ‘the one honest, credible guy that was involved with the Bidens’ — could not point to direct evidence that Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings. […] When Republican investigators asked Bobulinski to describe his two interactions with Joe Biden, who was a private citizen at the time, Bobulinski said the meetings did not include any direct discussion of any involvement in the business venture by Hunter Biden, James Biden, or two other partners, James Gilliar and Rob Walker.” Bobulinski
also testified (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2024-02-20.JBR%20to%20Passantino%20re%20Bobulinski.pdf)
that their CEFC related business venture was “legitimate,” and none of his disclosures to the venture’s bank, JPMorgan Chase, which Bobulinski stated were “100 percent” truthful and forthcoming, ever suggested that President Biden would have any role in the venture. Furthermore, Bobulinski
testified (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2024-02-20.JBR%20to%20Passantino%20re%20Bobulinski.pdf)
that Hunter Biden and James Biden did not indicate that Joe Biden would profit from their business.

    •    
Rob Walker (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/20/biden-impeachment-inquiry-james-hunter-testimony/)
, “another longtime associate of Hunter Biden, testified that the president was not involved in, did not profit from, and took no official actions related to his family’s business dealings.” In regard to a ten-minute “drop-by” in 2017 by Joe Biden, then a private citizen, at the Four Seasons Hotel in D.C., Walker explained that Joe Biden merely exchanged pleasantries with everyone and left and that
no business was discussed while Joe Biden was present (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2024-02-12.COA%20HJC%20DEM%20Memo%20re%20Transcribed%20Interviews.pdf)
.

    •    
James Gilliar (https://www.wsj.com/articles/hunter-bidens-ex-business-partner-alleges-father-knew-about-venture-11603421247)
, another SinoHawk associate, was also unequivocal: “I am unaware of any involvement at anytime of the former Vice President.” 

    •    
Eric Schwerin (https://abcnews.go.com/US/hunter-biden-business-associate-tells-house-oversight-committee/story?id=106797455)
, Hunter Biden’s former business associate who performed a number of administrative and bookkeeping tasks for then-Vice President Biden, and thus had access to the Vice President’s bank records from 2009 to 2017, made clear that Joe Biden had no involvement in—and took no official actions to advance—any business conducted by any of then-Vice President Biden’s family members.

 
Republicans have falsely tried to suggest that Joe Biden was involved in Jim Biden’s business with Americore.

    •    
Carol Fox (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/20/biden-impeachment-inquiry-james-hunter-testimony/)
, “the trustee in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, testified that she had no evidence that Joe Biden was involved in Americore or its bankruptcy,” nor any of James Biden’s business dealings. Fox made clear that she had no firsthand knowledge of any use by Jim Biden of political influence to benefit Americore
nor any official action taken by Joe Biden on the company’s behalf (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2024-02-12.COA%20HJC%20DEM%20Memo%20re%20Transcribed%20Interviews.pdf)
.

    •    
During the entire period in which Jim Biden was involved with Americore (2017-18), Joe Biden was not in office and had not even yet announced his presidential campaign.

 
Comer and Jordan have also misrepresented loan repayments in a failed attempt to incriminate President Biden.

    •    
“
[Bank] records on file with the House Oversight Committee (https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4370548-gop-impeachment-strategy-bets-big-on-bribery-allegations/)
” show that in 2017 and 2018, while Joe Biden was not in office and began earning significant income from
book deals and speaking engagements (https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/02/politics/fact-check-byron-donalds-makes-inaccurate-claim-about-bidens-income-to-argue-he-couldnt-legitimately-afford-loan/index.html)
, he provided two short-term loans to his brother, James, who repaid each loan within two months.  

    •    
This evidence has been affirmed by many fact checkers and independents news outlets, including
CNN Fact Check (https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/politics/fact-check-evidence-supports-democrats-case-that-joe-biden-made-a-personal-loan-to-his-brother/index.html)
,
USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/08/joe-biden-impeachment-inquiry-hunter-james-subpoena/71504992007/)
,
The Washington Examiner (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/bank-records-show-joe-biden-paid-james-biden)
,
Daily Mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12726277/Hunter-James-Biden-called-sit-DEPOSITIONS-impeachment-investigation-Republicans-warn-WIFE-presidents-son-ex-lover-Hallie-called-interviews-ramp-probe.html)
,
FactCheck.org (https://www.factcheck.org/2023/10/cherry-picking-influence-payment-from-james-to-joe-biden/)
,
Politico (https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2023/11/08/congress/hunter-biden-subpoenaed-00126137)
,
PolitiFact (https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/nov/14/whats-behind-republicans-claim-that-joe-biden-rece/)
,
Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/10/biden-impeachment-inquiry-speaker-johnson/)
, and
New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/us/politics/james-hunter-biden-house-subpoenas.html)
.

 
Republicans continue to dismiss the facts and evidence and try to smear the Biden family. Most alarmingly, they
unflinchingly (https://x.com/costellojoseph_/status/1760308140044669064?s=20)
promote
foreign misinformation (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1118)
in service of a doomed impeachment inquiry driven not by facts or evidence but by Trump’s
repeated demands (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/14/trump-urges-congress-impeach-biden/)
for political retribution.