With former Speaker Kevin McCarthy replaced by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Republicans are finally using their power even a little bit, now doing so by subpoenaing Biden family members and annoying the Biden Administration with bills to defund offices in it, such as the office of Kamala Harris.
The subpoenas were of James Biden, President Joe Biden’s brother, and Hunter Biden, the president’s infamous son. Both were involved in international lobbying and business activities, which some on the right contend were really influence-peddling operations. After subpoenaing their bank records in September, Rep. James Comer is now subpoenaing both individuals.
Describing the subpoenas and reasons for them in a statement, Rep. Comer said, “The House Oversight Committee has followed the money and built a record of evidence revealing how Joe Biden knew, was involved, and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes.”
Continuing, he said that the evidence gathered there is enough to justify the subpoenas of both individuals, saying, “Now, the House Oversight Committee is going to bring in members of the Biden family and their associates to question them on this record of evidence.”
He then used the subpoenaed bank records to tie the matter to President Biden, saying, “Unlike the many lies President Biden told the American people about his family’s business schemes, bank records don’t lie. These records reveal how the Bidens sold Joe Biden around to the world to benefit the Biden family, including Joe Biden himself, to the detriment of U.S. interests.”
Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the Biden Administration, lost it in a post on X (formerly Twitter) over the subpoenas of James and Hunter Biden, characterizing them not as responsible evidence gathering but instead as “nasty personal smears.”
Sams wrote (punctuation added for ease of reading), “Hallie Biden is the widow of the President’s deceased son Beau. Elizabeth Secundy is her sister. Melissa Cohen is the President’s daughter-in-law. They’re all private citizens. He won’t be, but Comer should be ashamed of desperately resorting to nasty personal smears like this.”
While Rep. Comer does that substantive work and digs into the Biden family and its activities abroad, other members of the GOP are using their power and being let off the leash a little to needle the Biden Administration with moves that are, even if they don’t amount to much, red meat for the base and annoyances for the Administration.
Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, for example, introduced an amendment that would slash funding for Kamala Harris’ office. Announcing it, he said, “My amendment prohibits any funding from being used by the office of the vice president for salaries and other expenses. Kamala Harris has been a failure as vice president. From her inability to manage her team effectively, leading to high turnover, to her disastrous job as border czar where she has failed to secure anything.”
Continuing, Rep. Collins added, “The Biden-Harris far-left border policies are to blame for this crisis. And what has this border czar done about it? Nothing. The only thing our vice president has succeeded at is failing us.”
Watch him here:
