House Oversight panel requests records from Hunter Biden and James Biden

In letters first obtained by CBS News, Comer informed Hunter and James Biden, as well as their then-business manager, that he is seeking documents and communications from the Bidens as part of his committee’s probe into to any possible involvement by the president in their financial conduct, in particular in foreign business deals “with individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party.” Comer accused them in his letter of receiving “significant amounts of money from foreign companies without providing any known legitimate services.”

In addition to that probe, Comer said the committee is considering writing a bill to strengthen federal ethics laws around public officials and their families.

Comer has asked the president’s son and brother for any record “designated classified” the two may possess, plus communications between the president or James Biden and his wife, Sara Jones Biden, and Hunter Biden over an 11-year period from Jan. 20, 2009, regarding travel and financial activity.

Now that the Republicans are in the majority in the House, they have subpoena power. Comer has given the Bidens until Feb. 22 to respond before he considers issuing a subpoena for documents and testimony. Speaking to CBS News, Comer did not rule out subpoenas as early as April.

Late Wednesday, CBS News reached out to the parties, as well as lawyers for Hunter Biden, for comment. There was no immediate response.

Last week, Hunter Biden’s legal team went on the offensive, demanding state and federal investigations into the dissemination of his personal material — purported to be from his laptop.

In January, Comer called on the White House to provide logs of all visitors to the president’s Wilmington, Delaware, house since the start of his presidency after documents bearing classification markings were discovered there.