by Jessica Chasmar
Then-Vice President Joe Biden's 'office doors were wide open to Hunter Biden’s associates,' Rep James Comer says
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter Wednesday to the National Archives asking for unredacted emails involving communications between then-Vice President Joe Biden’s office and Hunter Biden’s business associates.
The committee is seeking unrestricted special access to a case record by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), titled, "Records on Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Their Foreign Business Dealings," which was recently made public as a result of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by America First Legal.
Comer’s letter, which was provided to Fox News Digital, is requesting unredacted emails from that record that involve multiple aides in Biden’s vice presidential office and business associates of Hunter’s now-dissolved firm Rosemont Seneca Partners and Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, left, and Hunter Biden, Valerie Biden and President Biden. (Fox News)
COMER DEMANDS NATIONAL ARCHIVES FORK OVER UNREDACTED EMAILS INVOLVING HUNTER BIDEN, UKRAINE, BURISMA
"Complete versions of the records are relevant to the Committee’s investigation of the Biden family," the letter states. "For example, on December 4, 2015, at 10:45 a.m. — in an email with the subject of ‘Quotes’ — Eric Schwerin (a longtime Biden family business associate) wrote to Kate Bedingfield in the Office of the Vice President providing quotes the White House should use in response to media outreach regarding Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. Later that day — at 2:30 p.m. — Ms. Bedingfield responded to Mr. Schwerin saying, ‘VP signed off on this[.]"
"The timing of this email traffic is concerning to the Committee," the letter continues. "According to Devon Archer (another longtime Biden family business associate), after a Burisma board of directors meeting in Dubai — on the evening of December 4, 2015 (midday in Washington, D.C.) — Hunter Biden ‘called D.C.’ to discuss pressure that Burisma asked him to."
NATIONAL ARCHIVES SAYS IT HAS 5,000 EMAILS POTENTIALLY LINKED TO ALLEGED BIDEN PSEUDONYMS: LAWSUIT
Vice President Biden traveled to Ukraine three days later, when he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if Ukrainian officials did not fire then-prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, claiming he was too lax on prosecuting corruption.
At the time, Shokin was leading an investigation into Burisma’s founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, and the company, where Hunter was serving as a board member.
President Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Comer said the email exchanges provide "evidence of collusion" between Biden’s vice presidential office and his son’s businesses.
"Joe Biden never built an ‘absolute wall’ between his family’s business dealings and his official government work — his office doors were wide open to Hunter Biden’s associates," Comer said in a statement. "There is evidence of collusion in the efforts to spin media stories about Burisma’s corruption while Vice President Biden was publicly pushing an anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine."
"Suspiciously, Hunter Biden’s associate had a media statement on Burisma approved by Vice President Biden himself the same day Hunter Biden ‘called D.C.’ for help with the government pressure facing Burisma," he continued. "Americans demand accountability for this abuse of government office for the benefit of the Biden family. The Oversight Committee will continue to pursue all evidence to provide much needed transparency to the American people."
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky, left, and Hunter Biden. (Mandel NGAN/AFP, Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Additionally, Comer’s letter requests NARA produce all executive calendars created for Biden over the course of his vice presidency.
He said the committee needed the requested documents in order to draft potential legislation.
"The Committee seeks to craft legislative solutions aimed at deficiencies it has identified in the current legal framework regarding ethics laws and disclosure of financial interests related to the immediate family members of Vice Presidents and Presidents — deficiencies that may place American national security and interests at risk," the letter states.
"The Committee is concerned that foreign nationals have sought access and influence by engaging in lucrative business relationships with high-profile political figures’ immediate family members, including members of the Biden family," it adds. "For additional information regarding the Committee’s legislative purpose pertaining to this investigation, the Committee directs you to three bank records memoranda it has released this year."
Fox News Digital has previously reported about the vice president's office's cozy relationship with Hunter's Rosemont Seneca Partners. On Dec. 8, 2015, when Biden was overseas in Ukraine, his office tried to quash a Bloomberg News story about Hunter at the firm's request.
Jessica Chasmar is a digital writer on the politics team for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Jessica.Chasmar@fox.com.
Source:https://www.foxnews.com/politics/comer-asks-national-archives-emails-showing-biden-vp-offices-collusion-hunters-businesses
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