James Comer says Treasury will allow Oversight Committee to review certain bank activity reports related to Biden family and business partners
CNN
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House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement on Tuesday that the US Treasury Department will allow him to review reports on certain bank activities related to members of the Biden family and their business associates.
“After two months of dragging its feet, the Treasury Department is finally providing us with access to reports of suspicious activity related to the business dealings of the Biden family and their associates,” Comer said in the statement.
The Kentucky Republican is seeking bank records known as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) as part of his investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings. He also recently issued a subpoena to Bank of America for additional bank records for three former associates of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Comer has claimed — without offering any evidence — that financial records, particularly those involving foreign business deals, could show improper influence on Biden.
“After five years of the same old, vague conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden and his family, Rep. Comer’s political obsession comes at a high cost of time and money that could actually be spent improving the lives of Americans,” Abbey said. Hunter Biden, attorney for Lowell, said in a statement, “Rep. Comer knows all too well that SARs reports are not uncommon.
The White House had previously dismissed the Comer investigation as politically motivated. Biden has previously said he was not involved in any of his son’s foreign dealings.
“We will continue to use bank documents and suspicious activity reports to follow the money trail to determine the extent of the Biden family’s business plans, if Joe Biden has been compromised by these deals, and if national security is at risk.” ,” Comr. said in the statement. “If the Treasury tries to stonewall our investigation again, we will continue to use the tools at our disposal to compel compliance.”
According to the press release, Treasury has granted the committee an “in camera” review of the documents, which means there will be some restrictions on how Comer and his team can see and access the documents. A person familiar with the matter said the review could begin as early as this week.
House oversight Republicans and the Treasury Department have been in communication for months and have been going back and forth on these statements. Treasury has said that processing Comer’s requests requires time to interact with law enforcement partners to identify law enforcement conflicts or sensitivities.
Comer sought reports on bank activities for Hunter Biden and a handful of members of the Biden family, including the president’s brother and sister-in-law, James and Sara Biden. Comer also sought reports related to Hunter Biden’s former business partners — John “Rob” Walker, Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer — as well as any corporate entities associated with them.
A representative for James and Sarah Biden declined to comment.
While Comer has previously suggested that suspicious activity reports may point to problematic behavior by Biden’s family members or associates, such reports are not conclusive and do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. Financial institutions file millions of suspicious activity reports each year and some lead to law enforcement inquiries.
News that the committee will be allowed access to bank activity reports comes after Comer scheduled a transcript interview with a Treasury official later this week about why the department is not complying with Comer’s demands for bank records. was That interview has now been postponed.
