This
week, news reports made public a May 2019 subpoena from the Justice Department.
That
subpoena requested financial records relating to Hunter Biden as part of the
Department’s criminal investigation into his activities.
Notably,
that subpoena also requested records relating to James Biden, Devon Archer and
Eric Schwerin.
That
subpoena sought records relating to companies that Senator Johnson and I
discussed in our Biden report.
If
the reports are accurate, this subpoena is yet another stake in the heart of
totally unsubstantiated claims made by the liberal media and Democrats that our
Biden report was Russian disinformation.
Today,
I’m going to speak about a matter directly related to the recent news.
Specifically,
the Biden Justice Department’s failure to answer fundamental questions relating
to the Hunter Biden criminal investigation.
I’ve
asked serious ethical questions of the Justice Department that the Department
refuses to answer.
In
fact, the Department has actually publicly contradicted itself.
Here’s
one example.
On
March
31, 2021, Senator Johnson and I wrote to Attorney General Garland.
Our
letter noted that Hunter Biden had a close association with Patrick Ho, an
individual who’s associated with the communist Chinese government and its
intelligence services.
Patrick
Ho was also charged and convicted of international bribery and money laundering
offenses relating to his work for companies connected to the communist regime.
After
his arrest, his first call was reportedly to James Biden, President Biden’s
brother.
Hunter
Biden reportedly represented Patrick Ho for one million dollars.
In
our letter, we noted that a Justice Department federal court filing said they
had FISA information on Patrick Ho.
Not
only did they possess that information, the Department informed the court that
they intended to use it to prosecute him.
Senator
Johnson and I asked the Justice Department for that FISA information as well as
FISA information for other Chinese nationals linked to Hunter Biden.
In
response, the Justice Department stated the following:
“Unfortunately,
under the circumstances described in your letter, we aren’t in a position to
confirm the existence of the information that is sought (if it exists in the
Department’s possession).”
If
it exists in the Department’s possession.
Simply
put, that’s not a true and accurate statement.
Unless
the Department’s statement to federal court in the Patrick Ho matter wasn’t
true and accurate.
So,
on November
15, 2021, we asked Attorney General Garland to explain this discrepancy.
No
response to-date.
Both
statements can’t be true. Either the Department possesses the information or it
doesn’t.
Attorney
General Garland, what’s your answer?
It
doesn’t end there.
On
February
3, 2021, and March 9, 2021, Senator Johnson and I asked Attorney General
Garland if Nicholas McQuaid is recused from the Hunter Biden criminal case.
McQuaid
works in the Department’s Criminal Division but worked with Hunter Biden’s
criminal attorney before joining the Department.
This
poses a clear conflict of interest.
Attorney
General Garland has refused to answer to-date.
On
June
29, 2021, Senator Johnson and I asked Attorney General Garland whether
Susan Hennessey, a National Security Division employee, is recused from the
Durham investigation.
Before
working at the Department, she made negative public comments about the Durham
investigation.
In
Attorney General Garland’s July
13, 2021, response letter he failed to answer our questions.
However,
at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s October 27, 2021, oversight hearing, the Attorney
General said she “has nothing whatsoever to do with the Durham investigation.”
Although
this statement doesn’t fully answer our questions, such as whether she’s been
formally recused from the matter, it’s more than what we were provided in the
Department’s letter response.
Likewise,
the Justice Department said that Margaret Goodlander “has no role in Mr. Durham’s
investigation.”
She’s
married to Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan
worked for the Clinton presidential campaign.
While
there, he peddled the false Alfa Bank story about the Trump Organization having
a secret back-channel with the Russian bank.
Those
false allegations were reviewed as part of Crossfire Hurricane.
Now,
with all that said, let’s take stock of where we are.
On
the one hand, Attorney General Garland has publicly said Susan Hennessey and
Margaret Goodlander have no role in the Durham investigation.
On
the other hand, Attorney General Garland refuses to say the same for McQuaid
and the Hunter Biden criminal case.
Why?
Why
won’t Attorney General Garland say that McQuaid has no role in the criminal
case involving the president’s son?
This
is a fundamental ethical question.
Our
letters have provided Attorney General Garland the opportunity to hit the ball
out of the park. Instead, he doesn’t even try to swing.
What’s
the Biden Justice Department hiding?
This
blatantly inconsistent treatment has cast a cloud over the Hunter Biden
criminal case.
Just
imagine if this fact pattern involved President Trump and his sons.
You
wouldn’t hear the end of it from my Democratic colleagues and the media.
Yet,
not a sound from them in this case.
The
American people are rightly skeptical of how the Justice Department is handling
the Hunter Biden criminal case.
And
the secrecy and lack of public transparency will only increase that skepticism.
I
won’t stop doing good government oversight on this issue.
The
American people deserve answers, one way or the other.
