The U.S. Treasury Department, led by Janet Yellen, has reached an agreement with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to release “suspicious” transactions related to foreign business dealings by Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.
The transactions in question date back to 2018 when the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware announced it was opening an investigation into transactions involving Hunter Biden associated with “China and other foreign nations.” While no grand jury was convened at the time, a source close to the proceedings said such an action would only be taken if there was a “high likelihood” that an individual had committed a crime.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) thanked Treasury for offering an in-camera view of the reports while expressing dismay over the years it took for the documents to reach the public:
“After two months of dragging their feet, the Treasury Department is finally providing us with access to the suspicious activity reports for the Biden family and their associates’ business transactions,” Comer said. “It should never have taken us threatening to hold a hearing and conduct a transcribed interview with an official under the penalty of perjury for Treasury to finally accommodate part of our request.”
Earlier this month Comer petitioned officials at Treasury to appear before his committee to explain the delay in disclosing details about the Hunter Biden investigation. An interview with official Jonathan Davidson has been postponed pending a thorough review of documents by committee staff.
Previous work by the Oversight committee has revealed that an associate of President Biden benefited from a $3 million Chinese contract just months after Biden vacated the Office of the Vice President in early 2017. “Soon after, hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts went to members of the Biden family,” Comer added.
Details of an investigation into Hunter Biden’s business transactions by federal officials was first reported in 2020 when it became known that the FBI had subpoenaed his laptop in connection with a purported money laundering operation.