Joe Biden’s campaign claimed the Republican senator leading the investigation into Burisma was actually doing the campaign “an enormous favor.”
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson said Wednesday that Biden’s strong Super Tuesday performance furthers the case for a thorough investigation into Hunter Biden’s high-paying position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas firm. In response, Joe Biden’s campaign told Politico that Johnson’s decision could help the former vice president.
“Senator Johnson just accidentally did us an enormous favor by explicitly admitting that he is abusing congressional authority in a manner that would make the founding fathers spin in their graves,” Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said.
Johnson denied that he was seeking a subpoena against Blue Star Strategies, the firm that represented Burisma in the United States, because of its connection to Biden. He told reporters, “My investigations are not focused on the Bidens. They’re just not. But I can’t ignore them because they’re part of the story. They made themselves part of the story.”
He continued, “If there’s wrongdoing, the American people need to know it. If there is no wrongdoing or nothing significant, the American people need to understand that as well.”
Johnson’s potential subpoena of Blue Star Strategies was announced in a memo that leaked earlier this week. The senator argued that the committee needed the subpoena to see whether Burisma “sought to leverage Hunter Biden’s role as a board member of Burisma to gain access to, and potentially influence matters at, the State Department.”
Many Republicans, including President Trump, have questioned why Burisma chose Biden, given that he has little experience in the energy sector and had a well-documented problem with drug abuse.
“These are questions that Joe Biden has not adequately answered,” Johnson explained. “And if I were a Democrat primary voter, I’d want these questions satisfactorily answered before I cast my final vote.”
The younger Biden’s questionable behavior, including his ongoing paternity lawsuit in Arkansas, has been seen by many as a liability for the campaign. The former vice president has largely avoided discussing his son Hunter and has snapped at several reporters for asking questions about his son’s behavior.
The elder Biden has said Hunter feels “so guilty” for causing problems in the campaign, adding, “My son’s a brilliant, honorable guy.”
