A top House Republican investigator has accused the Treasury Department of hiding information that could be damaging to Hunter Biden and is investigating if it is being done to protect President Joe Biden.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent letters to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in May and June and argued that the Treasury Department’s new response continued to stonewall his efforts to get answers on Hunter Biden’s financial transactions linked to China, Russia, and elsewhere.
“It’s unacceptable that the Treasury Department continues to run cover for the Biden family and possibly hide information about whether Joe Biden benefited financially from his family’s business transactions,” he wrote over the weekend. “The Biden Administration changed the rules to severely restrict Congress’ access to suspicious activity reports in the dark of night and with no explanation.”
JOE BIDEN UNWITTINGLY FINANCED HUNTER BIDEN PAYMENTS TO RUSSIA-LINKED ESCORTS
The Republican added: “Hunter Biden and other Biden family members have racked up at least 150 suspicious activity reports for their shady foreign business deals. We need more information about these transactions and if Joe Biden has benefited financially from his family’s dealings with foreign adversaries.”
Jonathan Davidson, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for legislative affairs, responded to Comer’s requests for information on Friday, defending the department’s decision to keep a close hold on the suspicious activity reports.
“The Department deeply respects the critical oversight role of Congress and remains committed to responding to appropriate requests from committees of jurisdiction,” the Treasury official wrote, arguing that “safeguarding Bank Secrecy Act information is critical to law enforcement efforts to investigate money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial activity.”
Davidson added: “These suspicious activity reports and other BSA reports filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network contain details of financial transactions and other sensitive, nonpublic information. This is preliminary and unverified tip-and-lead information on possible violations of law.”
The Treasury official contended that his department “responds to requests for BSA information from congressional committees of appropriate jurisdiction in a manner consistent with the statute and its implementing regulations, which mandate protection of highly sensitive reports from the risk of unauthorized use and disclosure.”
Comer said this explanation wasn’t good enough.
“It is a matter of national security to know if President Biden is compromised,” the Republican congressman said. “The American people deserve answers, and Republicans will use the power of the gavel next Congress to get them.”
The renewed call for access to the suspicious activity records comes after a Washington Examiner investigation found Hunter Biden disclosed in text messages to a woman named Eva, the go-between who served as his primary point of contact for the UberGFE escort service, that his accounts were frozen temporarily after his attempted payments to her “girls,” who had Russian email accounts, raised a “red flag” with his bank.
The president’s son spent over $30,000 on escorts linked to Eva and UberGFE between Nov. 26, 2018, and March 10, 2019. Eva directed him to make payments to bank accounts linked to “.ru” Russian email addresses at least 11 times during that time frame.
The Treasury Department claimed in May that it “has made SARs available for every request we’ve received, regardless of party, and will continue to do so.”
Comer, however, said in July: “This is not true. During a phone call on June 13, 2022, Treasury officials informed Committee Republican staff that they will not provide SARs to Committee Republicans unless Democrats join the request.”
“Treasury’s actions call for investigation and raise new questions about the degree to which the Biden Administration is using the federal government to provide cover for the Biden family and its associates,” he added.
The Kentucky representative asked the treasury secretary to hand over “all SARs generated in connection with” Hunter Biden, his uncle James Biden, the younger Biden’s business partners (including Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer), and his businesses. Comer also asked Treasury to provide any FinCEN records tied to any banks related to Hunter, James Biden, and others.
Comer says that hasn’t happened.
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A 2020 Senate report by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) said: “Hunter Biden paid nonresident women who were nationals of Russia or other Eastern European countries,” and records note some of these transactions are linked to what “appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”
GOP members in the House and the Senate said further investigation is needed.
