When it became clear that Republicans would take back control of the House in November 2022, Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY) held a press conference in which they detailed upcoming investigations into the Biden family business dealings. Top of that list was finding out why President Biden had “changed the rules” on how funds heading to the US from overseas were recorded, specifically, the suspicious activity reports (SARs). After months of wrangling and threats, the Treasury Department has announced that it will comply with the House Oversight Committee’s request for SARs related to Hunter Biden.
Where’s the Beef?
Under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump, the SARs were open to members of Congress and any congressional committee. This changed when Biden entered the Oval Office, causing confusion even to some of his own party faithful. Comey and Jordan expect roughly 150 such reports concerning Hunter Biden’s business dealings to be handed over. As Liberty Nation noted last year, the lawmakers reported that “one of the two SARs they managed to get by other means details transactions between Hunter Biden and an escort service suspected of human trafficking.”
“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.”
Comer insists that the Treasury has been “stonewalling” the committee’s endeavors and that, despite multiple attempts to gain the documents, he was forced to contact the department in February to discuss its “lack of accommodations.”
Smoke, Fire, or Nothingburgers?
Column inches galore have been written about the First Son’s business relations and whether Joe Biden had any involvement; however, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Suspicious Activity Reports are a smoking gun for the GOP. SARs are generated by financial institutions whenever there is a notion that money laundering or terrorism is involved, but they are also produced when a transaction exceeds a certain sum.
Hunter and Joe Biden (Photo by Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, since 2014, there have been between 21,000 and 63,000 SARs generated each and every year, the vast majority involved zero criminal activity.
The Oversight Committee insists that it already has a trove of damning evidence involving the Bidens’ financial ventures. “According to banks documents we’ve already obtained, we know one company owned by a Biden associate received a $3 million wire from a Chinese energy company two months after Joe Biden left the vice presidency,” Comer detailed. “Soon after, hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts went to members of the Biden family.”
He further warned that he would “continue to use bank documents and suspicious activity reports to follow the money trail to determine the extent of the Biden family’s business schemes, if Joe Biden is compromised by these deals, and if there is a national security threat.”
All About Joe
When Comer and Jordan outlined the scope of their investigation last November, they cautioned that the investigation was about whether Joe Biden was compromised by his family’s corporate empire. Comer said on Tuesday, March 14, that “The media says this is a Hunter Biden investigation… This is an investigation of Joe Biden, and we’re investigating the Biden family, and again, after this new batch of information, it expands. There are more family members involved in this than just the president’s son.”
“They don’t manufacture anything, they don’t sell anything, they don’t own any real estate. We don’t know what the business is,” he said. “My theory is, it’s influence-peddling, and if so, that’s wrong.”
