Margot Cleveland of the Federalist challenges media spin about U.S. House Republicans’ plans for investigative oversight.
Fresh off their attacks on Republicans for spending time to debate and negotiate over the leadership of and House rules for the 118th Congress, the corporate media have executed a perfectly synchronized pivot to now assailing Republicans for investigating Hunter Biden. But House Republicans, now in the majority, aren’t investigating Hunter Biden: They are investigating evidence of corruption by Joe Biden and the FBI, as well as other government actors’ efforts to run defense for the now-president, including by pressuring private companies to censor speech.
By regaining a majority in the House, Republicans now hold control over oversight committees, such as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and with that control, subpoena power. In addition to the standing committees, soon after the just-elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy gaveled in the new Congress, the House passed a resolution temporarily establishing a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which will be led by the chair of the Judiciary Committee, Republican Jim Jordan.
Both the Oversight Committee and the select subcommittee will be investigating evidence of misconduct, as Jordan and Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the chair of the Oversight Committee, explained during a joint press conference late last year.
“We’re going to provide you all with something you’re not used to with respect to judicial hearings,” Comer opened the Nov. 17, 2022, press conference, “and that’s evidence.” Comer then detailed some of the evidence compiled to date and what that evidence suggested.
From talking with numerous whistleblowers, to analyzing the communications and records recovered from Hunter Biden’s laptop, to reviewing various financial documents, committee Republicans “have identified over 50 countries the Biden family sought businesses in,” Comer stressed. That evidence showed, he added, that “the Bidens flourished and became millionaires by offering access to the family,” both internationally and within the United States.