House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer vowed Tuesday to continue his panel’s investigation into the Biden family’s business "schemes" and said Hunter Biden’s "sweetheart plea deal" will have no effect on the ongoing probe.
Comer, R-Ky., made the comments just after a plea deal was reached that would spare Biden jail time over for tax and gun charges.
"These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation," Comer said. "We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed."
Under the deal announced today, the president’s son will plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, and federal prosecutors are recommending probation. Biden also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
HUNTER BIDEN AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY IN FEDERAL TAX, GUN CASE
However, Comer said the agreement ignores evidence about other crimes.
"Let’s be clear: the Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice," Comer said Tuesday morning. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery."
U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss indicated that absent the plea deal, Biden could face two years in prison for the tax charges and up to 10 years for the firearms charge. A judge must still accept the plea deal announced today.
"A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors," Weiss' office said.
"The investigation is ongoing," the office said in a statement Tuesday.
Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. That investigation into his "tax affairs" began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations."
The firearms charge stemmed from allegations that Hunter Biden lied during a gun purchase in 2018.
On the firearm transaction report related to that purchase, Hunter Biden answered in the negative when asked if he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?"
Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.
Comer's investigation has most recently focused on the FBI-generated FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions. That form, an interview with a highly-credible confidential human source detailing his conversations with a top Burisma executive, alleges millions of dollars were paid to both Hunter Biden and now-President Biden.