Republicans vow to get answers from Biden’s son

Republicans plan to investigate President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and his son Hunter’s business dealings if they take over the House of Representatives, as expected in midterm elections.

A series of aggressive inquiries are being prepared, including security at the US border with Mexico, the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Biden administration’s policies on coronavirus restrictions.

Republican members of Congress will learn more about the inquiries and how to prepare for them at briefings this month organised by Kevin McCarthy, the party leader in the House.

Plans to delve into the affairs of Hunter Biden, 52, and call the president’s second son to give evidence, come amid claims that his iCloud has been hacked to reveal more images of drug use and liaisons with prostitutes beyond those already found on a laptop that used to belong to him.

Most pollsters expect Republicans to overturn the Democrats’ narrow majority in the House in November to take control of the agenda and chairmanship of its committees.

 “When Republicans take control, we’ll use the gavel to get answers,” James Comer, 49, a Kentucky Republican, posted on Twitter. “Republicans will investigate Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings. Republicans will hold China accountable for Covid-19. Republicans will secure the border.”

He told Politico: “We’re going to focus on Hunter Biden not for political reasons but because we feel he’s a national security threat.”

Emails and other documents found on the laptop have called into question President Biden’s claim that he had nothing to do with his son’s business activities. A former associate of the son has alleged that the president was the “big guy” referred to in a 2017 note on dividing equity in a Chinese energy company. The deal failed but a grand jury, which operates in secret, is investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs.

Comer said the US Treasury had “changed the rules” to refuse to share details of suspicious activity reports.

“We found out that Hunter Biden has had 150 suspicious activity reports filed against various accounts that he and Jim Biden, the president’s brother, have,” Comer told Fox News.

“That’s unprecedented. A normal person in America never has any bank violations . . . these are the most serious banking violations you can have. There’s suspicion of money laundering . . . suspicion of receiving money from bad actors in foreign countries.”

Comer said the House committee on oversight and reform, which he hopes to chair after November, was “really interested in getting to the bottom of Covid-19, the origination”.

He said he also wanted to investigate “the border crisis . . . it’s increased the drug trade”.

Republicans are already sending out preservation orders to White House officials and social media companies to retain documents that may be requested for inquiries.

Darrell Issa, a California congressman and former oversight committee chairman, said: “Material investigation is essential for Congress to conduct a comprehensive fact-finding investigation.”