Hunter Biden’s home investigation will extend to U.S. intelligence agencies and leaders who almost certainly knew about his shady foreign activities while his father was vice president, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy told The Post.
“They should come in and talk to us,” McCarthy said in an exclusive interview with The Post. “You would want to ask these people what they knew and when.
“People can walk in to talk to us and answer the questions. If not, sometimes we will also use the subpoena,” he added.
In October 2020 — just days after The Post published the first stories documenting Hunter Biden’s potentially criminal foreign business dealings on his abandoned laptop — 51 former intelligence officials released a public letter condemning the story as ” disinformation pushed by Russia”.
“The arrival on the American political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son, Hunter, much of which was related to his time on the board of directors of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation.” letter read just 14 days before the presidential election.
“Our experience makes us very suspicious that the Russian government has played an important role in this case,” it continued solemnly. “If we’re right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in these elections, and we believe Americans should be aware of this.”
The hard drive information that The Post first revealed — which the Bidens have never denied — has since been accepted as fact by even the most liberal media outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post.
But when The Post reached out to all 51 officials in March, most ignored the inquiry and no one apologized. A few even doubled.
“Yes, I stand by the statement that was made THEN. … I think it was appropriate at the time to sound such a cautionary note,” said James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence from 2010 to 2017 when Joe Biden was veep.
John Brennan, who served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, and Leon Panetta, CIA director from 2009 to 2011 and Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013, were also signatories.
“First of all, you would like to ask these individuals, ‘Would you still sign the letter today, and who asked you to sign the letter and why did you sign the letter, and what information did you have before?'” McCarthy said. “Why did you feel comfortable – especially with your own reputation – that you would sign that letter? Was it someone from the… [Biden] campaign that asked, or was it people in the intel community?
“I think these questions need to be answered. You can’t allow an Intel community to use their name inappropriately without correcting,” McCarthy said.
Even if it’s proven that the intelligence chiefs knew about Hunter Biden’s illegal activities and did nothing, then lied about it publicly, insiders say a public disgrace, not criminal prosecution, is expected.
So far, home investigators have not contacted any of the letter’s signatories.
The House GOP is just four votes away from a majority in the chamber. Should Republicans retake the House — an outcome widely anticipated by both parties — McCarthy is on track to take Rep. Nancy Pelosi as chairman.
Even without the majority, the House Oversight Committee is crumbling. On Thursday, GOP members of the body ripped into FBI Director Christopher Wray and demanded to know why his desk was on the Hunter Biden laptop, which they had owned since at least December 2019. Critics such as Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) have said they have “no confidence” in the FBI or the Justice Department to investigate Hunter Biden.
“I’m going to give” [Wray] benefit of the doubt right now,” McCarthy objected. “We’re going to ask the tough questions and if we don’t get honest answers, there will be consequences.”
House Republicans have already vowed to sue Hunter Biden himself.
The Hunter Biden probe is the most notable of a blizzard of investigations the GOP leader is planning. Other blockbuster investigations will include the origins of the coronavirus and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Boasting that Republicans have already sent more than 500 “retention letters” — demands not to destroy specific data and documents — to various agencies and individuals to secure the information they need, McCarthy is ceasing to suggest that the Hunter Biden probe is political. He said the investigation would continue at full steam even if President Biden announced he has no plans to run for reelection in 2024.
“We have a supervisory responsibility,” McCarthy insisted.
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