Dem
51
GOP
49
That's Hunter Biden, not Joe Biden. While House Republicans can't wait to investigate him, Hunter is pushing back very hard. That was inevitable when Biden hired Abbe Lowell as his lawyer. Lowell is a well-known, very aggressive, lawyer who has defended numerous politicians and high-profile figures. The House Oversight Committee has sent Biden subpoenas for all manner of information. Did Biden humbly comply and send Chairman James Comer everything he requested? No way. Instead Lowell sent back a letter citing a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that said Congress could not have Donald Trump's tax returns unless it had a valid legislative purpose for having them. Lowell asked what valid legislative purpose Congress has for requesting the information it is asking his client to provide. Lowell also said the Committee is like Alice in Wonderland, with Comer being the Queen of hearts, shouting "Sentence first, verdict afterwards." If Comer continues to demand the documents he wants, this case could potentially end up in the Supreme Court again and Congress could lose again. In the Trump case, federal law requires the IRS to audit the president every year and the valid legislative for getting Trump's tax returns could relate to seeing if the IRS was doing its job properly. It is harder to see what the valid legislative need for Biden's documents might be.
Just to rub it in, Lowell also cited Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), now chairman of the Weaponization Subcommittee who defended Trump's refusal to turn over his tax returns to Congress. In Trump's defense, Jordan wrote that the "Supreme Court has cautioned that Congress does not have 'general authority to expose the private affairs of individuals without justification in terms of the functions of the Congress.'" [Insert here your favorite quote about geese, ganders, and sauce.]
Lowell has also demanded federal and state investigations into how some information from Biden's laptop began circulating in the media. He also sent letters to 14 prominent Republicans and media personalities, including Rudy Giuliani, telling them to preserve all evidence relating to his client in preparation for future lawsuits. Since the Republicans wanted a circus, they are going to get a circus, only they may not be the ones running it. (V)