- The Washington Times - Monday, February 12, 2024

House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden demanded Monday that Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript and any recordings of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur as part of the probe into his handling of classified documents.

The letter was penned by the three Republican committee chairmen heading the House impeachment inquiry, which includes a probe into the Biden family’s overseas business deals.

The lawmakers — Reps. James Comer of Kentucky (Oversight chairman), Jim Jordan of Ohio (Judiciary), and Jason Smith of Missouri (Ways and Means) — say Mr. Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involved in those business deals.

They also said they want to learn whether Mr. Biden’s personal attorneys placed any restrictions that would have barred Mr. Hurr from asking about the president’s business deals.

As part of that request, the lawmakers say they specifically want any documents referenced in Mr. Hur’s report relating to Mr. Biden’s December 2015 phone call with then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Petro Poroshenko.

The call came around the same time Mr. Biden pressed for the firing of the prosecutor investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company where Hunter Biden served as a board member.

The lawmakers have requested the documents as part of their ongoing oversight of the Justice Department’s handling of investigations into former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Hur released his report on Thursday and described Mr. Biden as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” He wrote that Mr. Biden couldn’t remember when he was vice president or when his son died.

The White House last week balked about publicly releasing a transcript of the special counsel interview, saying there was classified material discussed that could not be released.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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