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☆ Hunter Biden Resists First Records Request From House Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hunter Biden is under GOP scrutiny for some of his business dealings, including serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunter Biden ‘s legal team on Thursday defied a records request from House Republicans, calling their investigation into his business dealings an “expansive and invasive” quest to turn President Biden’s son into a political weapon. In a letter to the House Oversight Committee, Mr. Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell questioned the legitimacy of the Republican-led inquiry into the president and his family, arguing that the investigation lacked a valid legislative purpose. Mr. Lowell repeatedly referred to the younger Mr. Biden as a private citizen and said the information sought by the House panel “is precisely what is prohibited by the Supreme Court.”

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans on Thursday stepped up their probes of Democratic President Joe Biden's family and what they allege is partisan bias in federal law enforcement, in moves that the White House dismissed as politically motivated attacks. The Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, James Comer, on Thursday asked Biden's son and brother for documents related to the family's international business dealings. The White House in a memo distributed to allies and seen by Reuters dismissed the hearing as a "political stunt." "Instead of working with President Biden to address the top priorities of the American people - fighting inflation and lowering costs, creating jobs, boosting manufacturing and infrastructure, and protecting and expanding people's health care and rights – this is what House Republicans are focused on," wrote Ian Sims, the White House spokesman on oversight. Reporting by David Morgan and Gram Slattery; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Former Twitter execs tell Republicans they erred on Hunter Biden laptop story
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Former Twitter executives told a Republican-led U.S. House committee on Wednesday that they made a mistake by blocking tweets about a laptop said to belong to President Joe Biden's son Hunter but said government officials were not involved. The committee's witnesses, three former Twitter executives, said in subpoenaed testimony that they mistakenly believed the Post article contained hacked material and reversed their decision to limit its circulation on the social media platform within 24 hours. "America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence community to suppress and de-legitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents," committee Chairman James Comer said at the outset of the proceedings. Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell has denied in a statement any connection between his client and what he called the "so-called laptop," including contents that Republicans "allege to be Mr. Biden's personal data." The Twitter executives also said company policy sought to mitigate content that could lead to political violence, such as what later occurred in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump's supporters.

☆ Republican-led U.S. House panel probes Twitter block of Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Even before the proceedings began, the White House denounced the hearing as "a bizarre political stunt" motivated by denial of Biden's 2020 election victory over Republican former President Donald Trump. "America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news, and the intelligence community to suppress and de-legitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents," Comer said. The former Twitter executives acknowledged that blocking the New York Post tweets was an error and said they reversed the decision within 24 hours. We applied this policy to the New York Post's tweets and blocked links to articles," Gadde said. The social platform has since been purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, who many Republicans view as a champion of free speech.

☆ Hunter Biden demands criminal probe into Trump allies with access to his laptop and retractions from Fox News: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hunter Biden's lawyers sent letters singling out Trump allies and Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Among the recipients are the Justice Department and Deleware attorney general, WaPo reported. "This marks a new approach by Hunter Biden and his team," a person familiar with Biden's strategy told The Post. Also targeted by Biden's lawyers is Fox News and its host Tucker Carlson. The Justice Department and Delaware attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ Hunter Biden hires attorney Abbe Lowell to beef up legal team
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sarah Fitzpatrick | Sarah Fitzpatrick Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Story Editor For Nbc News. She Previously Worked For Cbs News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Hunter Biden has added a high-powered attorney to his legal team amid an ongoing federal probe and plans by Republicans to make him a key focus of investigations when they take control of the House next month. Abbe Lowell, of the firm Winston and Strawn, will be primarily responsible for coordinating Hunter Biden’s response to anticipated congressional oversight investigations, as well advising on other legal issues and overall strategy, an attorney for Hunter Biden told NBC News on Wednesday. "Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” the attorney, Kevin Morris, said. "Lowell is a well-known Washington based attorney has represented numerous public officials and high profile people in DOJ investigations and trials as well as Congressional Investigations. Mr. Lowell will handle congressional investigations and general strategic advice."

Barrack, 75, is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors allege he used his decades-long friendship with Trump to “illegally provide” government officials from the UAE with access to — and information about — the president and top officials. Jackson told jurors that the government’s claim of overwhelming evidence against Barrack was “a joke,” and that there was “nothing nefarious” about his client’s dealings with Emirati officials. Jackson further argued the government had no direct evidence that Barrack had struck a deal with the UAE. Grimes' attorney, Abbe Lowell, disputed that his client was an unregistered foreign agent, saying he did what his boss Barrack told him to do, not what UAE officials requested.

He also provided UAE officials with sensitive information, including internal discussions within the Trump administration concerning the blockade of Qatar by the UAE, Mehta said. When he was asked by the FBI about his dealing with UAE officials and the actions he'd taken, Barrack "started lying" and "lied and lied again." Schachter argued that the feds were blowing up "meaningless, inconsequential acts," including Barrack praising the UAE as an "important ally" during a TV interview. "Barack Obama has said the same thing," Schachter told the jury. While Grimes did set up appointments for Barrack, including with UAE officials, he did so at his boss' request, Lowell said, adding that he’d also get Barrack his coffee and smoothies and babysit his kids.

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