Comer vows to hold recalcitrant witnesses in contempt, compel answers from Joe Biden

On the cusp of a major wave of subpoenas, House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer vowed Tuesday night to hold recalcitrant witnesses in contempt of Congress and to eventually compel President Joe Biden to submit to an interview.

"You know, we're gonna start with the family," Comer told the "Just the News, No Noise" television show during a wide-ranging interview. "We have to ask the family specific questions. And then in the end, the very last person we'll interview will obviously be the President of the United States."

The man leading the impeachment inquiry said the next phase of the investigation will focus on pressing Biden family members and associates about the complex movement of foreign monies from Ukraine, Russia, Romania, China, and Kazakhstan through a matrix of limited liability companies and bank accounts. A fundamental question, he added, is "what role did Joe play in all of this?"

He said the revelation in recent weeks that President Biden received two checks marked as loan repayments totaling $240,000 in 2017 from James Biden after his brother received money from Chinese or domestic clients proves that the president benefited from his family's business deals. He added that, to date, his committee does not have enough evidence to show whether there were truly loans at the heart of the transactions between the president and his brother.

"Joe Biden's $240,000 better off because of his family's influence-peddling scheme," Comer said. "That is a fact. And we do not have any evidence at the White House is saying that would prove that that was a loan."

Comer said his committee also wants to determine how often, if ever, first son Hunter Biden used business proceeds to help pay his father's bills over the years since there are emails on Hunter Biden's laptop that talk about that practice and even list certain transactions.

Asked how he plans to deal with witnesses or the White House if they are unwilling to provide documents and testimony, Comer did not hesitate.

"We['re] gonna go to (Speaker) Mike Johnson's office and knock on the door and demand that we try to hold these people in contempt of Congress," Comer said. "We have proven that there are a lot of questions that they need to answer. We've proven that this is a national security crisis. We've proven that the White House has lied time and time again about their knowledge and involvement in this shady influence peddling scheme. 

"We expect people to come to Congress, and if they don't, then I think they should be held in contempt. And I believe that a majority of the Republican caucus would agree with me," he added.