Powerful House chairman says he'll refer Hunter Biden for criminal prosecution for lying to Congress

The chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee delivered some bad news to Hunter Biden on the first day of his trial on federal gun charges, vowing Monday to send a referral asking the Justice Department to further prosecute the first son for allegedly lying to Congress during his father’s impeachment inquiry earlier this year.

“It's the next thing that should be moving forward,” Rep. Jason Smith told the "Just the News, No Noise" television show when asked about the possibility of a criminal referral.

Smith released fresh evidence last month from two IRS whistleblowers that directly conflicted with testimony Hunter Biden gave on Feb. 28 during a deposition to Congress in the impeachment inquiry. Smith said the evidence was so compelling it warranted asking DOJ to prosecute the first son.

“Without a doubt based on the evidence that was provided to the Ways and Means Committee from the two IRS whistleblowers highlighting, in fact that Hunter Biden on Feb. 28, when he stood for a depositions, lied to Congress on at least three different counts that the IRS whistleblowers provided,” Smith said.” And that alone should definitely require a criminal referral for Hunter Biden.”

Smith also said his committee will press the CIA for more information after one of the IRS whistleblowers, Senior Criminal Investigative agent Gary Shapley, provided documentary evidence suggesting the spy agency tried to prevent investigators from interviewing Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, a Joe Biden campaign donor, about millions of dollars in loans and assistance he has provided Hunter Biden since the start of the 2020 election.

“In fact, there's documentation showing that in fact, there was correspondence where the CIA told the Justice Department that the IRS should not continue to ask questions and to investigate Kevin Morris,” Smith said. “We don't know exactly why the case is, but you bet … we're going to continue to try to figure out, in fact, why the CIA said that you cannot be asking questions to Kevin Morris Hunter, Biden's huge, huge friend.”

Kevin Morris has acknowledged providing the loans and art purchases totaling about $6 million to Hunter Biden, but insisted it was done solely out friendship and that he neither sought nor received any benefit from the Biden administration.

Smith’s comments came the same day a jury of 12 Americans was seated in federal court in Delaware to determine the fate of Hunter Biden on three charges alleging he made false statements regarding his use of illegal drugs when obtaining a gun and then unlawfully possessed it for 11 days. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

It also came the same day, Just the News reported that memos seized by the FBI in 2016 and recently obtained by Congress show Hunter Biden helped the U.S. law firm that employed him a decade ago secure a lucrative retainer with Burisma Holdings, and its lawyers proceeded to draft a 58-page plan to try to extricate the controversial energy company from an ongoing criminal investigation in Ukraine that relied heavily on trying to influence his father’s administration in Washington, according to evidence gathered by the FBI.

The retainer for the law firm was arranged as Hunter Biden was preparing to join Burisma’s board of directors at a time when the Ukrainian company was dealing with allegations of corruption.

Smith said the revelations in the new documents were concerning, and were further proof of the many ways Hunter Biden sought to make money for himself and his associates from foreigners interested in his father’s role as vice president during the Obama years.

“We've been asking for a long time: why is it that Hunter Biden got on the board and was paid millions of dollars from a company that he had no experience in,” Smith said,

Smith noted one of the allegations being referred to DOJ for possible false statements involved Burisma and Hunter Biden’s claim he wasn’t involved in any effort to secure a visa for a Burisma executive seeking to come to the United States.