The House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration on Tuesday requesting "unrestricted special access" to records related to then-Vice President Biden's foreign travel with his family on Air Force Two and Marine Two.
The lawmakers point to Biden’s “misuse” of the aircraft as yet another way he has "abused his various offices of public trust and wasted taxpayer money to benefit his family's enterprise, which consisted of nothing more than access to Joe Biden himself."
"The Committee is concerned about then-Vice President Biden's role in his family's foreign business ventures and that he may have used his office to enrich his family," Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Byron Donalds write in the letter, obtained by National Review. The pair go on to cite recent reporting from Fox News that indicates Hunter Biden traveled to at least 15 countries with then-Vice President Biden.
The reporting suggests the younger Biden accompanied his father on official trips to Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer testified that then-vice president Biden met with at least one of Hunter's business associates in Beijing while visiting on official business.
"Devon Archer, a longtime Biden family associate, has stated it is ‘categorically false’ that Joe Biden played no role in his son's foreign business dealings. Flights on Air Force Two around the world to seal business deals are evidence of that role," the letter adds.
The lawmakers request all documents and communications from the executive office of the president to or regarding certain Biden family members or associates —including Hunter Biden, Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer, or Jeffrey Cooper — and relating to Air Force Two or Marine Two travel from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017.
The letter also asks for all Air Force Two and Marine Two manifests from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017, that include any Biden family member or the aforementioned associates, as well as all documents and communications referring to or relating to any security incidents on Air Force Two or Marine Two from that same time period.
The lawmakers gave the agency a deadline of September 13 to submit the documents.
"Then-Vice President Joe Biden abused Air Force Two by allowing his son to jet set around the world to sell 'The Brand' to enrich the Biden family,” Comer said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is yet another example of then-Vice President Biden abusing his public office for his family's financial gain. There must be accountability for this abuse of taxpayer-funded resources.”
“We fully expect the National Archives to provide this information to the Oversight Committee so that we can provide the transparency that Americans demand and deserve," he added.
Donalds said the “walls are closing in on the Biden Family” amid “consistent and diligent efforts by House Republicans who’ve followed the money, conducted meticulous interviews and hearings, and uncovered undeniable corruption.”
“I am proud to partner with Chairman Comer on this latest undertaking to expose then Vice President Biden’s gross misuse of Air Force Two and Marine Two to benefit his family’s enterprise,” he said. “The American people deserve to know how much their former Vice President and current President abused his power to shake down foreign governments and enrich his family to the tune of millions of dollars."
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