WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, and United States Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss demanding a thorough investigation of Hunter Biden’s potentially criminal behavior.

A recent article revealed evidence further corroborating the facts highlighted in the senators’ September 2020 report about Hunter Biden’s questionable financial transactions.  Specifically, the Washington Examiner published Hunter Biden’s text messages apparently showing him discussing payment for escorts associated with a company which at one time had locations in Russia and Ukraine.  In 2020, based on records in their possession, the senators reported, “Hunter Biden paid nonresident women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine” and that some transactions are linked to what “appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”

In their letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, the senators wrote, “Rather than take these disturbing revelations seriously, the partisan press quickly rushed to dispel any notion of potential wrongdoing connected to Hunter Biden.” 

The senators added, “These findings of potentially criminal behavior must be thoroughly investigated by law enforcement entities according to the highest ethical standards. Yet, due to your agencies’ continued failure to provide Congress with answers to its legitimate oversight questions, we have serious concerns about your review of this matter as well as the ongoing Hunter Biden criminal case.”

As a result of DOJ’s failure to be transparent with Congress about taking necessary steps to avoid conflicts with respect to the Hunter Biden criminal case, the senators asked: “What is the Justice Department trying to hide from Congress and the American people?”

Read more about the letter in the Washington Examiner.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

July 7, 2022

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General

Department of Justice

The Honorable Christopher Wray

Director

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Honorable David Weiss

United States Attorney

District of Delaware

Dear Attorney General Garland, Director Wray and U.S. Attorney Weiss:

On June 27, 2022, the Washington Examiner reported that Joe Biden may have unwittingly financed Hunter Biden’s “participation in an escort ring tied to Russia.”   According to the article, on January 2, 2019, Hunter Biden exchanged text messages with “Eva,” short for “Moreva,” who served as the go-between for the reported escorts.   The article noted that Joe Biden committed to wiring Hunter Biden approximately $100,000 from December 2018 through January 2019.   The Washington Examiner revealed that Hunter Biden spent approximately $30,000 on escorts between November 2018 and March 2019.   According to the report, evidence of the spending is based on Wells Fargo wire receipts, Zelle receipts, PayPal notices and pictures of cashier checks.   

Many of these escorts reportedly used a “.ru” email address.   In one text exchange with “Eva,” Hunter Biden reportedly wrote that “Email with .ru flags wires.”   He then reportedly texted that the money he tried to wire was “too much red flag for bank.”   The report indicated that after Hunter Biden received account information for a wire transfer, he texted “Eva,” “That its [sic] what got my accounts frozen and reviewed by bank[,] Send me Julia and I will give her the cash[.]” 

“Eva” and the reported escorts were apparently associated with a company called UberGFE, which at one time had locations in Russia and Ukraine.   In our September 2020 report, we noted that records in our possession indicated that “Hunter Biden paid nonresident women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine” and that some transactions are linked to what “appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”

Rather than take these disturbing revelations seriously, the partisan press quickly rushed to dispel any notion of potential wrongdoing connected to Hunter Biden.  Instead of investigating potential links between Hunter Biden and human trafficking rings, the media falsely characterized our findings as “little more than a rehashing of unproven allegations that echoed a Russian disinformation campaign.”  

These findings of potentially criminal behavior must be thoroughly investigated by law enforcement entities according to the highest ethical standards.  Yet, due to your agencies’ continued failure to provide Congress with answers to its legitimate oversight questions, we have serious concerns about your review of this matter as well as the ongoing Hunter Biden criminal case. 

With respect to that criminal case, we’ve made our ongoing concerns clear with respect to DOJ’s handling of it.  Most recently, on May 9, 2022, we wrote to U.S. Attorney (USA) David Weiss with respect to our concerns about conflicts of interest infecting the criminal investigation.   In that letter, we reiterated our concerns about Nicholas McQuaid’s conflicts with the Hunter Biden criminal case in light of his prior working relationship with Hunter Biden’s criminal defense attorney.  We also asked USA Weiss whether, in light of the Biden family’s connections in Delaware, anyone in his office is recused from the matter.   We also asked whether USA Weiss “received sufficient resources and support from the Justice Department to properly execute the Hunter Biden criminal case.”   On June 9, 2022, the Justice Department interceded and instead of USA Weiss responding, it responded on his behalf.  In that response, the Justice Department failed – yet again – to answer any questions.  To date, the Biden administration has refused to answer whether there have been any recusals from the Hunter Biden criminal case based on conflicts of interest or other reasons. 

              What is the Justice Department trying to hide from Congress and the American people?

Congress has a constitutional responsibility to ensure the proper execution of, and compliance with, conflicts of interest laws and regulations.  DOJ’s failure to comply with these laws and regulations will undermine the integrity of any investigation and cast a public cloud – whether warranted or not – over the matter.  Your continued failure to answer fundamental questions with respect to the Hunter Biden criminal case not only calls into question DOJ’s and FBI’s handling of the matter, it calls into question whether DOJ and FBI will take the necessary steps to pursue other relevant investigative threads.

              Accordingly, please answer the following no later than July 21, 2022:

1. Is the FBI investigating Hunter Biden for criminal violations relating to his reported use of escorts linked to human trafficking rings?
2. Has the FBI defensively briefed Hunter Biden for counterintelligence concerns raised by his close financial associations with individuals linked to the communist Chinese government and other foreign governments and his reported association with foreign escorts?
3. Is Mr. McQuaid recused from the Hunter Biden criminal case?  If so, when was he recused?  Provide the recusal memorandum. 
4. Have any employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware been recused from the Hunter Biden criminal case?  If so, who, when, and provide the recusal memoranda.  
5. Have you or any employee in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware exchanged any communications with Mr. McQuaid?  If so, please provide all records.
6. Has the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware issued a grand jury subpoena to Wells Fargo, USAA, Bank of America, TD Bank, JPMorgan Chase, PNC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of China and First National Bank of Omaha for records relating to Hunter Biden, James Biden, Sara Biden, John R. Walker, Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer and corporate entities linked to them, including but not limited to, Hudson West III and the Lion Hall Group?  If not, why not?
7. Has the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware received sufficient resources and support from the Department of Justice to properly execute the Hunter Biden criminal case? 
8. Have you discussed the need for a special counsel or independent counsel to properly investigate the Hunter Biden criminal case?

Sincerely,

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