House GOP leaders call for CIA briefing on claims of meddling in Biden family probes

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), House Judiciary Committee chairman, and Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Oversight Committee chairman, sent a letter to the CIA Director William Burns calling for a briefing over allegations that the CIA interfered in federal investigations related to Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden.

As part of their impeachment inquiry proceedings, on March 21, 2024, the Oversight and Judiciary committee Republicans requested documents from the CIA concerning its purported meddling into the IRS’s and the Department of Justice’s investigation into Hunter Biden.

On behalf of Burns, James Catella, the director of the CIA’s Office of Congressional Affairs, said the allegations proposed by the Judiciary and Oversight committees were false. However, according to Jordan and Comer, information and documents provided in an affidavit by an IRS official reveal that Catella may have been misled and given false information to Congress members.

In the March 21 letter to the CIA, the Oversight and Judiciary committee leaders cited a whistleblower sharing that when the IRS investigators were preparing to interview Patrick Kevin Morris, an associate of Hunter Biden, in August 2021, the CIA shut it down. The CIA had allegedly called two members of the DOJ to its headquarters for a briefing emphasizing that an interview with Morris would not be conducted.

The Judiciary and Oversight committees called for the CIA to provide documents and details regarding the incident. In response, Catella wrote in a letter on April 4, 2024, that the CIA did not prevent the DOJ or IRS investigation. “The allegation is false,” Catella wrote.

The Judiciary Committee requested CIA Congressional Affairs staff provide more information regarding Catella’s statement, but the request was denied.

The CIA said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that it “stands by its response to the Committee” and “does not comment on specific investigations.”

“We can say that CIA cooperates with law enforcement partners and does not obstruct investigations.  CIA also fully and routinely cooperates with our oversight committees and will continue to do so,” the CIA added.

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The lawmakers gave the CIA until June 25 to schedule the briefing.