A Senate committee moved Wednesday to subpoena documents related to the son of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in an escalation of GOP congressional scrutiny into Biden’s time as vice president.
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the subpoena on a party-line vote, more than two months after its chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), first indicated he planned to seek the documents concerning Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
Trump tried to get Ukraine to do his bidding on making up dirt on Hunter Biden, and it got him impeached. Now the GOP-controlled Senate, which let him off the hook for that abuse of power, is abusing their power themselves.
The subpoena comes as Republicans have ramped up their efforts to investigate the administration of former president Barack Obama — a campaign that they say is meant to uncover malfeasance in targeting then-candidate and president-elect Donald Trump for unwarranted investigation. Democrats say it is simply another front in a Republican campaign to rough up Biden ahead of the election.
This is like Trey Gowdy’s pursuit of Hillary’s actions in Benghazi — a pursuit he dropped the day after she lost the election. This time, however, I suspect that if Trump steals this election, he will continue to go after Biden & Sons, because one of his few genuine emotions is desire for revenge.
Democrats are making very loud noises that this is abuse of the subpoena power:
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) lambasted Republicans Wednesday for pursuing the subpoena, saying they were “using Russian propaganda to try and damage a political opponent.”
“It appears the subpoena is just for show, a way to create the false impression of wrongdoing,” he said. “It’s like in a third-world dictatorship, a show trial with no basis in fact, with no due process, with no reality.”
This is made even more obvious by a statement from the target of the subpoena that it wasn’t even necessary; they are cooperating:
In a letter to the panel Wednesday, Blue Star said there was no reason a subpoena would be necessary: “At no time have we ever stated or indicated in any way that we would not cooperate. Therefore, we are puzzled, despite our willingness to cooperate, why the Committee is proceeding to vote on a subpoena.”
That resembles GOP insistence that Trump declassify the Susan Rice memorialization email — a call which she enthusiastically endorsed. And which left egg on Republican faces.
A lot of this is driven by Trump’s all-consuming pathological need to get re-elected and thereby escape, or at least put off, having to face accountability for his criminal acts. But it’s also a reflection of continuing GOP frustration that for eight years, they looked for anything that even hinted at corruption that they could pin on Obama and his administration. They are absolutely unable to deal with the fact that a Democrat, a Black Democrat no less, could run the least corrupt presidency in modern history. That sticks in their craw, and they will stop at nothing to vomit it out.