President’s brother James Biden to testify behind closed doors in impeachment probe

The House Oversight and Judiciary committees will hold a closed-door transcribed interview with President Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden, Wednesday morning as part of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the president.

Republicans have focused on James Biden’s business dealings, including loans that Joe Biden made to his brother during a period when he was not in office, and whether the president had any involvement in his brother’s business transactions or used his influence to their benefit. The committees have not provided evidence for their claims.

James Biden’s interview comes a week before the president’s son Hunter Biden is set to appear for his own transcribed interview Feb. 28. Hunter Biden’s interview comes after a monthslong dispute between Republicans and the president’s son over the logistics of his testimony to Congress.

James Biden’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The interview of the president’s brother also comes a day after prosecutors said a former FBI informant was charged after allegedly providing false information about the president and Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign, including information that he claimed came from “officials associated with Russian intelligence,” according to a filing from prosecutors on Tuesday.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed James and Hunter Biden in November. The committee said it obtained financial records that allegedly show Biden family members having set up more than 20 shell companies, most of which were created during Joe Biden’s time serving as vice president, in an effort to cover up payments from foreign adversaries. Comer, who has accused the Biden family of engaging in “shady business practices,” has not provided concrete evidence of how the transactions demonstrate wrongdoing or influence peddling by the president.

The committee also has focused on a $200,000 loan that the president gave his brother in 2018, which James Biden’s lawyers say was repaid, adding that the president’s brother never involved him in any of his business dealings.

The White House has repeatedly pushed back on claims of wrongdoing by the president, citing the lack of evidence provided by Republicans to support their allegations against the Biden family.