March 22 (UPI) — House Republicans spearheading an impeachment probe into President Joe Biden have filed a lawsuit against two Justice Department prosecutors involved in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was charged in December with nine tax-related charges on accusations of failing to pay his taxes, failing to file his tax returns and filling fraudulent tax returns.
Republicans have been investigating the president since retaking the Congressional chamber in January 2023. Though they accuse the Biden family of influence peddling, the lawmakers have yet to produce any evidence of a crime having been committed and have zeroed in on Hunter Biden due to his international business dealings and recent legal troubles.
On Thursday, the committee filed a lawsuit against Mark Daly and Jack Morgan, line prosecutors in the Justice Department’s tax division, in an effort to force their testimony. The Republicans allege that Hunter Biden was given favorable treatment from Justice Department because of his father.
“To craft effective legislative reforms and to determine whether President Biden has committed an impeachable offense, it must have all the facts,” the committee said in the lawsuit.
“And to uncover all facts, the committee requires testimony from both Mark Daly and Jack Morgan … who have firsthand knowledge of the irregularities in DOJ’s investigation that appear to have benefited Hunter Biden.”
Both Daly and Morgan were members of the team that investigated Hunter Biden.
The committee has twice previously issued subpoenas to both Daly and Morgan in September and in February, but the Justice Department has refused to make them available, though several other, more senior officials in the federal department have sat for testimony with the committee.
In a statement to NBC News, the Justice Department said it has tried to work with the committee and even “took the extraordinary step of making six supervisory employees available to testify on appropriate topics last year.”
“It is unfortunate that despite this extraordinary cooperation from senior DOJ officials, the committee has decided, after waiting for months, to continue seeking to depose line prosecutors about sensitive information from ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions,” the department spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to protect our line personnel and the integrity of their work. We will review the filings and respond in court.”
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to the nine tax-related charges. The president’s son is also facing separate guns charges, accusing him of lying on a federal form that asked him if he was drug-free when he purchased a Colt Cobra .38 Special in 2018. He has also pleaded not guilty in that case.
