GOP leaders slam Biden Treasury for ‘stonewalling’ oversight probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings

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FIRST ON FOX: Several Republicans sounded off on President Biden’s Treasury Department “stonewalling” the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.

Earlier this week, Biden’s Treasury Department refused to hand over suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding the president’s son, Hunter Biden’s oversea business dealings to the House Oversight Committee led by GOP Chairman James Comer of Kentucky.

The Treasury Department’s chief of legislative affairs Jonathan Davidson, in a response to Comer’s January 11th letter to Secretary Janet Yellen, told the House Oversight chairman he needed to say more on why the committee is asking for the “highly sensitive” information.

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Republicans in the House blasted the Treasury after its letter from Davidson, accusing the department of “stonewalling” the committee’s investigation into the president’s son. Davidson previously worked on the Biden-Harris transition team as the Economic Nominations Confirmation team lead and previously worked as chief of staff for Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. for a decade.

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital on Thursday “the Biden Administration continues to cover up for the Biden Crime Family.”

“House Republicans are demanding full transparency, and we will get to the bottom of Hunter Biden’s corrupt business deals and why the Biden Administration is stonewalling this investigation as a matter of national security,” Stefanik said.

Lauren Fine, spokesperson for House GOP Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, told Fox News Digital that just “last year House Democrats put forth and supported legislation that would require the Treasury Department to turn over SARs to Congress, and even prior to that, the Trump Administration turned over sensitive SARs relating to former President Trump’s family.”

“Every House Democrat should join us in demanding that the Treasury Department follow well-established precedent in turning these documents over to Congress, or explain why the rules suddenly don’t apply to President Biden and his family,” Fine said.

“House Republicans will not be stonewalled, and we will use every tool at our disposal to conduct our investigations on behalf of the American people,” she continued.

When asked for a response to the Republicans’ comments, a Treasury Department spokesperson pointed Fox News Digital back to its letter.

“To accommodate this kind of request, the Department expects to engage in discussions with the Committee to properly scope and tailor our response to the Committee’s informational and legislative needs,” the letter reads. “After these discussions, the Department will identify potentially responsive documents, assess their responsiveness, and make determinations concerning how to accommodate legitimate legislative needs while also protecting Executive Branch interests, including law enforcement needs. While the Department will work as expeditiously as possible, this process will necessarily take time to complete.”

Comer fired back at the Treasury’s letter in a Wednesday statement, saying that at “the start of the Biden Administration, the Treasury Department changed longstanding policy to severely restrict Congress’ access to suspicious activity reports.”

“Now, Biden’s Treasury Department appears to be going even further to restrict access,” Comer said. “This coordinated effort by the Biden Administration to hide information about President Biden and his family’s shady business schemes is alarming and raises many questions.”

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“We will continue to press for access to suspicious activity reports generated for the Biden family and their associates, and will use the power of the gavel to get them if needed,” he continued.

House Oversight Republicans made investigating the younger Biden one of their top priorities going into the GOP-controlled chamber.

Fox News Digital’s Kelly Laco contributed reporting.