House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) subpoenaed AT&T last week to obtain Hunter Biden’s phone records, including the phone bills he paid for his father, National Review has learned.
Comer subpoenaed AT&T on March 6 to retrieve account information, communications, and payment history for all AT&T accounts connected to Hunter Biden, according to a subpoena cover letter reviewed by National Review. The subpoena is part of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, which focuses on the apparent role he played in his son’s foreign business dealings.
“The Oversight Committee has identified payments made by Hunter Biden for what appear to be bills associated with his own use, and a cellphone line for his father’s use. Based on records reviewed by the Committees, the total amount paid by Hunter Biden for his father’s use appears to be over $15,000, which was for a personal line Joe Biden utilized while Vice President,” the letter reads.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner and accountant Eric Schwerin confirmed he conducted financial services for Joe Biden free of charge during his vice presidency, the letter says. Schwerin recalled writing a check on Joe Biden’s behalf to Hunter Biden for a cell phone bill Hunter paid for his father.
The account provided by Schwerin was not disputed by Hunter Biden when he testified last month, a publicly available transcript of Hunter Biden’s testimony shows.
“No, I have no reason to dispute, no,” Hunter Biden said of Schwerin’s testimony. The younger Biden answered affirmatively to a question on whether he paid for his father’s line on a family plan they shared.
Throughout his testimony, Hunter Biden denied that his father had any involvement in his foreign business dealings. However, he did confirm Joe Biden met multiple foreign business partners when he was vice president, corroborating testimony from former business partners Devon Archer and Tony Bobulinski.
Archer recalled Joe Biden talking on speakerphone to his son’s foreign business partners roughly 20 times over the course of his relationship with Hunter Biden. In one instance, Hunter Biden “called D.C.” at the direction of executives from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma in late 2015, Archer recounted. The Burisma executives and Hunter Biden stepped away from Archer for the phone call, and Archer learned about it shortly after it took place.
The businessman could not definitively say whether then–vice president Joe Biden was on the receiving end of his son’s call. Archer and Hunter Biden were once close friends and sat on Burisma’s board together. In contrast, Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden, disparaged Bobulinski for supposedly being an arrogant, disgruntled former business partner.
“Accordingly, the Oversight Committee seeks additional information regarding the account information, communication records, and payment history of all AT&T accounts affiliated with Robert Hunter Biden,” the letter adds.
The Oversight Committee is seeking the records to discover potential communications between Joe Biden and his son’s foreign business associates, and whether Joe and Hunter talked on the phone at important moments in Hunter Biden’s business career.
“The subpoenaed records will help the Oversight Committee determine whether Joe Biden abused his office by selling access and/or by receiving payments or other benefits in exchange for official acts, which is a critical aspect of the impeachment inquiry,” the letter states.
AT&T has until March 20 to comply with the subpoena and produce the phone records. National Review has contacted AT&T for comment.