Hunter Biden's subpoena defiance is creating a 'constitutional crisis': Rep. Jason Smith
Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., discusses California lawyer Kevin Morris' relationship to Hunter Biden, the First Son defying a congressional subpoena, and the Biden family business deals.
Hunter Biden's financial and personal ties to Hollywood mega-attorney Kevin Morris, who is accused of lending him millions of dollars to pay off back taxes, remain in House Republicans' crosshairs.
"From what the IRS whistleblowers have highlighted, they [Biden and Morris] just got to know each other about two months before he paid roughly $2 million into Hunter Biden's tax returns, but he had been known as a big Democrat supporter and donor Hollywood attorney," Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican, told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
"The question is, is why would Kevin Morris pay almost $5 million for tax filings and also to subsidize Hunter Biden's lifestyle? What is Kevin Morris getting from Hunter Biden or from Joe Biden? These are things that we need to look into."
President Biden's son Hunter remains under scrutiny from House Republicans for a series of alleged crimes. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
An email from Morris to accountants working with Hunter Biden, dated Feb. 7, 2020 – three weeks before Super Tuesday – warned, "We are under considerable risk personally and politically to get the returns in."
"The only political risk is Joe Biden," Smith said of the email. "And that's exactly why the IRS whistleblowers wanted to look into campaign finance crimes in Joe Biden's campaign, but the Justice Department has refused to do that."
Money Morris lent to Hunter Biden is in part the subject of a years-long Justice Department investigation into possible tax evasion and other potential crimes. Separately, reports indicate he funded Hunter's lifestyle by flying him to an Arkansas child support hearing on a private jet and aiding with rent and living expenses, among others.
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Hunter Biden speaks at a press conference last week. Next to Rep. Eric Swalwell on the right, stands Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, according to Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. (Sunday Morning Futures/Screengrab)
Morris, commonly coined as Biden's "sugar brother," needs to be brought in for questioning, so the story can be set straight, according to Smith, but getting him there is challenging.
"He's an individual that came up repeatedly among the IRS whistleblowers that came before our committee of an individual that we need to bring forward and ask questions to," he explained.
Bartiromo marveled at the "amazing" nature of Hunter's press conference, telling Smith, "It's amazing that [he] could go defy a congressional subpoena, set up shop right in front of the steps of the Capitol, do a press conference with the guy who's helped pay all this stuff out and then walk away. That's it. We're not getting your deposition."
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Smith replied, "If you or I or any other American did that, we would be prosecuted. It's clearly a two-tiered justice system. It's exactly what the IRS whistleblowers have highlighted, why they came forward. The fact that Hunter Biden was supposed to be in the halls of that building, going through a congressional subpoena, through depositions, and he defied that by standing in the footsteps of the Capitol and doing a press conference. The fact that he is the president's son, and he's doing that is creating a very severe constitutional crisis."
Smith said House Republicans "absolutely" intend to follow up with Morris' attorneys to get him in for questioning.
"Clearly, he was not out of the country, but this is just a pattern that we've been seeing throughout this entire investigation," he said. "You have Joe Biden saying that he knew nothing about his son's business dealings. We released the IRS whistleblower testimony and then the next day, they started to say that he was not involved in his son's business dealings. However, just this week, Hunter Biden's in his press conference, says that Joe Biden was not financially involved. Let me tell you, the emails and documentation we've been getting from the IRS whistleblowers prove otherwise."
FOX News' Aaron Kliegman contributed to this report.
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