House Democrats are dismissing the allegations made against President Biden by an FBI informant, and accuse the president’s critics of promoting "unsubstantiated accusations" that he benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released an FBI document that suggests Biden, as vice president, was party to bribery and corruption when his son Hunter Biden sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The claims are unverified, and Democrats this week dismissed them even as Republicans say the matter could rise to the level of impeachment.
"So far all this is, is an unsubstantiated accusation. Obviously, it's our responsibility, the responsibility of law enforcement, to take a look at everything deeply and make sure there's nothing to it. But I'm very confident that they're gonna find that this is an empty accusation," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.
Beyer pointed out that he was not defending Hunter Biden, who was under a years-long federal tax investigation having to do with his overseas business. But Beyer said tying the president to it seemed "silly."
"It's very difficult to believe that Joe Biden, having given his entire life to public service, would have any interest in that at all. I'm not defending Hunter or the things that he did, you know, the evasion of taxes and the like, but, you know, we all have kids off the reservation sometimes," he said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called Republican efforts to investigate the Bidens "embarrassing."
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"There is zero evidence that Republicans have shown that President Biden has done anything wrong," Swalwell said. "If you don’t have anything else, time to wrap it up."
"They're trying to make ‘fetch’ happen here. It's kind of embarrassing," he added of the GOP effort. "I feel bad for them, but they have not been able to deliver on anything they've promised. They're kind of like that… Cleveland Browns team that just kept losing and losing and losing. And we're all wondering like, are you guys gonna put a W on the board?"
A Midwestern Democrat, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, did not see the memo but conceded that evidence of wrongdoing should be investigated. He said he doubted there was such evidence against Biden.
"I don't care if it's President Biden, former President Trump, any president of any party. If they commit wrongdoing or corruption, we have every reason to pursue them. I have not seen anything that indicates that President Biden comes even close to having done so," Phillips said. "And if that is, becomes the truth, I think Democrats and Republicans have an obligation to pursue it, plain and simple."
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He said Biden was "a man of principle and good character."
Asked about the congressional investigations Republicans have led into the matter, Phillips said, "I think so far they're a little bit laughable, so far, again, because I'm not seeing enough smoke to think there's even fire. And should that change, I'll be objective, like I hope all my colleagues will be."
Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., a former prosecutor, told Fox News Digital of the claims that Biden profited off of his son’s business, "You make allegations like that you better have the evidence to back it up."
But he shrugged off any opinions on the Republicans’ Biden investigations.
"If that's what they want to spend their time doing, that's their prerogative, obviously, the majority. I'm here to legislate and get things done and for the people in [California’s] 19th Congressional District, and I look forward to continuing to do that with or without the Republicans," Panetta said.
