House GOP calls on James Biden's business associate to testify in Joe Biden impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON – Republican investigators are requesting a former business associate of James Biden, President Joe Biden’s brother, answer lawmakers' questions as the House GOP continues its impeachment inquiry into the president.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a letter obtained by USA TODAY, requested that Michael Lewitt, one of James Biden’s former business partners, speak to the committees regarding his dealings with the president’s brother and Americore, a now-bankrupt health care startup.

“The Committees seek information you possess regarding your business dealings with both Americore and James Biden, including, but not limited to, the 'loans' that James Biden received from the financially struggling company,” the letter, sent Thursday afternoon, reads.

The letter is the latest development in House Republicans’ impeachment investigation into Joe Biden. They have long alleged the president personally benefited from his family’s foreign business dealings. While investigators have shown his family made millions, the probe has yet to directly implicate the president in those overseas ventures.

Comer and Jordan have been investigating Americore and James Biden allegedly misleading the company into giving him a $600,000 loan. The committees interviewed Carol Fox, a bankruptcy trustee of the company, earlier this month, and Fox testified that James Biden promised he could leverage his last name to secure funding from the Middle East.

In return, the company gave James Biden a $600,000 loan, but the funding from the Middle East never came. Fox told the committee part of the loan – $200,000 – either came from “predatory loans” or “money fraudulently invested by James Biden’s business partner, Michael Lewitt.”

Joe Costello, a spokesperson for House Oversight Democrats, derided the request in a statement and said that "Republicans are on a desperate goose chase to find some justification for their baseless impeachment inquiry."

GOP investigators have zeroed in on that $200,000 and a subsequent check marked as a “loan repayment” James Biden made out to the president the same day he obtained the loan on March 1, 2018. Bank records previously reviewed by USA TODAY suggest that the check was indeed a repayment for a loan the president provided to his brother.

But Comer and Jordan have scoffed at the notion the $200,000 could be a loan repayment, and Comer has demanded the president provide additional documentation showing he gave his brother the money. Regardless, the chairs are investigating the origins of the funding and asking Lewitt to speak about his dealings with James Biden and Americore.

The Security and Exchange Commission sued Lewitt in September for misleading investors through his fund, Third Friday Management.

The complaint alleges Lewitt deceived investors, many of whom were elderly, that his fund would invest in reliable options on Wall Street. It instead invested in a company that in turn put money into struggling health care companies, including Americore. That complaint does not name James Biden or accuse him of wrongdoing.

But as a result of the SEC complaint and Fox’s testimony, the letter sent Thursday reads, “the Committees are interested in your involvement with Americore and your relationship with James Biden.”

Beyond the impeachment investigation targeting the president, the letter also said the committees are looking to “craft legislative solutions aimed at deficiencies … regarding ethics laws and the disclosure of financial interests related to the immediate family members of Vice Presidents and Presidents.”

Those deficiencies, the chairs argue, could “place American national security and interests at risk” and “provide opportunities for domestic corruption.”

The committees ask Lewitt to schedule the interview by January 11.

Opinion from the House Speaker: Evidence against Biden can't be ignored. We're pursuing impeachment inquiry.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Impeachment inquiry: GOP asks James Biden business partner to testify