House Republicans are suing two Justice Department officials for defying subpoenas that requested their appearance for depositions as a part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his involvement with his family’s foreign business dealings.
Rep. Jim Jordan Ohio Republican and Judiciary Committee chairman, filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as a way to get Mark Daly and Jack Morgan, two attorneys from the DOJ’s tax division to comply with the subpoenas. They were first subpoenaed last year.
The committee has gone back and forth with the DOJ for months about receiving testimony from Mr. Morgan and Mr. Daly. The DOJ has given multiple reasons for not allowing the two to testify, including that the department does not allow line-level employees to testify.
The Justice Department has brought nine tax charges against Hunter Biden last year for tax years 2016 to 2019, and he is currently fighting them in court. Letting department officials to speak about them outside of court could jeopardize it, Justice has said.
Republicans still question whether the first son was undercharged.
“The failure of Daly and Morgan to comply with their respective Subpoenas is impeding the Committee’s impeachment inquiry and its oversight of DOJ’s handling of the Hunter Biden investigation, matters of significant public concern,” House attorneys wrote in the complaint.
House Republicans believe the two officials could speak to whether Hunter Biden received preferential treatment from the Justice Department during its yearslong investigation of him, and whether the president pressured the department to go easy on his son.