Senate Republicans ramped up their investigation into Hunter Biden after former Vice President Joe Biden surged ahead in the Democratic race, but Utah Sen. Mitt Romney may derail their efforts, Politico reports.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to vote on a subpoena for records related to Biden and his son’s work for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas firm that was at the heart of President Trump’s impeachment.
Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he sees “no reason why anybody would object,” which would seek records from Democratic PR firm Blue Star about Biden’s role at Burisma.
The move comes after Trump was acquitted in his impeachment trial after pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. The move also comes after Biden had a resurgence in the Democratic race, winning the South Carolina primary and the majority of Super Tuesday races in a landslide.
Democrats oppose:
Democrats raised concerns over the effort and whether it fed into “Russia’s disinformation campaign,” as Republicans like Sen. Richard Burr and Sen. Lindsey Graham have said.
“Quite frankly, the Homeland Security Committee should be focusing on issues related to homeland security,” said Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. When asked about whether he thinks he can defeat the subpoena effort, he said: “I think it’s uncertain. I don’t know how it’s going to go right now.”
Mitt Romney may block subpoena:
Romney, who was the lone Republican to vote for Trump’s removal, suggested he may block the move. Any single Republican can block the subpoena if all six Democrats on the committee vote against it.
“There’s no question the appearance is not good,” Romney said on Thursday. “I would prefer that investigations are done by an independent, nonpolitical body.”
