When it comes to the new Senate probe involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Utah Senator Mitt Romney has agreed to back fellow Republicans in an effort to restore his reputation within the GOP since his betrayal during the impeachment trial.
Originally, Romney had expressed his reservations about whether to side with the Republicans that sit on the Senate Homeland Security Committee on a vote next week that would subpoena documents over concerns the investigation may appear politically driven.
Committee chairman Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), indicated that Romney won’t halt efforts to get this done, and his spokesperson made a statement indicating so.
“Senator Romney has expressed his concerns to Chairman Johnson, who has confirmed that any interview of the witness would occur in a closed setting without a hearing or public spectacle,” said Liz Johnson, Romney’s communications director. “He will therefore vote to let the Chairman proceed to obtain the documents that have been offered.”
Due to the close party lines, with Republicans only having an 8-6 majority on the committee, so Romney’s support was crucial. Without it, a 7-7 tie would be the failed result. Since Romney was already being shunned for being the only Republican to vote for Trump’s impeachment, all eyes were on him to see if he would betray his party once again.
The GOP-led committee will vote next Wednesday on a subpoena seeking the records of Blue Star Strategies’ former consultant Andrii Telizhenko. Blue Star was contracted with Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company, during the time that Hunter Biden served on its board and while Joe Biden was the key person on Ukraine policy under the Obama administration.
The committee is seeking more clarity about Blue Star’s objective in regard to the State Department. And while Telizhenko has agreed to cooperate with the committee, he has a previously signed nondisclosure agreement with Blue Star that he must abide by — unless of course, he is subpoenaed.
Democrats have accused Senators of performing investigations of the Biden family as a political action intended to harm Joe Biden’s presidential run. Republicans insist that these are all good-faith investigations into potential wrongdoing to find the truth and end corruption. In fact, after Trump’s acquittal, GOP leaders in the Senate vowed to take up the investigation that Trump had requested into potential corruption by the Bidens in Ukraine. The Bidens have since denied any wrongdoing on their parts.
Biden says the efforts against him and his family are a just a sign of how worried Trump is about potentially facing him in November on the presidential ballot.
