Lawmaker blasts House oversight chair over denied access to Biden probe info

April 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, has called on the committee chairman to stop withholding information from Democratic committee members.

Raskin said in a letter to Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., that withheld information includes information related to the committee's investigation into President Joe Biden's family.

In his letter to Comer, Raskin wrote, "I hope you will provide this information swiftly and ensure the minority has full access to information collected by committee Republicans as part of this and other investigations. Failing to do so would violate a fundamental principle of our shared fact-finding mission and mark a significant break from long-standing committee practice."

Raskin told Comer he wants to resolve these issues to ensure that all investigations are conducted transparently and fairly.

Raskin said in his letter that Comer has refused to allow Democrats to access physical evidence the committee has collected, such as the "hard drive" reportedly obtained from Hunter Biden's missing laptop.

"Rather than provide the minority [members] with equal access to this drive, you have directed us to obtain the information from other sources -- including from a questionable public website or from John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer repair shop that allegedly obtained Hunter Biden's laptop," Raskin wrote. "But Mr. Mac Isaac has called into serious question the integrity of the same hard drive he reportedly unlawfully disseminated, stating that it may have been compromised by its mysterious chain of custody and some information now attributed to it cannot be verified or authenticated."

Raskin said he has grown increasingly alarmed by Comer's efforts to keep information from committee Democrats.

"Our committee has always adhered to the principle that equal access to information is the cornerstone of legitimate congressional oversight," Raskin wrote. "This bedrock principle ensures that the committee's majority and minority can equally assess the weight of evidence and credibility of witnesses in pursuit of facts and serious legislative insight."

Comer and other House GOP committee chairs are aggressively pursuing information from investigations into the Biden administration and the Biden family.

Those efforts include a subpoena filed in March for the bank records of business associates of Hunter Biden. At that time, Raskin voiced his concerns about the manner in which the committee is conducting its investigations.