AMAC EXCLUSIVE
With all eyes turning to the presidential election and House Republicans struggling to stay united with a historically slim majority, an impeachment of President Joe Biden before November now seems like a remote possibility. But Republican leaders have hinted at a possible criminal referral to the Department of Justice as another avenue to hold Biden accountable for his influence peddling scheme.
Late last month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) indicated that criminal referrals stemming from his investigation into the Biden family could come “within weeks.” President Biden and his son, Hunter, have both refused to appear before the committee, hampering Comer’s efforts to get more answers about the Biden family’s shady business dealings.
While Biden’s DOJ would almost certainly not act on any criminal referral of the president, a referral would lay the groundwork for potential future charges against Biden by potentially providing the DOJ with a mountain of evidence to prosecute him and any of his family members implicated in his apparent corruption.
When Congress discovers potential crimes during an investigation, committees or individual members can make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. A criminal referral is a non-binding recommendation that the DOJ investigate and potentially indict the person or people in the referral.
While it is an informal process, the referral should include the allegations, the specific basis for the allegations, and an articulation of the evidence of the possible crime. Typically, but not always, the entire House must still approve criminal referrals. While Republicans do not currently appear to have unified support behind impeachment, a criminal referral could stand a better chance of passing.
Since the 1920s, Congress has issued criminal referrals for 183 individuals or organizations, with 37 percent of those referrals resulting in indictments. Notably, in July 2016, the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees issued a criminal referral for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for perjury and false statements.
Regarding the Biden family’s corruption, Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, argued in his congressional testimony on the issue that President Biden’s awareness of “money going to his family in exchange for influence or access” is enough evidence to recommend a bribery charge to the DOJ.
According to Turley, “under 18 U.S. Code § 201, it is bribery when being a public official or person selected to be a public official, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other person or entity, in return for: (A) being influenced in the performance of any official act; (B) being influenced to commit or aid in committing, or to collude in, or allow, any fraud, or make opportunity for the commission of any fraud, on the United States; or (C) being induced to do or omit to do any act in violation of the official duty of such official or person.”
Importantly, this statute covers accepting anything of value “personally or for any other person or entity.” Even if President Biden did not personally accept money from outside sources as bribes, his awareness of the benefits received by Hunter and Hunter’s associates in exchange for influence or access to the elder Biden is enough to warrant further investigation by federal law enforcement. “To say that millions of dollars going to his family would not be considered a benefit to Joe Biden is legally and logically absurd,” Turley emphasized.
While Turley did argue that House Republicans have not yet gathered the necessary evidence for impeachment, he made clear that “the record has developed to the point that the House needs to answer troubling questions surrounding the President.”
One way to answer these questions would be for the House to use what they now know from the investigation as the evidentiary basis for a criminal referral. DOJ would then be able to use its expanded investigatory powers to obtain more information about the Biden family business.
Notably, the Department of Justice has brought charges against two Democrat Congressman for corruption in just the past year. Last September, the DOJ brought charges against Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife for bribery, and just this past week the DOJ released an indictment against Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife for accepting approximately $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities, an oil and gas company owned by the Government of Azerbaijan and a Mexico City bank.
The evidence unearthed so far against Joe Biden seems equally as damning as that against Menendez and Cuellar. At the very least, it warrants further investigation.
It’s no secret that public confidence in the entire American legal system is in the midst of a steep decline. A June 2023 poll showed that just under half of Americans, 49 percent, say they have “little or no confidence” in the DOJ.
Part of this distrust and lack of confidence comes from the political motivation in bringing charges against President Trump, but not against Biden. The DOJ listening to and acting on a criminal referral from Congress about President Biden’s actions could help show impartiality and boost the American people’s perception of the institution.
The House Judiciary has more than enough evidence for the referral. It is time to take action.
Katharine “Katie” Sullivan was an Acting Assistant Attorney General and a senior advisor to the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Trump. She previously served 11 years as a state trial court judge in Colorado.
“TIME TO TAKE ACTION”???? So far, the DOJ has been continually dragging its feet when coming to take a real and true action against the Biden family and their criminal antics. It seems that any discovered criminal act against any high placed Democrat is swept under the rug despite evidence to the contrary. SO DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR ANY REAL JUSTICE TO BE SERVED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
DOJ is the deep state. They run the Biden regime. Will they arrest themselves. Fat chance
Hard to understand how Merrick Garland could be so compromised that he’d let his legacy be one of extreme partisanship, lack of integrity and ethics, and being a tool of the extreme left, rather than an honest, admirable top court officer. Shows how low the leftists are willing to sink to maintain power.
Thanks for the laugh!!!!
If this goes anywhere it will be SOP. Talk, talk, talk, scowling faces, angry words, and nothing…
You can’t expect the DOJ to do anything when they’re too busy behind the scenes directing 97 Trump indictments for NOTHING…
To augment my previous comment, I agree with my fellow readers that the DOJ will likely do nothing. The illegal surveillance of Trump’s 2016 campaign should have landed Comey and others in prison, but, instead, was brushed aside by the filthiest DOJ and news media in the nation’s history. We all are swimming in a pool of incorrigible miscreants, with successful elections, followed by criminal prosecutions, as our only way out.
If the DOJ handles it, nothing will be done.
The DOJ will do nothing to resident biden. They are as bad as the FBI. We The People already know that we don’t have a chance because of our own government & that includes the DOJ. But, Just by chance if the DOJ does there job correctly mister Biden will be impeached & imprisoned. But, fat chance in hell.
I find it laughable to think that the DOJ will hold anybody (on the left) accountable for anything. The only crime they recognize is being conservative. They have an unregistered gun? Arrest them! They blocked an abortion facility? Put them in jail! They protested in the capitol? Throw away the key!
Braindead Joe Biden has been a corrupt liar/thief/traitor for at least 40 years. His entire administration is corrupt and full of more liars/thiefs/traitors. There is ZERO chance, regardless of whatever proof may be found and exposed, of Biden or any one of his merry band of fellow dirtbags being prosecuted because the DOJ, which would do the prosecuting, is led by and full of people every bit as corrupt as Biden.
I’m sure that Garland will put this on the top of his I’ll list to bury.
All this impeachment nonsense is a monumental waste of time ! At BEST you get Joe OUT and Kamala IN :o( As far as DOJ doing ANYTHING but cover up for Joe, DREAM ON ! Just WAIT until Trump is IN and let his rejuvenated/replaced DOJ do the job right !
What took so long? The establishment immediately from day one was trying to do away with President Trump, simply because they did not like him.
Diaper Joe on the other hand has been allowed to take bribes from foreign governments for years, and commit treason for almost four long years…that we know of, maybe more. Now it finally looks like they may be making plans for his removal. This country is more F-ed up than I thought.
Either all our representatives are in on it together and we the American people are truly being sold down the drain by our own government, or we have some of the most stupid F-up people in office that has ever been elected to represent us…and that’s not saying much for those of us that voted for them in the first place.
None of this gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Not even the uplifting messages AMAC continues to post on this website. Which I must admit, some are very good.
I’m sure, sadly, that most people are NOT surprised. The Clintons got away with what could have sent either of them to prison, so will the Bidens. Trump may be hounded for the rest of his life although they have yet to find an actual crime. Conservatives need to stand up and LOUDLY protest, instead of remaining mostly silent. Conservative media outlets need to hammer home the injustices and get the word out about what these rich Dem families are getting away with. Unfortunately after hearing nothing but lies, even some independents and used to be conservative voters are believing the lies the MSM is spewing. It may already be too late, speak now or our country as we knew it may be gone. Too many “good men” doing “nothing.”
The current DOJ has nothing to do with justice, they are merely an arm of a very corrupt administration.
Very informative article.
No one can now say what form of retribution may visit “President” Biden, but, as was recently stated in a previous article, he is “The George Costanza of American Presidents”.
May his fate be consistent with his actions and his character.
If accountability for Biden’s corruption is in the hands of BIDEN’S DOJ, God help us because I have no faith in them,
Every Democrat a traitor. Each and every one. It’s just that clear and simple.
I would be awesome if Biden and his son were found guilty.
All we can do is hope that the Justices do there do diligence,and find President Biden and his Son Hunter accountable for this Treasonist Act.
When the “cops” are in bed with the crooks, you shouldn’t expect ANY consequences! And when contempt citations have to be approved by the corrupt DOJ, we are helpless to get rid of the whole swampy mess!
The DOI is more like it, we no longer have a Department of Justice but a Department of “In”justice, with Mere-Geek Garland in charge it is the Three Ring Circus of Biden, Garland, & Wray “The Saddest Show on Earth!”
Injustice is perversion of our laws.
I am sooo tired of my tax dollars paying for these guys to be inept. Like, Hunter and his Dad’s questioning will actually lead to any insight when they are both liars and one is cognitively impaired. You shouldn’t do the tit for tat thing anyway, but if this is what this is to get back for Trump, it won’t work. Biden has ALZHEIMER’S. The reality is right in their face but they are going to push anyway just to prove their point. You know, because we don’t have anything better to put out hard earned resources and time against.
I agree. Just ask Hillary.
Well you can count on nothing being done .
The House has the evidence. But we have a DOJ that only listens to ole Joe. Even the audio of ole Joe’s interview with Hur they won’t release. They say the GOP will chop it up and make campaign propaganda out of it. Well you showed the GOP how to do that when you chopped up a Trump speech and used the word bloodbath way out of the context Trump used. That is why you think the GOP will do that. We wouldn’t stoop that low. The tape on its own would bring ole Joe down. It will show him totally incapable of making a sensible statement. He can’t read the tele promoter, pause. lol.
He needs to be greeted and clapped in chains the minute he leaves office in November and charged with treason and dereliction of duty. He did nothing for the people of of this country and everything for the ILlegals and kooks.
The people need to start acting and vote mostly Republicans into the congress and the senate and Trump as president and thedepartment of justice and appoint honest DA’s and judges and investigate these crooked politicians. Once and for all put these crooks out of business. We need to get our country back before it is too late.
Of it’s in the corrupt fourth reich’s hands then buyden$ will get another pass, until this corrupt government is thrown down and the new republic rises from the ashes!
I hope that they don’t attempt to do anything to Biden or his family. They should have taken action decades ago. It’s not going to help anybody at this point but it will cost the tax payers for sure as it always does. That includes the Trump trials we are paying for.
I don’t trust the DOJ or any of the 3-letter agencies. Corrupt.
Hmm! What will the DOJ do? ? ? With Don Jose’s consigliere Garland and his henchmen in charge… the likely result will be all evidence of wrongdoing will disappear like Jimmy Hoffa.
While I don’t expect Garland and the DOJ to do anything, this is still a good step. There is a lot of evidence that links Brandon & family to influence peddling, perhaps even bribery. If anything, the facts need to see the light of day and if this DOJ doesn’t do anything with it, then it serves to show how corrupt this administration and Brandon really are. If DJT wins in November, then it should at least give some initiative to clean house at these agencies.
I would be totaly shocked if the DOJ did anything about Biden’s corruption.
The DOJ is only one entity in the biden family’s private army.Not anyone in the biden or democrat cult will be charged or prosecuted for anything shady that they do.People say that there are two sets of rules one for democrats/leftists,and another for Conservatives.WRONG,democrats/leftists are rule free,anything,goes,NO penalties.
In other words it’s going to be swept under the carpet.
since the democrat party owns the DOJ, don’t expect much.
Couldn’t agree with you more!
What a joke of a question on AMAC’s part. REALLY AMAC? The Wolves that control every aspect of our guberment from top to bottom right down to our local government and you really think they will turn the Biden Crime family over to the corrupt D.O.J. and have anything happen?
The DOJ is under Biden’s complete control and “justice” has nothing to do with it. If they were to investigate Biden then their own name would start popping up among all the corruption. But at least one Republican is actually attempting something that resembles justice.
In the hands of the totally corrupt Banana Republic DOJ? Good luck with that.
The only flaw in this article is Attorney General Garland. He will never do anything against Biden.
the DOJ is pimping for Biden & co. right now. the information you would get from that pack of gangsters would be useless. The DOJ is going to have to be completely wiped clean to the man and remanned with totally new personnel
Our entire government is corrupt from top to bottom. Only a few in the DC swamp who are true Patriots who want to save our Country. If we lose the 2024 elections R.I.P. USA.
I cannot wait for President Trump to get back in office and appoint an AG that will go after these government gangsters.
Justice cannot be enacted by a crippled Congress.
HA HA HA! I do not believe the DOJ will do anything maybe slap his hands???
The DOJ belongs to the Dumbassocrats, and has since BO was president. You can bet ol’ Joe knows it, too.
Thanking God for His Love
Handing over the abundant materials illustrating Biden’s corruption to the current Department of (In)justice is a blatant invitation for that agency (led by people almost equally corrupt) to “strategically edit” or actually destroy the records themselves! Look how thorough and efficient the Jan 6 committee was in simply destroying or hiding “inconvenient “ details about President Trump’s actions on & before January 6th! DO NOT LET ANYTHING GET INTO THE HANDS OF SUCH AN AGENCY !!!