Just one day after they were projected to win control of the House, Republicans announced they’re launching an investigation into President Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his son Hunter’s foreign business affairs.

GOP members of the Oversight and Reform Committee held a news conference Thursday in which they alleged, among other things, that President Biden “personally participated in meetings and phone calls” regarding his son’s business exploits and that there was personal business conducted on Air Force Two while he was vice president. 

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who is poised to chair the panel beginning in January, called the president “chairman of the board” and a “partner with access to an office.” 

Republicans, who released an interim report Thursday, said they identified more than 50 countries where the Biden family, often led by Hunter Biden, sought business transactions.

“To be clear, Joe Biden is the big guy,” Comer said. “This evidence raises troubling questions about whether President Biden is a national security risk and about whether he is compromised by foreign governments.”

Comer made it clear the investigation will focus on the president, not his son.

“We're not trying to prove Hunter Biden is a bad actor,” he said. “He is. If anybody wants to disagree with that, there's nothing we have to talk about. Our investigation is about Joe Biden. And we already have evidence that would point that Joe Biden was involved with Hunter Biden on this.”

Comer said Republicans on the committee have uncovered evidence of federal crimes by the Biden family or benefiting them, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Trafficking Victims Protection Act, tax evasion, and money laundering.

House Republicans said their findings are based on accounts from multiple whistleblowers, the contents of Hunter Biden’s purported laptop and financial documents.

Comer said that, according to a media report, the Biden family’s financial activity generated more than 150 suspicious bank activity reports. He said committee Republicans have obtained and verified two of them, one involving Hunter Biden allegedly paying an escort service. 

Comer has renewed his call for the Treasury Department to turn over all suspicious activity reports for accounts involving the Biden family or businesses they’re connected to. His previous attempts have been rebuffed.

A suspicious activity report is a document financial institutions are required to file with the federal government when crimes are suspected. They do not prove a crime, and there could be valid reasons for large transactions that trigger a report.

The Oversight Committee, under Republican leadership, wants Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, the president’s brother, to testify before it, Comer added.

Republicans have been raising questions about Hunter Biden’s business dealings and Joe Biden’s possible connections to them since 2019, when the elder Biden was running for president. Joe Biden has insisted he did not discuss his son’s business with him.

“That was a lie,” Comer said.

The White House said the Republicans’ allegations are unfounded.

“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories,” Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement to Spectrum News. “President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge.” 

Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation over potential tax violations related to his overseas work and allegedly making a false statement during a gun purchase. He has not been charged with any crimes.

The president’s son has insisted his business pursuits in China and Ukraine were legal, although he has acknowledged his career likely benefited from his family ties.

A Republican-led Senate investigation in 2020 found no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden involving the younger Biden’s work with Burisma Holdings, a private natural gas company in Ukraine whose board Hunter Biden served on. But the panel did conclude that Hunter “cashed in” on his name to close lucrative business deals and that Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma gave the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma was at the heart of former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September 2019, Trump requested a “favor” — an investigation into the Bidens — just after Zelenskyy asked about U.S. military aid promised to the country, which was being withheld.