Two Republican senators conducting investigations of the Biden family's foreign business dealings say they have evidence that Secretary of State Antony Blinken lied to Congress about past contact with Hunter Biden.
"Despite this clear warning that it is a crime to make false statements to Congress and congressional staff, you did not provide truthful testimony during the interview when you denied corresponding with Hunter Biden via email when you served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Obama administration," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote in a letter Monday to Blinken.
The senators' letter outlined exchanges in Blinken's voluntary testimony Dec. 22, 2020, when Blinken testified: "Not that I recall" about talking on the phone with Hunter Biden; and "No," when asked if he had any contact with Hunter Biden, including by email.
"Based on evidence now available, your above statement is patently false," the senators wrote to Blinken. "Emails contained on Hunter Biden's laptop and recent reports have revealed that you did in fact email Hunter Biden on at least two occasions, contradicting what you told congressional investigators."
The letter showed a May 22, 2015 email tied to Blinken's personal account connecting to Hunter Biden, who was seeking "advice on a couple of things."
"You responded, 'Absolutely,'" the senators wrote.
Further emails show a July 22, 2015 exchange between Blinken's personal email account and Hunter Biden, "apparently following your meeting with him at the State Department."
The letter further suggests Blinken lied to Congress when denying he had any knowledge of Hunter Biden's ties to Burisma, as the senators showed email exchanges from Evan Ryan, Blinken's wife, to Hunter Biden, the laptop emails show.
"It seems highly unlikely that you had no idea of Hunter Biden's association with Burisma while your wife was apparently coordinating with Hunter Biden to potentially connect you with Burisma's U.S. representatives," the senators wrote.
"Your statement to Congress that you did not email Hunter Biden is clearly not true and calls into question the veracity of your entire Dec. 22, 2020 testimony," the letter added. "Specifically, you denied having any awareness of Hunter Biden's association with the corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings."
Lying to Congress is punishable up to five years in prison.
Blinken is also under scrutiny for allegedly having inspired the letter from 51 intelligence community members to reject the October 2020 story during the presidential election a "Russian disinformation campaign."
Former President Donald Trump has called that "illegal election interference" and "election meddling."
The letter concludes with a warning for Blinken to preserve all records and gives him until May 15 to comply to the request for them.
"Because your testimony is inaccurate, Congress and the public must rely on your records as the source for information about your dealings with Hunter Biden," the letter concluded. "As such, you must preserve and provide all records, referring or relating to Hunter Biden, his business dealings, or his family's business dealings, including but not limited to correspondence sent or received from your personal email accounts and phones, to include those of Ms. Ryan.
"These records will help provide the public a complete picture and understanding of the extent of your apparent deceptions. We request you and Ms. Ryan produce these records no later than May 15, 2023."