Republicans demand Biden's new ATF director investigate Hunter Biden for 'lying on his background check to get a gun'
Two dozen Republican lawmakers demanded Monday that if Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is confirmed, he launches an investigation into Hunter Biden illegally obtaining a gun.
The president's son reportedly falsified information during a background check when purchasing a firearm. The Politico report indicated the younger Biden said 'no' when asked about drug use on the Firearms Transaction Record for a gun in October of 2018.
A year before that purchase, Biden had been discharged from the Navy Reserves after testing positive for using cocaine.
'Many Americans are rightfully alarmed by these reports considering Mr. Biden's history of drug use,' Virginia Representative Bob Good, who penned the letter and received the signatures of 23 other members of Congress, wrote to ATF nominee David Chipman.
'In the past, the Biden family has been open about Mr. Biden's struggle with substance abuse, and Navy records indicate his discharge from service following a positive drug test,' it continues.
Republicans are demanding that if ATF nominee David Chipman is confirmed, then he probe Hunter Biden reportedly lying on a background check to purchase a gun in 2018
In a letter to Chipman, Good asks him to commit to probe Hunter Biden.
'I write to ask that you publicly commit to investigate allegations that Hunter Biden falsified information during a background check in order to illegally obtain a firearm should you be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),' the letter states.
The letter comes as pressure mounts on lawmakers to take actions regarding guns – including strengthening background checks and closing the so-called 'gun show loophole.'
It also comes the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case this fall on guns, which would be the court's first major firearms-related decision in more than a decade.
The case specifically looks at a New York law that required individuals provide further proof of needing to carry a firearm in public outside their home other than usual self-defense purposes. Critics argue it is against the Second Amendment to ask people to provide proof for why they need a gun.
A year before Hunter's firearm's purchase, he was discharged from the Navy Reserves for testing positive for cocaine use. Here President Joe Biden (2nd R) walks with Hunter (L), his wife Melissa Cohen (2nd L) and their son Beau, to board Air Force One on March 26, 2021
Good argues in his letter that all people need to be held to the same standard regarding the law.
'Since lying on a background check form is a felony, this allegation merits investigation,' the letter argues.
'Sadly, lying on background checks is common, often called 'lying and trying', but rarely prosecuted,' it continues. 'The Government Accountability Office reported in 2017 that of the 112,000 lie-and- try crimes that year, only 12 were prosecuted.'
Hallie Biden, the late Beau Biden's widow and Hunter's sister-in-law turned girlfriend, stole a gun from the trunk of his car, according to 2019 text messages, and threw it away in a Delaware grocery store dumpster.
She took Hunter's gun because she was concerned he would use it to hurt himself.
Chipman has run into some of his own complications after it came out that when he was an ATF agent he was involved in both the Waco Massacre and Ruby Ridge standoff.
He also lied during a Q&A on Reddit about the Waco Siege where he said the Branch Davidian members protecting their ranch were able to shoot down two helicopters.
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