A Senate committee on Wednesday voted to authorize a subpoena as it probes the business ties of Hunter Biden, the son of likely Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden.
The 8-6 party-line vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee gives Chairman Ron Johnson the authority to subpoena Blue Star Strategies, a PR firm that has done work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Mr. Johnson said if there’s no wrongdoing there’s nothing to fear in moving forward, while Democrats have said Republicans are grasping at straws with an election-year move to dent the presidential prospects of Mr. Biden, the likely Democratic nominee.
Blue Star CEO Karen Tramontaro said in a letter to Mr. Johnson on Wednesday that they have been cooperating with committee requests for documents and are “puzzled” on why the committee was proceeding with a subpoena.
A committee spokesman said the company had dragged its feet on the matter for months and only picked up the pace after lawmakers announced plans for the vote.
President Trump and his allies have raised questions about Hunter Biden and the sweetheart gig he had on the board of Burisma while his father was vice president.
The elder Mr. Biden has bragged about threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees from Ukraine if its leaders did not get rid of a top prosecutor in the country who reportedly was eyeing corruption in the country, including at Burisma.
The Democrat-led House voted to impeach Mr. Trump last year, saying the president abused his power in trying to strong-arm Ukraine into digging up dirt on the Bidens. The GOP-controlled Senate voted to acquit Mr. Trump earlier this year.
