Former Republican Representative Denver Riggleman of Virginia — who served as senior technical adviser to the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 Capitol storming — is working with the legal team advising President Biden’s son Hunter Biden , which is facing increasing scrutiny from House Republicans over its business dealings.
Riggleman’s work with Hunter Biden is focused on evaluating data issues, and he has assisted Biden’s attorneys as they address congressional requests and evaluate GOP claims about his conduct, according to three people familiar with Biden’s legal team.
Riggleman’s work with Hunter Biden was confirmed Tuesday by Kevin Morris, an attorney and confidant of the president’s son.
“Denver has been assisting us with data analytics since late last year,” Morris said in a statement to CBS News. “It is an invaluable resource and we have made tremendous strides in untangling the massive amount of corruption and misinformation involved in this story. There will be much more to come for the public.”
Riggleman said in a statement Tuesday that he and his aides are working with attorneys for Hunter Biden.
“My forensics, data and telephony team and I are conducting investigations and data analysis for Hunter Biden’s legal team,” Riggleman said, focusing on “data across the spectrum.”
Riggleman’s efforts brought him into Hunter Biden’s circle and also gave the president’s son insights into House Republicans and their methods, those familiar with Biden’s legal team said.
On Monday, they said, Riggleman was at the Four Seasons hotel in Washington, DC, for a meeting with Hunter Biden’s lawyers. And on Tuesday night he was in the White House as one of Hunter Biden’s team members invited to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.
For Hunter Biden, the next few months could be a critical time. Although a plea deal with federal investigators over the tax fraud and gun possession charges was announced last month, Republicans in Congress have expressed outrage at the settlement, vowing to move forward with their own separate investigation from the Department of Justice’s investigation. Justice.
Riggleman’s work with Hunter Biden’s team included reviewing Republican claims related to a laptop that a Delaware computer repair shop owner’s attorney says was left by Hunter Biden in 2019, which is was later provided to the FBI on a subpoena.
Last year CBS News received a copy of that data from the garage’s attorney and conducted an independent analysis led by two computer investigators from Minneapolis-based Computer Forensics Services.
Riggleman spent months, those with the knowledge said, providing digital forensics for Biden’s legal team to verify whether data linked to Hunter Biden, such as text messages, were distorted or fabricated. Data from the laptop left behind and bank records remain key elements of the Republican investigation into the Biden family.
Riggleman, a 53-year-old former Air Force intelligence officer and former member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has become a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump and a frequent commentator in recent years, where he argued that the extreme right-wing extremism and conspiracy theories pose a threat to American democracy. His book, “The Breach,” dealt with these issues and his work on the House Select Committee.
In an appearance last year on “60 Minutes,” Riggleman suggested the Trump White House should be further investigated for any communications between officials and Jan. 6 rioters.
“The thing is, the American people need to know that there are connecting links that need to be explored more,” Riggleman said.
Riggleman joined the January 6 committee months after leaving the House in early 2021, after just one term representing the Charlottesville area. During his two years in Congress, Riggleman clashed with local conservatives over his decision to officiate a same-sex wedding, and was beaten from a conservative challenger at a nominating convention in 2020.
Early in his work with the January 6 committee, Riggleman and several committee members developed a bond as he sifted through reams of data and mapped text messages obtained from Trump allies, like the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. But tensions over the committee’s strategy and the scope of his investigation ultimately led Riggleman to leave his position.
Riggleman’s frustrations with the committee became public at the release of “The Breach” last year. At the time, a spokesman for the committee said any claims that the committee was not aggressive in investigating January 6 were false and misleading, pointing to its forthcoming final report as a complete document.
In the coming months, the GOP investigation into Hunter Biden is likely to coincide with the presidential campaign as Republican contenders begin appearing at debates and Mr. Biden increases his bid for re-election.
In June, Delaware US Attorney David Weiss announced that a plea deal had been reached with Hunter Biden, potentially avoiding jail time or a trial for two tax offenses and a firearms offense. A federal judge must first approve the settlement, and a hearing has been set for July 26.
Most Republicans in the House responded to the announced settlement by saying they believe the Justice Department gave Hunter Biden a favorable settlement due to his relationship with the president.
“My first reaction is that it continues to show a two-tier system in America,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, said last month. “If you’re the president’s son, you get a love affair.”
McCarthy encouraged the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky, to continue its investigation into the president’s family business dealings.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys accused House Republicans of trying to derail the plea deal.
As they move forward, House Republicans also pointed to comments made by the IRS oversight agent who helped oversee the Hunter Biden investigation — and one of two whistleblowers who raised concerns about how the investigation was conducted of the Justice Department, saying the IRS whistleblower’s allegations require further investigation.
“We have to make sure as a special agent for IRS Criminal Investigation that we treat every single person exactly the same,” Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the agency, told CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod last month. “And that just didn’t happen here.”
Hunter Biden’s criminal attorney Christopher Clark did not respond to requests for comment on Shapley’s remarks, but said in a statement at the time of the plea deal that “as his attorney through this entire matter, I can say that any that the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or cut my client any slack, is preposterous and deeply irresponsible.”
Trending news
The substance found in the White House has been confirmed to be cocaine
Former GOP Congressman Denver Riggleman now works with Hunter Biden
Man arrested near Obama’s home threatened a government facility, feds say
Judge limits Biden administration’s contacts with social media companies
China seeks to increase “solidarity” with Russia, Iran, India and others .component–type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { display: none; } #inline-recirc-item–id-7c259d24-a23c-4344-8c6c-a9c43928f0e1, #right-rail-recirc-item–id-7c259d24-a23c-4344-8c6c-a9c43928f0e1 { display: none; } #inline-recirc-item–id-7c259d24-a23c-4344-8c6c-a9c43928f0e1 ~ .item:nth-child(5) { display: block; } In: Hunter Biden Robert Costa
Chirping
