ANKARA

A US Republican lawmaker on Tuesday accused aides of former President Joe Biden of suppressing damaging intelligence in 2016 about his actions in Ukraine and his son Hunter’s business ties, citing newly declassified documents released by the CIA.

Speaking in an interview with right-wing outlet Newsmax, Representative James Comer said that the documents made public by CIA Director John Ratcliffe show that Biden’s office, while he was vice president under President Barack Obama, blocked the release of an intelligence memo from US officials in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

The memo reportedly outlined Ukrainian leaders’ frustration with Biden’s 2015 visit to Kyiv and concerns over Hunter Biden’s lucrative role at Burisma Holdings, an energy firm paying him roughly $1 million a year.

“This was a huge cover-up,” Comer said. “The cover-up may be worse than the crime.”

Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, alleged the memo was buried to protect Biden’s image ahead of his 2020 presidential campaign and claimed the disclosure vindicates Republican investigations into what he calls the “Biden family influence-peddling scheme.”

“They impeached Donald Trump just for asking if this took place,” Comer said, speaking of the current president’s first term. “Now we know it did.”

For years, the Republicans have pushed various theories concerning Democrat Biden and his son, with a number of congressional investigations. To date, however, the former president has not faced any charges, while Hunter Biden was convicted last year over a 2018 gun purchase by lying that he was not addicted to drugs.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term, in 2020 and 2021, on charges of soliciting foreign interference in his 2020 reelection bid, and then on charges of inciting an insurrection, in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. He was acquitted both times.