Vice President Joe Biden used the pseudonym “Robert L. Peters” to send and receive certain emails as vice president, according to investigators on the House Oversight Committee. Now the committee wants access to some of those emails because it believes they could show possible overlap between Biden’s official duties as vice president and his son’s activities in Ukraine. 

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is asking the National Archives for any emails in which then-Vice President Biden used a pseudonym, and Hunter Biden or his business partners Eric Schwerin or Devon Archer were copied. 

The emails are available right now but they’re redacted. So the committee is asking for unrestricted special access. 

Investigators are especially interested in an email regarding Biden’s call with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. It was sent to the pseudonym Robert Peters and Hunter Biden was the only person copied on it.

​​According to the Straight Arrow News Media Miss™ tool, this story is a Media Miss for the left. The Media Landscape indicates that while right-leaning and center-oriented outlets are covering this story, fewer left-leaning outlets are reporting on the topic.

Mediaite, a left-leaning outlet, wrote, “The Biden White House has repeatedly denied that the president was ever involved in business dealings with his son while in office. Republicans in Congress are relying on the investigation into the Biden family business dealings as a way to move forward with impeachment proceedings against the president.”

The Washington Times, a right-leaning outlet, wrote, “The letter marked lawmakers’ first move to gather material directly from Mr. Biden to investigate his involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s lucrative foreign business deals. Lawmakers estimate that the deals provided at least $20 million to as many as 10 Biden family members and associates, but none of the money has been directly linked to the president.”

Separately, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland for communications between the Justice Department, FBI and private social media companies. It’s part of the ongoing investigation into what the committee calls “content moderation and the suppression of disfavored speech online.”  

The committee requested voluntary compliance on the matter back in April. But the committee only received one document, which was described as “woefully inadequate.” 

​​According to the Straight Arrow News Media Miss™ tool, this story is a Media Miss for the left. The Media Landscape indicates that while right-leaning and center-oriented outlets are covering this story, no left-leaning outlets are reporting on the topic.

The Hill, a center-oriented outlet, shared the DOJ’s response to the subpoenas which stated, “The Department, including the FBI, does not censor content on social media platforms. Private companies have the sole authority to make decisions to protect their platforms and users. As with all the committee’s various requests, the department remains committed to working with the Committee to fulfill their informational needs.”

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the investigation could ultimately lead to legislation to set limits on the executive branch’s ability to work with social media platforms on content circulation and deplatforming users.

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