Republicans says voters and Congress should have been told about Hunter Biden's emails back in 2019 as it's claimed his attorneys have REFUSED to cooperate with subpoenas over his taxes

A Republican senator who has spent a year looking into the business affairs of the Biden family has said that Congress should have been informed that Hunter Biden was being investigated over his taxes before they considered whether to impeach Donald Trump, as it emerged that Hunter's attorneys were refusing to cooperate with the investigation.

Ron Johnson, representing Wisconsin, issued a statement on Saturday saying that attorneys representing Hunter, 50, and his uncle and business partner James Biden, 71, 'have refused to cooperate with the committees.'

Hunter Biden said in a statement on Wednesday that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware is investigating his 'tax affairs' and that he is taking the matter 'very seriously' and is 'confident' he handled his affairs 'legally and appropriately.'

Ron Johnson, Senator for Wisconsin, spoke to Fox News on Sunday morning

Johnson told Fox he thought Congress should have been given notice of Hunter's investigation

Hunter, pictured with his father Joe, announced this week his tax affairs were being probed 

It was unclear when the investigation began, but Bill Barr, the attorney general, reportedly knew about it back in the spring.

Trump's impeachment hearings began in December 2019, and he was acquitted in February by the Senate.

On Sunday Johnson, chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he felt it was wrong that Congress had not been told about the tax investigation.

He said the authorities were already in possession of Hunter's laptop, which contained emails relating to his Ukrainian business affairs, by the time the impeachment hearings began.

'I'm sympathetic for keeping investigations confidential unless there's an indictment,' Johnson told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.

'But when you're talking about investigations within the political realm, particularly one that would have affected the impeachment trial of the sitting U.S. president in the U.S. Senate, that should have been relevant information, the fact that they had Hunter Biden's computer that had all these emails back in December 2019.

'That was before the trial, that was part of that impeachment, we should have known that,' he said.

Trump was impeached for misusing his office to lean on the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens, in return for aid.

Trump on Saturday described Barr as a 'big disappointment' after the Wall Street Journal claimed he knew about the Hunter Biden investigation months ago, but did not make it public owing to Justice Department policy preventing interference in an electoral season.

Johnson said he never discussed the Hunter Biden investigation with Barr.

'When I met with the attorney general, it was really talking about the corrupt FBI investigation relating to the Russian hoax, so I don't believe I ever really talked about our investigations of Hunter Biden, which by the way we never targeted the Bidens,' Johnson said.

'That whole issue was brought forth during the impeachment.

'That's when we started expanding our Ukrainian investigation to include his financial dealings, and then when we started seeing all these wire transfers that were connected to Hunter Biden.'

Johnson and Chuck Grassley, Republican senator for Iowa and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, are jointly investigating the Bidens.

Johnson, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, has been investigating the Bidens

Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is joining in with the investigation

Johnson said that, in addition to the stonewalling by Hunter and Jim Biden, five of Hunter's former business partners, including Devon Archer, have not been responsive to letters or emails, the legislator said.

Tony Bobulinski, who did a series of interviews before the election accusing Joe Biden of being fully aware of his brother and son's dealings, was contacted on October 21 and was marked by the Senate as having not replied. 

'To date, Devon Archer, James Gilliar, John Sandweg, Eric Schwerin, and Rob Walker have not been responsive to our letters and emails,' wrote Johnson.

'Attorneys for Hunter and James Biden have refused to cooperate with the committees.

'It should be noted that, collectively, President Trump's family and associates produced documents and agreed to appear at interviews with a number of congressional committees,' Johnson said in a statement.

'It would be nice, and in the public's interest, if the Biden family and their associates would be equally cooperative with the Senate, the American people we represent, and the mainstream media that has now joined our long interest in these crucial matters.'

Hunter Biden's lawyer refused to comment when asked about cooperating with committees

George Mesires, an attorney representing both Hunter and James Biden, did not respond to a request for comment.

The campaign of Joe Biden did not comment.

James Biden, also known as Jim, was sued last year. The lawsuit alleges he and others tried to defraud a business in Tennessee.

Grassley and Johnson produced a supplemental report last month about the Bidens, saying it showed Hunter Biden had links to foreign individuals who have ties to the Chinese Communist Party and Moscow.

In their original report, they said Hunter Biden had 'millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions' with associates and foreign individuals.

Grassley has suggested Hunter Biden and James Biden should have registered as foreign agents due to their business dealings with a Chinese energy company that's linked to the Chinese military.