Hunter Biden shows up to a House hearing about holding him in contempt of Congress
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The House Oversight Committee held a markup hearing Wednesday to consider a resolution that recommended the House of Representatives hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for ignoring closed-door deposition subpoenas.
But in a surprising chain of events, the president’s son showed up to the hearing, sitting in the front row with his arms crossed alongside his lawyers, Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris. Half an hour later, as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., began to speak, Biden, and the two attorneys, made an exit, with a crowd of reporters and cameramen following them.
“Excuse me, Hunter,” Greene yelled out. “Apparently, you’re afraid of my words,” before saying, “Wow, that’s too bad.”
In the halls of Capitol Hill, Lowell spoke to a swarm of reporters, saying their first five offers for a public hearing were ignored. This request was so conservatives “could not distort, manipulate, and misuse his testimony.”
“Then in November, they issued a subpoena for a behind-closed-doors deposition — a tactic that the Republicans have repeatedly misused in their political crusade to selectively leak and mischaracterize what witnesses have said,” Lowell said.
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Meanwhile, Hunter Biden only answered one question from the media on the reason he put his dad on speakerphone when talking to business associates, a fact that Republicans have used to tie President Joe Biden to his son’s foreign business dealings.
“Do you have a dad?” Hunter Biden responded. “If he called you, would you answer the phone?”
As The New York Times reported, the White House did not get an advance notice of the younger Biden’s visit.
Both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees moved to hold the younger Biden in contempt of Congress as a part of their larger impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
A subpoena was issued for the younger Biden to sit for a private deposition on Dec. 13. Right after he defied the request, committee chairs, James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, initiated contempt of Congress proceedings against him.
Comer, in his opening statement on Tuesday, said, “Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the committees’ subpoenas is a criminal act. It constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law.”
“We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name,” he added.
The hearing itself became intense upon the president's son’s arrival. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., asked, “who bribed Hunter Biden to be here,” as The Hill reported.
“You are the epitome of white privilege. Coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of?” she said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., proposed voting to hear Biden speak, but only Democrats raised their hands in favor of such a motion. Biden left shortly after.
After the hearing, Comer, in an interview with NewsNation, was asked if Republicans “got played” when Hunter Biden showed up.
“No, I think that the American people saw the arrogance and entitlement of the president’s son,” Comer responded. “The president’s son refuses to come in and answer questions. He is more than welcome to show up for a committee hearing after a deposition.”
