Hunter Biden denies Joe Biden involved in family business: 'Destructive political charade'

WASHINGTON – Hunter Biden forcefully rejected House Republicans' allegations that President Joe Biden was improperly involved in his business dealings as he sat down with lawmakers as part of their sprawling impeachment inquiry into the president and his family.

"I did not involve my father in my business," his prepared opening statement read. "You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there aren't any."

Hunter Biden appeared before investigators on Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill for a private closed-door deposition as Republicans allege Joe Biden influenced U.S. foreign policy to benefit his family financially. Hunter Biden’s business ventures have been central to House Republicans’ accusations.

To date, investigators have yet to come up with evidence directly tying Joe Biden to his family’s affairs. Hunter Biden’s long-awaited testimony before investigators could be House Republicans’ last chance to shore up their accusations against the president, but the lawmakers leading the inquiry have pushed back on that characterization, saying the months-long probe will not end after Hunter Biden’s deposition.

Comer, while the deposition was on break, told reporters the inquiry "will now go to the next phase," and that his committee will hold a public hearing with Hunter Biden. His testimony in a public setting, "will hopefully clear up some discrepancies" in what he told investigators on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters prior to Hunter Biden's testimony, Comer reiterated allegations the president's family sought to sell their last name as the "brand" as part of the "family influence peddling schemes."

More: Alexander Smirnov, charged with lying about Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, ordered jailed pending trial

House Republicans questioned Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden, in a closed-door interview last week in a much-anticipated testimony, but it largely fell flat, and he denied the president’s involvement in any of his business dealings. Hunter Biden is expected to do the same and defend his father from any accusations of wrongdoing.

"Republicans have taken my communications out of context, relied on documents that have been altered, and cherry-picked snippets of financial or other records to misrepresent what really happened," his statement continued. "If you try to do that again today, my answers will reveal your tactics and demonstrate the truth that my father was never involved in any of my businesses."

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday morning that after Hunter Biden's testimony, "this investigation is over at this point" and "there's really nothing left to pursue."

Why is Hunter Biden testifying?

House Republicans have long sought to question Hunter Biden about his overseas business dealings as part of their impeachment inquiry into the president and got into a lengthy back and forth with Hunter Biden and his lawyers last year over his testimony.

Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden compelling him to testify before the investigating committees last year, but he openly flouted the subpoena, instead delivering impassioned remarks in front of the Capitol, fiercely defending his father from accusations of wrongdoing on the day he was ordered to testify.

Hunter Biden and his representatives insisted on testifying in a public setting out of concerns that investigators would selectively leak parts of the transcript and distort his testimony if he testified in private. House Republicans contended, however, that House Democrats would have disrupted the order of a public hearing.

More: James Biden denies Joe Biden was involved in his business dealings: 3 takeaways from wide-ranging testimony

Following Hunter Biden’s defiance of the subpoena, House Republicans moved to hold him in contempt of Congress, but the two parties later agreed to have Hunter Biden first testify to investigators in a private setting and then speak before the committees in a public hearing.

What are House Republicans’ arguments against Joe and Hunter Biden?

House Republicans have long alleged Joe Biden influenced U.S. foreign policy to aid his family’s business affairs while financially benefiting himself from those dealings.

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have questioned several of the Biden family’s business associates, but the vast majority of them have told lawmakers the president was never directly involved in any of their business.

For instance, Devon Archer, one of Hunter Biden’s former longtime business partners, told Republicans last year that Hunter Biden would occasionally put the president on speakerphone in business conversations but noted that Joe Biden only exchanged pleasantries on the phone, such as small talk about fishing and the weather.

One witness, however, Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of James Biden, testified to investigators that Joe Biden “enabled” his brother’s business affairs with a now-bankrupt Chinese energy conglomerate.

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But Bobulinski’s testimony and claims have been undercut by several other witnesses, including another one of Hunter Biden's former business partners, Rob Walker. James Biden and Democrats have also dismissed Bobulinski’s accusations, arguing he was still aggrieved over being cut out of the family’s business deals.

"This has been a comedy of errors from the beginning," Raskin told reporters on Wednesday morning.

House Republicans are expected to question Hunter Biden about various aspects of his business work, including his seat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, dealings with companies associated with the Chinese Communist Party and his art and art gallery dealer.

Republicans grapple with fallout from key source indictment

Democrats are almost sure to bring up the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant who was recently indicted for allegedly lying about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s involvement with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm.

Before Smirnov’s indictment and following arrest, House Republicans touted the FBI’s FD-1023 form – a document used to record information from confidential human sources – as credible evidence behind their allegations of wrongdoing by the president. In the form, Smirnov claimed Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were involved in a corrupt bribery scheme with Burisma.

But since his arrest, Republicans have downplayed Smirnov’s indictment and have argued their inquiry, which is broad in scope, did not rely on the FD-1023 form. Regardless, Smirnov’s indictment significantly undercut Republicans’ arguments that Joe Biden was improperly involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

In the aftermath of Smirnov’s indictment, Raskin has called on Republicans to immediately cease the impeachment inquiry, arguing they have no grounds to continue the probe.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden rejects House GOP's claims Joe Biden involved in business