'Pot calling the kettle black': Rep. Gaetz gets scolded for bringing up Hunter Biden's substance abuse
Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of President Donald Trump's fiercest defenders, set off a dust-up during the Judiciary Committee's markup of articles of impeachment when he brought up Hunter Biden's history of substance abuse, prompting a Democratic colleague to scold him.
The remarkable exchange took place when Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced an amendment that would have stricken a reference to former Vice President Joe Biden from one of the articles and inserted that of his son Hunter Biden, Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company on whose board he sat.
Trump is accused by Democrats of abusing his office by pressuring Ukraine to publicly commit to corruption investigations into the Bidens and Burisma while withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for the country.
There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden, and there was no such stringent opposition from Republicans when Hunter Biden joined Burisma in 2014. But as proof of his assertion that Hunter Biden was unqualified to sit on Burisma’s board at all, much less with a five-figure monthly paycheck he was reportedly collecting, Gaetz held up Biden’s much-documented struggles with substance abuse.
Gaetz quoted a New Yorker profile of Hunter from July that described Hunter Biden wandering through a homeless encampment in Los Angeles in search of cocaine and an instance in which a rental car company said it found a crack pipe in a car Biden had returned.
The Florida congressman, a firebrand on the right, was quick to note that he was not looking to pass judgment on Biden.
“I don't want to make light of anybody's substance abuse issues.” he said, pointing to Trump’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. “But it's a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own dispute with Hertz rental car leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car.”
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) then spoke up to oppose Gaetz’s amendment, but not before taking a pointed swipe at his colleague’s own run-in with the law. Gaetz was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of DUI, declining a breathalyzer test and a field sobriety test, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The charges against Gaetz were later dropped, and he was never convicted.
“I would say that the pot calling the kettle black is not something that we should do,” Johnson said, prompting laughter to break out in the hearing room.
“I don't know what members, if any, have had any problems with substance abuse, been busted in DUI, I don't know,” he continued, shooting a glance in Gaetz’s direction. “But if I did, I wouldn't raise it against anyone on this committee. I don't think it's proper.”
Cameras showed Gaetz watching Johnson, expressionless, and looking down as the Georgia lawmaker concluded his scolding. Johnson then continued with a criticism of Gaetz’s amendment, asking Gaetz whether it’s “ever OK for a president of the United States of America to invite foreign interference in an upcoming presidential election campaign.”
The lawmakers stared at each other, silently, from across the dais for 17 seconds before Johnson moved on with his argument.
Later in the afternoon, the panel rejected Gaetz's amendment.
