(Republican leadership on the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Hunter Biden Wednesday threatening him with a contempt of Congress charge if he skips his scheduled Dec. 13 deposition.
Those two committees are helping lead the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Members got into a public spat with Hunter Biden after his lawyer requested a public hearing, accusing Republicans of twisting private testimony.
House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said Hunter Biden will be deposed but will likely be allowed to testify publicly at a later date.
“On November 8, 2023, we issued subpoenas to your client, Robert Hunter Biden, for a deposition on December 13, 2023,” said the Wednesday letter to Hunter’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
“We received your letters dated November 28, 2023, and December 6, 2023, concerning the deposition subpoenas,” it continued. “Contrary to the assertions in your letter, there is no ‘choice’ for Mr. Biden to make; the subpoenas compel him to appear for a deposition on December 13. If Mr. Biden does not appear for his deposition on December 13, 2023, the Committees will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings.”
Without the cooperation of Attorney General Merrick Garland, however, the contempt charges would carry no significant weight or consequences other than the symbolic ignominy they would carry.
The committees issued subpoenas in recent weeks to Hunter Biden and several other Biden family members and associates.
The impeachment inquiry has intensified in recent months as the Oversight Committee released a steady stream of evidence to back allegations that the president financially benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings.
IRS whistleblower testimony, bank records, and testimony from longtime Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer show the Biden family and associates received more than $20 million from several overseas entities, including in China, Russia and Ukraine.
Archer has said publicly that the president joined several phone calls on speaker phone with his son where Hunter’s business associates were also present.
Copies of two checks totaling $240,000 show direct payments to the president from his family members with a memo saying “loan repayment.” Comer, though, points out those checks came right after Hunter Biden received $5 million from a China-linked company.
Hunter received that money through his joint venture with a Chinese national, the same venture that paid the president nearly $1,400 on a monthly basis, according to recently released bank records.
An AP/NORC poll from October found that only 30% of Americans think the president did not do anything illegal or unethical related to his son’s business.
Biden responded to a question from a reporter Wednesday asking why the president interacted so much with those associates.
“I did not,” Biden said. “It’s just a bunch of lies. They’re lies. I did not. They’re lies.”
