(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) House Republicans agreed on Sunday to issue a new set of congressional subpoenas to Hunter Biden, responding to the pleas of his attorney, Abbe Lowell.
Lowell previously argued that the subpoenas issued to Hunter Biden were illegitimate because they were issued before the House formally voted on the impeachment inquiry.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, informed Lowell that the House is “prepared to issue subpoenas compelling Mr. Biden’s appearance at a deposition on a new date in the coming weeks.”
First reported by the Washington Examiner, the letter comes against the backdrop of a months-long battle between Hunter Biden and House Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry into scandal-plagued President Joe Biden.
“House Republicans to issue second round of subpoenas to Hunter Biden”https://t.co/xGvNb40S81
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 14, 2024
House Republicans had demanded Hunter Biden’s appearance for a behind-closed-doors deposition on Dec. 13. However, Hunter Biden skipped the deposition after Republicans rejected his special treatment request for a public hearing.
On Dec. 13, Hunter Biden opted instead to hold what seemed to be an impromptu press conference outside the U.S. Capitol to protest the impeachment inquiry.
On Jan. 12, amid threats of contempt of Congress charges, Hunter Biden claimed that the subpoena seeking his testimony was illegitimate because it was issued before the House formalized the impeachment inquiry. In a letter to House Republicans, Lowell stated that his client was willing to testify before Congress, citing the new House-approved impeachment inquiry.
In their Jan. 14 letter to Lowell, Jordan and Comer declared that their willingness to issue a new subpoena does not imply agreement with Lowell’s claims that the first subpoena was illegitimate.
“To be clear, the issuance of these subpoenas does not in any way suggest or imply that the Committees believe the assertions in your January 12 letter to have any merit,” they wrote. “Our willingness to issue these subpoenas is rooted entirely in our interest in obtaining Mr. Biden’s testimony as expeditiously as possible.”
If Hunter Biden testifies, he would likely avoid facing a contempt of Congress charge.
