Michael Hernandez
05 January 2024•Update: 05 January 2024
WASHINGTON
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will consider next week a measure to hold US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, in contempt of Congress, Chairman Jim Comer announced Friday.
The committee will hold markup hearings on the contempt resolution on Wednesday morning. It will also release a report explaining the rationale for hunting the junior Biden in contempt. The House Judiciary Committee will also hold a markup hearing.
“Our investigation has produced significant evidence suggesting President Biden knew of, participated in, and benefitted from his family cashing in on the Biden name," Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a joint statement.
"We planned to question Hunter Biden about this record of evidence, but he blatantly defied two lawful subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for testimony as required," the chairmen added.
Hunter Biden was subpoenaed for a deposition at the Capitol on Dec. 13. While he did appear at the federal legislature that day, he refused to provide testimony behind closed doors, defying lawmakers.
Biden said during a press conference on the Capitol grounds that he would testify publicly but did not want to do so behind closed doors out of concern that his words would be manipulated by Republicans. In response, Republicans said they would look into contempt proceedings.
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said it is unprecedented "for the U.S. House of Representatives holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public, under oath, and on a day of the Committee’s choosing."
"Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world," he said.
"Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies, and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation," he added.
Comer and Jordan escalated an ongoing House impeachment inquiry against the president in late December, sending a letter to the White House that demanded it submit "all documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden."
The Republican chairmen said they are seeking to determine whether the president worked to "influence, obstruct or impede" their committees' proceedings.
The lawmakers referred to comments from White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre during a Dec. 13 press briefing in which she said the president "was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say."
