House Republicans are taking the initial action to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. Last month, Hunter Biden disregarded congressional subpoenas demanding he appear for a deposition before legislators to answer questions concerning allegations of corruption related to his family.
Instead, he addressed reporters outside the Capitol, offering a statement in defense of himself that prompted greater scrutiny from the GOP. In response to this refusal, Republican lawmakers declared their intention to bring charges of contempt against Biden.
The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees will commence the process on Monday, January 10th by meeting to draft a resolution against Hunter Biden. Chairman James Comer (R) confirmed this development on Friday.
“Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” said Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R).
“We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name,” they promised.
In the event that the committees determine Hunter Biden to be in contempt of Congress, the issue will be brought before the entire House for a vote.
Should the House pass the contempt resolutions, Speaker Mike Johnson (R) would then refer Hunter Biden to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for potential criminal prosecution.
Ultimately, it is up to the Justice Department to decide whether or not to pursue criminal charges against him.
Abbe Lowell, legal counsel for Hunter Biden, expressed his concern that Republicans were engaging in political gamesmanship with this matter.
Lowell said:
It’s clear the Republican Chairmen aren’t interested in getting the facts or they would allow Hunter to testify publicly. Instead, House Republicans continue to play politics by seeking an unprecedented contempt motion against someone who has from the first request offered to answer all their proper questions. What are they afraid of?
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, released a statement making similar claims.
“There is no precedent 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,” Raskin sad. “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.”
Hunter Biden’s attempt to dictate the terms of his deposition by asserting he would testify only before a public hearing went unfulfilled, as Congress has rarely — if ever — allowed witnesses of investigations to set such conditions.
While the Justice Department prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for defying the Jan. 6 Committee, they declined to charge Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino for not cooperating with Congress.
Hunter Biden now faces two separate criminal prosecutions, one for alleged firearms crimes and another for alleged tax crimes, with an arraignment on the latter scheduled next week.
