Washington — House Republicans said Friday that they will move forward next week with an effort to hold Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, in contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for closed-door testimony.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced that on Wednesday, his panel will consider a resolution and accompanying report to penalize Hunter Biden for his defiance of the subpoena. If the Oversight panel advances the contempt resolution, it would then require approval by the full House.
The Oversight and Judiciary Committees demanded the president’s son appear for a private deposition on Dec. 13, which he declined to do. Instead, Hunter Biden delivered a brief statement to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol, in which he reiterated that he would only answer lawmakers’ questions in a public setting. He accused Republicans of “distorting the facts” and selectively releasing information from prior closed-door interviews with others appearing before House committees.
Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement Friday that Hunter Biden’s refusal to comply with their subpoenas for testimony constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to federal prosecutors.
“We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name,” Comer, of Kentucky, and Jordan, of Ohio, said.
A lawyer for Hunter Biden did not immediately return a request for comment.
GOP lawmakers have been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings for nearly a year and have accused Mr. Biden of profiting from his son and brother’s overseas work. But the Republicans have not produced any evidence of wrongdoing by the president or that he benefited from his family’s foreign business ventures.
Still, the GOP-led House voted along party lines last month to formalize an impeachment inquiry into the president. As part of their probe, led by the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means panels, Comer and Jordan requested the White House provide information about Mr. Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s defiance of the congressional subpoena.
They gave the White House until Wednesday to turn over documents regarding Hunter Biden’s scheduled deposition.
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