House Republicans filed a resolution Monday requesting that Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress for defying a “critical” deposition request related to the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden.
The resolution, penned by Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) of the Judiciary and Oversight committees, claimed the younger Biden showed “flagrant defiance” when he skipped the committee’s deposition request to instead read a statement calling them liars.
On Dec. 13, the day he was ordered to be deposed, Biden hosted reporters outside the Capitol building and read a prepared statement rather than meet with the committee.
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“Mr. Biden’s flagrant defiance of the Committees’ deposition subpoenas—while choosing to appear nearby on the Capitol grounds to read a prepared statement on the same matters—is contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions,” the resolution said.
If the resolution passes the committees, the full House—which has a slim Republican majority—will vote on whether Biden should be held in contempt of Congress. If that vote passes, the House can then refer the recommendation to the Department of Justice, which would ultimately decide if Biden should be criminally charged.
Biden’s lawyers said previously they’re against their client meeting with Republican lawmakers behind closed doors, insisting that any questioning be done in the public eye. They’ve justified that stance by saying snippets of a closed-door deposition could be leaked to the public without the proper context, which could hurt the president politically.
Comer and Jordan’s resolution was expected, after the Republicans announced Friday they intended to draft a resolution in time to be marked up by midweek.
The resolution said Biden’s deposition order was part of their corruption probe into the president, which House Republicans say involved President Biden being funneled money from foreign nationals via his son in what’s alleged to be an influence-peddling scheme.
Comer wrote that the younger Biden is “vital to the impeachment inquiry,” adding that they’ve “collected evidence that President Biden not only knew about, but also participated in and profited from, his family’s international business activities, including business conducted by his son.”
In his statement read to reporters last month, the younger Biden said there’s “no evidence” of wrongdoing by his father. He said he’s willing to work with Republicans as long as their conversations are in the open.
“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business,” he said. “Not as a practicing lawyer. Not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not my investment at all nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist.”
The GOP’s resolution countered that claim, writing: “It is vital to the Committees’ investigation that Mr. Biden be deposed, under oath, about how he utilized his father and the power of his father’s positions to influence foreign business aboard and enrich the Biden family.”
