House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) flat-out rejected Hunter Biden’s offer on Tuesday to testify in a public hearing, claiming the president’s son “is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else.”
However, just a few weeks ago Comer insisted that those subpoenaed in the Biden impeachment inquiry could “choose” between appearing for a deposition or a committee hearing.
Responding to House Republicans’ recent subpoena of Hunter Biden, the first son’s lawyer Abbe Lowell countered Comer’s offer to meet behind closed doors. In a three-page letter, Lowell flagged several instances in which the chairman had basically dared the presidential scion to testify before Congress.
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“Mr. Chairman, we take you up on your offer,” Lowell wrote in the letter. “Accordingly, our client will get right to it by agreeing to answer any pertinent and relevant question you or your colleagues might have, but — rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process — he will appear at a public Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.”
He added: “A public proceeding would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.”
Comer, meanwhile, declined the request on the grounds that the hearing would be “chaotic” due to Democrats’ behavior, notably taking issue with “little” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). Earlier this month, Comer blew up at Moskowitz during a committee hearing, shouting profanities and calling the Florida congressman a “smurf” after the Democrat mentioned a Daily Beast report contrasting Comer’s payments to his brother with that of the Biden family’s loan repayments.
During an interview with serial plagiarist Benny Johnson last month, though, Comer indicated that the impeachment probe was in its “downhill phase” and that he was looking to “wrap it up as soon as possible.” Additionally, he stated that anyone who was subpoenaed in the inquiry could be deposed or appear publicly.
“We know not only there were crimes, we know there are cover-ups,” he declared. “We have mountains of evidence and now we’re ready to bring ‘em in. We’re in the downhill phase of this investigation now because we have so many documents and we can bring these people in for depositions or committee hearings, whichever they choose, and we can ask these questions with evidence.”
Asked how the congressman could square his previous stance with his rejection of Hunter Biden’s offer to appear in a public hearing, an Oversight Committee spokesman told The Daily Beast that Comer’s subpoena was strictly for a behind-the-scenes deposition.
“The subpoena served to Hunter Biden specifically directed the President’s son to appear for a deposition on December 13,” the spokesman said. “Hunter Biden does not have the luxury to now dictate the terms of a lawful subpoena. Chairman Comer expects Hunter Biden to comply and is open to holding a hearing at a future date.”
Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) blasted Comer’s refusal to take up the president’s son on his offer, claiming it shows Republicans have no confidence in their own investigation.
“Let me get this straight,” the Democrat said in a statement. “After wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full Committee and the eyes of the world and to answer any questions that they pose?”
Elsewhere in Lowell’s letter, the attorney accused Comer of using “closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public,” adding that the “empty investigation has gone on too long wasting too many better-used resources” and “should come to an end.”
While the House probe into the Biden family’s business dealings has been going on for months and investigators have obtained thousands of pages of financial records, the committee still has not found evidence that the president benefited from his son’s deals or was involved in a foreign influence peddling scheme. Additionally, Comer hasn’t been able to provide any proof of wrongdoing on the president’s part in the criminal probes of Hunter Biden.
