Shortly after Hunter Biden announced Wednesday that he’ll defy House Republicans’ demand that he appear in a closed-door deposition, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) threatened to hold the president’s son in contempt of Congress.
The MAGA congressman’s indignation over Biden’s refusal to comply with the subpoena, however is more than a little ironic considering Jordan himself openly ignored the House Jan. 6 committee’s requests that he appear for a deposition.
Just hours before Republicans planned a House vote to formally launch the impeachment inquiry into his father, Biden held an impromptu press conference on Capitol Hill to declare that he would only testify publicly before Congress. Additionally, he blasted the GOP’s “shameless” probe into the Biden family business dealings, which he framed as taking “the light of my dad’s love for me” and presenting it “as darkness.”
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“My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home and abroad, and certainly not as an artist,” Biden exclaimed, adding: “There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.”
After accusing “MAGA Republicans” of belittling his “struggle with addiction” and trying to “dehumanize” him, Biden ended the presser by reiterating his offer to appear in a public hearing. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of? I am here,” he added.
Speaking to reporters shortly after Biden’s remarks, Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) reiterated their previous stance that the presidential scion does not get to set the terms of their investigation. Meanwhile, Comer expressly stated last month that witnesses could “choose” to either appear in a deposition or public hearing—comments that Biden and his lawyer Abbe Lowell have repeatedly invoked to defy the GOP subpoena.
Rejecting Biden’s call to publicly testify, Jordan argued that a congressional hearing would just end in “filibusters” and “speeches” when all he “wants is the facts.” He then said that since the House was about to formalize the impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, the president’s son could soon be looking at a contempt charge.
“Mr. Biden’s counsel and the White House have both argued that the reason he couldn’t come for a deposition was because there wasn’t a formal vote for an impeachment inquiry,” Jordan stated. “Well, that’s going to happen in a few hours. We think it’s going to pass. We think the House of Representatives will go on record with a power that solely resides in the House to say we are in an official impeachment inquiry phase of our oversight.”
The Ohio congressman concluded: “And when that happens, we’ll see what their excuse is then. They should have been here today, but once we take that vote, we expect him to come in for his interview, for his deposition. And frankly, we’ll also, I think, look at contempt proceedings as we move forward.”
Described by the Jan. 6 committee as being a “significant player” in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Jordan outright refused to cooperate with the committee about his knowledge of Trump’s role in the Capitol insurrection. In the end, after defying subpoenas to appear for depositions before the committee, Jordan was referred to the House ethics committee.
Earlier this year, in fact, after Republicans demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland be held in contempt of Congress for declining comment on criminal investigations into Hunter Biden, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) taunted Jordan by pulling out a “Jordan Subpoena Evasion” clock.
