White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre could be in hot water after revealing that President Joe Biden knew his son, Hunter Biden, would skip his deposition earlier this week.
According to constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley, Jean-Pierre made a “breathtaking mistake” by telling reporters that Biden “was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say.”
While responding to reporters on Hunter Biden’s impromptu press conference following his move of skipping out on a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Oversight, Jean-Pierre suggested the President was aware of his son’s defiant action.
In an op-ed, Turley argued that Jean-Pierre’s statement “suggests that the president spoke with his son before his act of contempt and discussed his statement.” He pointed out that this could add another potential charge of obstruction, bribery, conspiracy, and abuse of power for the President.
More from Turley’s op-ed:
In addition, President Biden has enlisted White House staff to actively push challenged accounts of his conduct and attack the House Republicans’ investigative process. Such acts could legally bootstrap prior misconduct into his presidency under abuse-of-power allegations. If this latest allegation is true, the President was speaking with his son about committing a potentially criminal act of contempt. Hunter was refusing to give testimony focused not on his own role but on his father’s potential role in the alleged influence peddling. The House can pursue evidence on that conversation and how the President may have supported his son’s effort.
If Joe Biden did confer with Hunter on defying Congress, it was a breathtaking mistake. Obstruction is a potential articles of impeachment. https://t.co/7EUyV8fH6Q Hunter was asked to give testimony on his father's role in the alleged influence peddling. https://t.co/qvqPQwgnlt
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 14, 2023
Fox News’ Peter Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on whether Biden knew that his son would defy the congressional subpoena. She responded, “I don’t have anything else to add. The President was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today &, you know, look, he’s proud of his son…how he’s rebuilding his life back. He’s going to focus on…the American people. Hunter…is a private citizen…I’m just not going to get into private conversations.”
KJP to Doocy on whether President Biden knew his son would defy a congresional subpoena: "I don't have anything else to add. The President was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today &, you know, look, he's proud of his son...how he's rebuilding his life back. He's going… pic.twitter.com/envjQGxsEl
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 13, 2023