On December 13, First Son Hunter Biden made quite the show of failing to honor a congressional subpoena, as he was supposed to provide closed-door testimony for the House Oversight Committee. Instead, he gave a press conference on the Senate side of the Capitol and went on his way. The committee's chairman, James Comer (R-KY), along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), have vowed to hold Hunter accountable. This all relates to his father, too.
"In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress," Comer and Jordan mentioned in a Wednesday letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel.
The letter later goes on to later mention that "the fact that the President had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas." As the chairmen note, "[s]uch conduct could constitute an impeachable offense." The letter cites 18 U.S.C. § 1505.
Biden is already facing an impeachment inquiry from House Republicans. The same day that Hunter was supposed to show up for his deposition, the House voted along party lines to authorize the impeachment inquiry into the president.
As the letter makes reference to early on, Hunter had a "demand for special treatment" in response to a subpoena he received last month, in that he offered to appear for public testimony. Comer quickly shut that idea down, though, making clear that the first son was to appear for closed-door testimony, as is standard. Comer and Jordan continued to remind, through multiple letters to Hunter's attorney, Abbe Lowell, that he was expected to appear for the December 13 deposition, and that he could be held in contempt of Congress otherwise.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is mentioned in the letter as well. The White House's story is often changing when it comes to what involvement Biden, including when he was serving as vice president, had with his son's business dealings. Jean-Pierre is chief among those with a changing narrative, and she's even snappily denied that the narrative has changed when confronted about it.
During the December 13 press briefing, Jean-Pierre was asked at length about Hunter defying his subpoena. As Katie pointed out at the time, Jean-Pierre "refused to give any substantive or relevant answers." It's certainly something of a habit of hers.
As Comer and Jordan mention in their letters:
Later on December 13, when asked whether President Biden had watched Mr. Biden’s statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden was “certainly familiar with what his son was going to say.” Ms. Jean-Pierre declined, however, to provide any further details about the President’s actions or whether the President approved of his son defying congressional subpoenas. Nonetheless, Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement suggests that the President had some amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two congressional subpoenas.
The chairmen also later go on to detail the falsehoods that have been uttered as part of that ever-changing narrative:
In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas. The Committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly included his father, and the President has made false claims about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes. In fact, just days before Mr. Biden was scheduled to appear for his deposition, the President claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business partners. This is false. The President has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced from his son’s foreign business partners. In light of this evidence, the fact that the President had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas. Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense.
The chairmen expect answers by January 10, 2024 to their requests for information from January 20, 2021 to the present on "All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden, including but not limited to communications with Hunter Biden, Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin Morris" as well as "All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding President Biden’s statement about his family’s business associates on December 6, 2023."
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— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) December 27, 2023
We are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether President Joe Biden engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress.
Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense.👇 https://t.co/tWyZUv0dG5
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