Hunter Biden’s lawyers said House Oversight Committee The president’s son is set to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing about his actions — but only if he does so publicly, according to a letter Hunter Biden’s legal team sent to the committee obtained by CNN.
“We have seen you use closed-door hearings to manipulate, distort the facts and misinform the public. So we propose to open the door. If, as you say, your efforts are important and involve issues Americans need to know about, let the light shine on these activities,” Hunter Biden’s attorneys wrote in the letter. wrote
An offer to testify at a public hearing does not guarantee that will happen. Federal courts have upheld the power of House committees to subpoena individuals and corporations. It might be hard for House Republicans to turn down the prospect of grilling Hunter Biden in front of a national audience — but it would be a departure from how they’ve handled oversight investigations.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer rejected the idea of holding a public hearing instead of his scheduled deposition, but acknowledged that the president’s son should have an opportunity to testify publicly at some point.
“Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else. That will not stand with House Republicans. Our legally issued subpoena for Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13th,” Comer said in a statement to CNN. “We are a We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for depositions, but also agree that Hunter Biden should have an opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date.”
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden. Said in X“We are pleased that Hunter Biden has decided to cooperate and look forward to hearing from him in a deposition on December 13th and then at a public hearing.”
Earlier this month, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Hunter and President Joe Biden’s son and brother, James Biden, setting up a much-anticipated showdown as House Republicans continue to look into whether the president committed impeachable wrongdoing over his family’s foreign affairs. Business transactions – a high bar they have yet to meet.
The committee directly subpoenaed members of the Biden family and the subpoenas are the first time House Republicans have focused on a list of high-level interviews they want to conduct before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees complete their impeachment inquiry. President.
Rep. Maryland is the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. Jamie Raskin criticized his Republican colleagues for urging Hunter Biden to appear before a public hearing.
“What an epic shame to our colleagues and what a blatant confession that they are disinterested in the facts and have no confidence in their own case or the ability of their own members to pursue it,” Raskin said in a statement to CNN. “Chairman Gomer’s insistence that Hunter Biden’s interview be held behind closed doors proves that once again. What Republicans fear most is sunshine and truth.
The oversight committee also accused the assistant U.S. attorney working on Hunter Biden’s criminal case of political interference in the case by Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers. A high-ranking IRS official, along with David Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter, denied the whistleblowers’ claims in congressional testimony.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abe Lowell, has slammed the Republican-led investigation into Hunter, calling it a “political stunt” riddled with “discreditable conspiracies about the Biden family.” Letter House Republicans have attacked the impeachment inquiry, which revolves around ties between the president and Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Republican accusations of Biden’s “corruption.” Not confirmed yet And they basically should fell flat In an attempt to connect Joe Biden with money his son made in China and elsewhere.
“Here we are, eleven months into your so-called investigation, and every objective review of your ‘revelations’ — including some of your colleagues — has declared your study to be nothing more than dry holes,” Hunter Biden’s attorneys wrote.
“Your team has been working for nearly a year to connect our client’s business activities to his father — without success,” Lowell said in his letter Tuesday in response to the subpoena, adding that the team should investigate the former president instead of Hunter. The business of Donald Trump and his family.
Comer, the Republican who issued the subpoena, previously said Hunter Biden’s testimony was needed to determine whether “Joe Biden engaged in and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Holmes Lybrand and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
