House Republicans ready contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden for defying a subpoena

Table Of Content

• House Republicans to move toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
• ABC News Live
• To pass Ukraine aid, 'Reagan Republican' leaders in Congress navigated a party transformed by Trump
• Rhode Island News
• House Republicans ready contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden for defying a subpoena
• House GOP moving forward with Hunter Biden contempt vote next week

While there are three Republican chairmen co-leading the inquiry, Comer has arguably quarterbacked the most controversial pillar of the probe – millions of dollars’ worth of business dealings by the Biden family. Through that work, Comer has made sweeping claims that the president was involved in bribery and influence-peddling schemes that compromised his job. Without providing evidence, promising it will come Thursday, Comer said the president was looped in on actions by Hunter that he called "influence peddling" and described it as lobbying foreign governments without registering, as required by law. "Hunter Biden's willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney's Office for prosecution," said Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a joint statement. The House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees wrote to Morris in November to request his testimony, noting that news reports indicated he had lent Hunter Biden more than $2 million and that other testimony they obtained said he made tax payments on behalf of Biden. They also pointed to Biden’s initial plea deal that fell apart in August, which identified a third party that had made tax payments on his behalf.

House Republicans to move toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

Comer said "there's a very good possibility" that Hunter Biden will get a subpoena, but the committee wants to talk to whistleblowers in transcribed interviews first. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is poised to take the gavel as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee if Republicans take control of the House in January. David Pecker’s testimony was a critical building block for the prosecution’s theory that his partnership with Donald Trump was a way to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election. The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday voted to restore “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers from favoring some sites and apps over others.

ABC News Live

Raskin pointed to Biden's offer to testify publicly and says Comer and his investigation are filled with "curated distortions" and "blatant lies." The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, responded in a statement to the news that House Republicans plan to move forward. “We are in communication with James Biden’s attorney about scheduling a time for him to appear,” the spokesperson said.

To pass Ukraine aid, 'Reagan Republican' leaders in Congress navigated a party transformed by Trump

Rebecca is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the House.

Rhode Island News

In a fiery response, Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused special counsel David Weiss of “bowing to Republican pressure” in the case. Control of the House is unclear, with the results in several races still not final, but Republicans are expected to hold a slim majority, a much different outcome than top GOP leaders forecasted in a "red wave" that failed to materialize. Comer admitted he expected his party would win more seats, but as for his planned investigations he said nothing has changed — "full steam ahead." Separately, Hunter Biden on Thursday pleaded not guilty to nine federal tax charges in federal court in California. Prosecutors allege the president's son engaged in a years-long scheme to avoid paying more than $1 million in taxes.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced that on Wednesday, his panel will consider a resolution and accompanying report to penalize Hunter Biden for his defiance of the subpoena. If the Oversight panel advances the contempt resolution, it would then require approval by the full House. Hunter Biden and his lawyers have repeatedly slammed the GOP-issued subpoena for the closed-door testimony, arguing that information from those interviews can be selectively leaked and manipulated. The impeachment inquiry, now underway for a few months, was formally approved along partisan lines by the House last month just before Congress left for the holiday recess. Republicans have yet to present any hard evidence that the president personally benefited from his son's businesses. Hunter Biden and his lawyers have repeatedly slammed the GOP-issued subpoena for the closed-door testimony, arguing that information from those interviews can be selectively leaked and manipulated.

If Nothing Else, GOP’s Impeachment Inquiry Has Dinged Biden When it Comes to ‘Trustworthiness’

Hunter Biden, Facing Contempt Referral, Says House Subpoenas Are Invalid - The New York Times

Hunter Biden, Facing Contempt Referral, Says House Subpoenas Are Invalid.

Posted: Fri, 12 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

"Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans' top priority is to go after President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories," said White House spokesperson Ian Sams. "President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans' priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge." A successful vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress would refer the matter to the Justice Department, which would then decide whether to pursue criminal contempt charges. The announcement came two days after Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at a meeting of the House Oversight Committee, one of two panels that voted to recommend holding him in contempt of Congress. He appeared with Biden for a surprise news conference in December in front of the Capitol and sat next to him last week in the House Oversight markup hearing for a resolution to hold Biden in contempt of Congress.

Speaker McCarthy directs House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden

“It needs to be a high bar, and if we are contemplating that on the president … I don’t think we are there yet,” GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa reflected to CNN when asked whether he believed Republicans had uncovered evidence of an impeachable offense by the president. In February, Republicans were dealt a massive blow when it was announced that the individual who brought forward the bribery allegations about the president and his son memorialized in an unverified FBI document – which Republicans had been warned not to bank on – was charged with lying about the Bidens. At the same time, Republicans finally went after their top witness, Hunter Biden, who was at the center of their allegations about his father. Between the 2020 Gallup survey and the 2024 Gallup survey, Mr. Biden’s perception as being trustworthy slid the most among independent voters. Gallup also reported that perceptions of President Trump as trustworthy declined to 28 percent among independent voters in 2024 from 31 percent of independents in 2020. Whether or not Republicans are able to muster the votes for a formal impeachment vote in the House, a Senate trial would likely be dismissed, as is expected to happen with the impeachment of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.

House GOP moving forward with Hunter Biden contempt vote next week

Among other things, the Committees intend to understand the terms of such loans’ you made to Hunter Biden and what benefits you may have received as a result of providing financial assistance to President Biden’s son,” the committee chairmen wrote in a letter to Morris. The committee chairmen -- Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio -- said they believe Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings were the result of influence peddling based on his father's political status. Instead of appearing for the deposition, Hunter Biden held a media event in front of the Capitol building where he took no questions, but stated emphatically that his father was not involved in any of his business dealings. “There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” Hunter Biden said. Republicans announced they would hold him in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with his subpoena for a closed-door deposition, sending lawmakers back to their districts at the end of 2023 with a huge win. Another boost of momentum came when Republicans united to formally authorize the inquiry after a clash with the White House, which claimed Republicans’ subpoenas for testimony and records were invalid without a floor vote.

The move to hold Hunter Biden in contempt comes as House Republicans aggressively kick their impeachment investigation into high gear. In addition to the markup on the contempt resolution, they are also planning to hold a closed-door transcribed interview next week with Georges Bergès, who owns an art gallery in New York City, to discuss his involvement with the selling of Hunter Biden’s art. Bergès has a display of Hunter Biden’s art that is available for purchase at his SoHo gallery and was subpoenaed by the committees after initially refusing to answer a voluntary request to appear. Republicans have suggested that Bergès was selling Hunter Biden's art to supporters of the president seeking to curry favor, a charge Bergès has denied.

The Republican chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees announced Friday that they will hold full committee votes on contempt charges against President Joe Biden’s son as the GOP moves into the final stages of its monthslong impeachment inquiry. The two Republican-led committees voted last week to recommend that the full House hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena in the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father. The younger Biden had offered to testify at a public hearing, and he appeared on Capitol Hill to make a statement in December on the day ordered in his subpoena but did not appear for the closed-door testimony the committees requested. For months, Republicans have pursued an impeachment inquiry seeking to tie the Democratic president to his son’s business dealings. So far, GOP lawmakers have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the elder Biden in any wrongdoing.