Hunter Biden on Wednesday showed up for the House Committee hearing on the pending resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena.
Congressional Republicans previously subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a closed-door deposition related to his influence-peddling and family corruption.
Hunter Biden last month said he would only testify “at a public hearing.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer immediately initiated contempt of Congress proceedings.
Hunter made a shock appearance on Capitol Hill. He arrogantly walked into the hearing and stared down lawmakers.
Rep. Nancy Mace ripped into Hunter Biden and said he should be arrested on the spot!
“I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now and go straight to jail,” Rep. Mace said.
As soon as GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to question Hunter, he stormed out of the congressional hearing.
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Hunter Biden storms out of House hearing after showing up unexpectedly in chaotic Capitol Hill scene
Now you see him, now you don’t.
Hunter Biden triggered bedlam Wednesday with a surprise — and brief — appearance at a House Oversight Committee hearing where members were debating a resolution holding him in contempt of Congress.
The first son, 53, showed up with his lawyer Abbe Lowell and “sugar brother” Kevin Morris and sat in the front row of the hearing room, causing an uproar among the panel’s Republicans, before leaving 17 minutes after he arrived with what appeared to be the camera crew for a long-promised documentary in tow.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) tore into Hunter Biden during her remarks, calling him the “epitome of white privilege.”
“My first question is: Who bribed Hunter Biden to be here today?” Mace began.
“You are the epitome of white privilege — coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of? You have no balls.”
Mace added: “I think Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail.”
The younger Biden skipped a scheduled Dec. 13 deposition by claiming he would prefer to testify before the world in the impeachment inquiry into his father’s role in foreign business ventures, which would allow the panel’s many eccentric members to filibuster on his behalf or otherwise go off-message.
Subpoenas for Hunter Biden’s testimony were issued last year by both the Oversight and Judiciary committees — and the Judiciary panel voted along party lines Wednesday to refer a contempt resolution to the full House as the Oversight debate dragged late in the day.
Hunter stood up and left the hearing room, ending his morning cameo, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) began to speak — tearing into the first son as a “coward” — and was trailed by reporters and political operatives in the hallways of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Hunter stood up and left the room before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke — tearing into the first son as a “coward” — and was trailed by reporters and political operatives in the hallways of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The president’s son did take at least one question about his dad’s role in his foreign dealings when asked why he put Joe Biden on speakerphone during approximately 20 business meetings Hunter held during his dad’s vice presidency.
Hunter stood up and left before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke on Wednesday.Fox News
“If he called you, would you answer the phone?” replied the first son — whose former partner Devon Archer testified in July that Hunter often used those calls to impress foreign associates.
Completing the spectacle, a heckling anti-Biden operative could be heard asking repeatedly: “Hunter, what’s your favorite kind of crack? Are you on crack today?”
Democrats on the Oversight Committee took turns Wednesday insisting that Hunter was willing to speak, but only in a public hearing rather than a deposition controlled by the panel’s staff.
“Let me tell you why nobody wants to talk to y’all behind closed doors,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “‘Cuz you all lie. That’s just the bottom line.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, claimed that Republicans were moving against Hunter Biden because the president was innocent — despite the GOP inquiry focusing specifically on Joe Biden’s role in his son’s and brother James’ foreign dealings.
“Why are we here? ‘Well, we can’t go after Joe Biden. He’s clean. Let’s go After Hunter Biden. Let’s go get him,’” said Raskin.
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said a deposition would seek to establish key facts and that Republicans would welcome a follow-up public hearing.
Other committee Republicans noted Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s adult children complied with subpoenas issued by House Democrats as part of various investigations into the 45th president.
“This isn’t about Hunter Biden’s white privilege, it’s about Hunter Biden’s Democrat privilege, because Donald Trump Jr. showed up for five congressional subpoenas. There was never this circus,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
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Hunter’s gambit to flout the subpoenas, which the White House said President Biden was “familiar” with ahead of time, propelled the House of Representatives to vote hours later to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry it launched on Sept. 12.
Republicans say the White House’s admission may ultimately support an article of impeachment against Joe Biden for obstructing Congress.
Contempt of Congress is a crime punishable by a minimum of 30 days behind bars per offense, though the Biden Justice Department would have to choose to prosecute the son of the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.
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Two former Trump advisers — Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro — were convicted by the Biden Justice Department of crimes for refusing to testify to the House select committee that investigated the 2021 Capitol riot.
Hunter Biden already faces federal criminal charges for alleged tax fraud in Los Angeles and for illegal gun possession in Delaware — after he walked away from a probation-only plea deal in July over his demand for courtroom assurances that he had broad immunity for other past conduct, including alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which could implicate his father.
The first son would have the right to decline to answer questions by citing his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination if he were to testify in either a deposition or public hearing.
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