In a significant development, the House Oversight Committee has announced plans to hold a meeting next week to deliberate a resolution seeking to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.
This move comes after Hunter Biden violated congressional subpoenas issued by the House Oversight Committee and House Judiciary Committee, who had summoned him for a closed-door deposition last month as part of the House Republican-led impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
Hunter Biden, the son of President Biden, opted to testify only in public, and upon denial of this request, he appeared on Capitol Hill to deliver a statement to the press, thereby defying the issued subpoena. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, both Republicans, have expressed their intent to take steps to hold Hunter Biden accountable for contempt of Congress.
According to reports from Fox News, Chairman Comer declared that the committee would conduct a markup meeting on January 10 to “consider a resolution and accompanying report to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying lawful subpoenas.”
Furthermore, Comer emphasized that their investigation had yielded substantial evidence suggesting President Biden’s awareness of, participation in, and benefit from his family capitalizing on the Biden name.
Comer added that Hunter Biden’s refusal to comply with the subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution. He asserted that there would be no special treatment based on Hunter Biden’s last name.
House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jordan, will also hold a similar markup on January 10, recommending that Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress. Committee markups represent the initial step in bringing a resolution for holding an individual in contempt of Congress to a full vote on the House floor.
Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, criticized the move, arguing that there is no precedent for holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public. He accused Chairman Comer of obstructing the investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people.
The House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, spearheaded by Comer, Jordan, and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, was formalized by the full House last month. The expanded investigation is now exploring whether President Biden was involved in his son’s actions, with Republicans contending that such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense.
Hunter Biden has maintained that his father was not financially involved in his business, and he provided no evidence to suggest otherwise during his public statement last month. The impeachment inquiry continues to unfold as a critical political event, prompting further scrutiny into the Biden family’s actions.
