House investigators say Hunter Biden tried to qualify his father’s claim of not playing a role in his family’s business deals with a new explanation that gives the president more legal and political wiggle room.
The president’s son, who flouted a House subpoena to appear at a closed-door deposition Wednesday and instead defended himself and his father on the Capitol lawn, told reporters, “There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.”
Republicans say his statement represents “another change in the story,” a seismic shift in defining the president’s initial claim that he had no knowledge or involvement in his family’s business deals.
The revision by the president’s son follows the release of bank records and witness testimony that show Mr. Biden phoned in or stopped by his son’s business meetings with foreign partners and accepted checks that originated from lucrative deals in China.
“The biggest takeaway was the statement … where he said my father was not financially involved in the business,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said. “That is a huge change.”
Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, said President Biden has provided differing public statements on how deeply he was involved in the deals.
The Oversight and Accountability Committee has accused the president of lying 16 times about his involvement in the family business. Mr. Biden has claimed to have never spoken to his son about the deals and denied his family profited from deals with China.
“That qualifier, the word ‘financially,’ is important, because once again, it shows another change,” Mr. Jordan said. “I think that is important. It’s one of the reasons we want to talk to Hunter Biden.”
During his brief press conference, Hunter Biden blamed “the Trump attack machine” for the Republican inquiry into his father’s involvement in the business deals. He left without taking questions from reporters or from lawmakers who waited for him in a hearing room where he was scheduled to provide the deposition.
Later Wednesday, the House is poised to vote on a resolution to open a formal impeachment inquiry into the president.
If the resolution passes, Republican lawmakers say it will add additional enforcement authority for their subpoenas. They said if Hunter Biden continues to refuse to appear for a deposition after a formal inquiry is approved by the House, they’ll initiate proceedings to hold him in contempt of Congress when lawmakers return in January from the Christmas recess.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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