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President Biden’s son Hunter Biden told a House panel investigating the Biden family business deals he’ll agree to testify in response to a GOP subpoena, but only at a public hearing.
In a letter to the panel obtained by The Washington Times, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, accused the Oversight and Accountability Committee of waging a politically motivated and futile fishing expedition into the Biden family. Mr. Lowell told Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, Hunter Biden would “get right to it,” and agree to answer any questions from the panel — but not behind closed doors.
“Rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process - he will appear at a public Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing,” Mr. Lowell wrote to Mr. Comer.
The Oversight panel subpoenaed Hunter Biden earlier this month, calling on the president’s son to provide a private deposition, not to sit for a public hearing.
The panel wants to ask the president’s son about his lucrative foreign business deals and what role his father played in them. Hunter Biden, his uncle James Biden, and close associates raked in millions of dollars from Ukraine, China, Russia and other countries and, according to witnesses, did it by leveraging their relationship with Mr. Biden while he was vice president and after he left office.
Mr. Comer, in a statement to The Washington Times, rejected Mr. Lowell’s offer.
“Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else. That won’t stand with House Republicans,” Mr. Comer said. “Our lawfully issued subpoena to Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13. We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition but also agree that Hunter Biden should have the opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date.”
The committee is conducting an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden’s involvement in the foreign business deals. In addition to James Biden, the panel has subpoenaed Mr. Biden’s brother James Biden, who was also involved in the business deals and wrote at least two checks totaling $240,000 to Mr. Biden, allegedly for a loan repayment. The checks were written after James Biden received money for business deals.
The committee also requested transcribed interviews from other Biden family members, including: James Biden’s wife, Sara Biden; Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s son Beau; her older sister, Elizabeth Secundy, and Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen.
The Oversight panel has conducted several closed-door depositions of Biden business associates. Their testimony and reports from IRS whistleblowers who were investigating Hunter Biden for tax fraud revealed Mr. Biden, even while vice president, participated in his son’s business meetings by phoning into them or appearing in person.
One witness, ex-business associate Devon Archer, said Hunter Biden and Ukrainian gas company executives phoned then-Vice President Biden from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, asking for help in shaking off a corruption probe. The gas company, Burisma, was paying Hunter Biden $1 million a year to serve on its board. Mr. Biden soon after helped force out the Ukrainian prosecutor general who was investigating Burisma.
Mr. Biden has denied any involvement in his family’s business deals.
In the letter to the committee, Mr. Lowell argues the panel has turned up no evidence connecting Hunter Biden’s business dealings to his father, while ignoring former President Donald Trump and his family’s lucrative businesses.
“Unlike members of the Trump family, Hunter is a private person who has never worked in any family business nor ever served in the White House or in any public office,” Mr. Lowell wrote. “Notwithstanding this stark difference, you have manipulated Hunter’s legitimate business dealings and his times of terrible addiction into a politically motivated basis for hearings to accuse his father of some wrongdoing.”
Mr. Lowell said if Mr. Comer believes his inquiry involves issues the public should know about, “then let the light shine on these proceedings.”
Closed-door depositions are often preferred in Congressional investigations over public hearings.
House Democrats held weeks of closed-door testimony in the first impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump, who they accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate whether Mr. Biden forced out the Ukrainian prosecutor on behalf of his son and Burisma.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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