House Speaker Mike Johnson would not commit Sunday to subpoena President Biden’s son despite demands from conservatives.
House Republicans are investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings while his father was vice president and have alleged pay-to-play wrongdoing by the elder Mr. Biden but have not directly tied him to millions of dollars that his son received.
Conservatives say turning up the heat on the probe, such as subpoenaing Hunter Biden, could uncover major issues for the president’s reelection bid.
“I’m looking at that,” Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said on the Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I think desperate times call for desperate measures, and that, perhaps, is overdue.”
Mr. Johnson’s response is likely to frustrate Republican hard-liners in his conference, who have increasingly questioned why the investigation led by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has not included more subpoenas to Hunter Biden and those close to him.
Mr. Johnson was elected to the speakership last week following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and three weeks of intense party divisions.
“We’ve not made a full decision yet. I’m counseling with the attorneys involved on all of this,” Mr. Johnson said of a Hunter Biden subpoena. “We’re trying to move forward on some of this very aggressively. The American people are owed these answers and … the evidence we’ve gathered so far is affirming what many of us feared may be the worst.”
Mr. Biden and the White House have denied any wrongdoing and noted that while Hunter and his associates may have touted their proximity to the then-vice president, there is no direct evidence of Mr. Biden profiting.
House Republicans are conducting an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden that they say could uncover a bribery scheme.
“The dots are being connected, and we’ll see where this leads,” Mr. Johnson said.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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