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A House committee voted Wednesday to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after a chaotic hearing interrupted by the president’s son, who made a surprise, defiant appearance in the front row of the hearing room.
His shock appearance was brief, and it didn’t stop the Republican-led panel from passing the resolution holding him in contempt for refusing to provide closed-door testimony about his father’s involvement in his lucrative business deals.
The 25-21 vote, endorsed separately Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee, sends the contempt resolution to the House floor for a vote as soon as next week. If it passes, the matter will be referred to the Biden-led Justice Department.
Stone-faced and arms crossed, the president’s son sat in a light-gray suit and glowered at lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee for the first several minutes of the hearing.
He was flanked by his attorney Abbe Lowell and Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who helped Hunter Biden pay off a delinquent IRS bill.
The appearance by the president’s son and his entourage elicited sharp criticism from the Republican lawmakers whose authority he has flouted. They accused him of blatantly defying two congressional subpoenas compelling his testimony because, they said, he believes his last name affords him special protection.
“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 to come up here,” Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina Republican, said to Hunter Biden as he sat in the hearing room.
Ms. Mace said the president’s son “should be arrested right here, right now and go to jail.”
Republicans blamed Democrats for setting up the unexpected cameo.
“This was clearly organized,” said Rep. Michael Waltz, Florida Republican.
Hunter Biden made his silent appearance in the halls of Congress as three House committees were conducting an impeachment inquiry into whether his father, while serving as vice president in the Obama administration and afterward, profited from his office by helping his family and their business associates secure hugely profitable business deals in foreign countries.
The two House subpoenas that Hunter Biden ignored specifically requested him to appear at a closed-door interview on Dec. 13. Instead, he staged a press conference in front of the Capitol to bash the Republican-led inquiry before leaving with his attorney.
The president’s son did not remain long in the hearing room. He made a hasty exit as his staunchest House opponent, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, began speaking.
He was followed by a mob of reporters and cameras and refused to answer hallway questions other than to call one inquisitive Fox News reporter “very dangerous” when she asked why President Biden, according to witnesses, phoned into his son’s business meetings when he was vice president.
Mr. Lowell told reporters that Republicans “are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions.”
Ms. Greene said it was “too bad” that Hunter Biden left the hearing room as she began to speak.
“I think it’s clear and obvious for everyone watching this hearing today that Hunter Biden is terrified of strong conservative Republican women because he can’t even face my words as I was about to speak to him. What a coward,” Ms. Greene said.
The House voted to hold Hunter Biden in contempt after hours of acrimonious statements and bickering among Republican and Democratic lawmakers over claims of corruption in the Biden and Trump administrations.
Democrats launched accusations of “revenge porn” against Ms. Greene. At a July 19 hearing, she displayed nude photos of Hunter Biden that were discovered on his discarded laptop computer.
Democrats said the panel should be investigating the Trump family because it corruptly profited from hotels and other ventures during Mr. Trump’s presidency. The Trump Organization has staunchly denied that charge.
Before the vote, Republicans delved into the merits of the impeachment inquiry that sought Hunter Biden’s testimony, including an email from a former business associate that suggested reserving 10% of their business deal profits “for the big guy.”
“Who was the big guy, Hunter Biden? Was it your father?” Rep. Pat Fallon, Texas Republican, said after Hunter Biden left the room.
President Biden has repeatedly denied profiting from his family’s business deals and said checks written to him by his brother James Biden and son were loan repayments.
House Republicans cited bank reports and witness testimony gathered in the impeachment inquiry that they said point to Mr. Biden’s involvement in influence peddling.
Witnesses said Mr. Biden phoned into or stopped by Hunter Biden’s business meetings and that the then-vice president spoke by phone with executives from Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company seeking Mr. Biden’s help in skirting a corruption investigation. Burisma was paying Hunter Biden to serve on its board.
Bank records show Hunter Biden, family members and associates netted $24 million in profits from foreign deals. Former business associates and Mr. Biden’s brother said they used his powerful name as leverage to reel in business.
“Hunter Biden’s testimony is a critical component of the impeachment inquiry into whether President Biden or his family personally profited from his office as vice president or his current role as president of the United States,” said Rep. Nicholas Langworthy, New York Republican.
Democrats claimed Republicans wrongfully accused Hunter Biden of defying the subpoenas and that he agreed to cooperate on their initial terms.
Republicans asked Hunter Biden to appear at either a private deposition or a public hearing last year.
“The chairman refused to take yes for an answer from Hunter Biden. … They pulled a bait and switch. They changed the terms of their request. They rejected his acceptance of their offer and insisted that he now come in and sit for a secret closed-door deposition,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee.
Hunter Biden did not want to testify behind closed doors because Republicans would distort and leak cherry-picked testimony, Democrats said.
Republicans said they ultimately sought to avoid a public hearing for the president’s son because it would significantly reduce the number of questions they could ask and the cameras likely would turn it into a partisan circus. They subpoenaed Hunter Biden to first provide closed-door testimony and appear at a public hearing later.
“We will not provide special treatment to Hunter Biden because of his last name. All Americans must be treated equally under the law, including the Bidens,” said Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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