After two House Committee voted to send a resolution to the full House to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress last week, Biden’s legal team begged for another chance to comply with a congressional subpoena.
And House Republicans fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.
Hunter Biden had violated two congressional subpoenas. There’s no ambiguity in what he did. The House had all the justification in the world to find him in contempt and put the Biden administration in the position of choosing between prosecuting Hunter or not — neither of which was a great option for Biden in the middle of a presidential campaign.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are now giving Hunter Biden the mulligan he wanted. In a letter to Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, Comer and Jordan rejected Lowell’s previous claims that the prior subpoenas were legally invalid, but they will reissue them anyway instead of sending the contempt resolution to the full House.
We received your letter dated January 12, 2024, indicating that your client, Robert Hunter Biden, is now willing to appear for a deposition under subpoena pursuant to the House’s ongoing impeachment inquiry and the legislative oversight authorities of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability (“the Committees”). To be clear, contrary to the assertions in your letter and for the reasons explained below, the subpoenas issued to Mr. Biden on November 8 and November 9, respectively, are lawful and legally enforceable. Mr. Biden has asserted no valid constitutional or legal privilege excusing him from complying with these subpoenas. The Committees will not afford Mr. Biden special treatment.
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The Committees welcome Mr. Biden’s newfound willingness to testify in a deposition setting under subpoena. Although the Committee’s subpoenas are lawful and remain legally enforceable, as an accommodation to Mr. Biden and at your request, we are prepared to issue subpoenas compelling Mr. Biden’s appearance at a deposition on a new date in the coming weeks. To be clear, the issuance of these subpoenas does not in any way suggest or imply that the Committees believe the assertions in your January 12 letter to have any merit. Our willingness to issue these subpoenas is rooted entirely in our interest in obtaining Mr. Biden’s testimony as expeditiously as possible.
Hunter Biden was supposed to face consequences for his blatant defiance of the congressional subpoenas. Instead, he’s getting a do-over. Why did Comer and Jordan allow this? Lowell’s excuse for Hunter Biden’s refusal to testify was patently absurd, and as I previously pointed out, it wasn’t even the original reason for his refusal to comply with the subpoena.
In 2022, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the partisan January 6 Committee and was subsequently prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced to four months in prison. After his initial refusal, he eventually agreed to testify but wasn’t allowed to do so. So once again, it looks like Hunter Biden is getting special treatment.
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