On Wednesday, Hunter Biden unexpectedly attended a hearing where Republican congressmen are demanding a vote on contempt of Congress charges against him for not testifying in the impeachment inquiry targeting his father, US President Joe Biden.
The younger Biden did not address reporters and sat in the courtroom with his lawyer, while members of the House Committee on Government Oversight argued and criticized him for his sudden appearance at the hearing.
"It doesn't matter who you are, who your father is or what your last name is. Yes, I'm looking at you Hunter Biden. You're not above the law. You're too scared to testify and yet you came here today," said the Republican member of the lower house of Congress. Nancy Mays.
Mays called for Hunter to be arrested, while Republican House member Marjorie Taylor Green called him a coward. Democratic members of the committee demanded that Biden's son be allowed to speak publicly.
Board chairman James Comer tried unsuccessfully to regain control of the chaotic search.
"Mr. Biden doesn't decide the rules, we do," Comer said.
Republicans in the House of Representatives claim that the president and his family illegally profited from decisions that Biden participated in when he was vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. The White House and Hunter Biden deny the allegations.
Hunter is facing other legal problems. On Thursday, before the federal court in Los Angeles, he should plead to criminal charges that he did not pay taxes in the amount of 400 million XNUMX thousand dollars. He was charged in Delaware with lying about drug use when buying a gun. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Democratic Congressman Jared Moskovic asked why the committee would not accept Biden testifying at today's hearing.
"The witness accepted the chairman's call. It turns out he's here today. Let's vote. Who wants to hear what Hunter has to say now, today"?
Biden's son left the search soon after. His lawyer, Abe Lovell, spoke to reporters shortly after.
"We offered to work with the House committees to see how and what relevant information could be offered for any legitimate investigation. Our first five offers were ignored. And then in November, they issued a binding subpoena behind closed doors, which is a tactic that Republicans have repeatedly abused in their political crusade to selectively leak information and misrepresent it," Lovell asserted.
House Republicans have issued a binding subpoena for Hunter Biden to testify behind closed doors on December 13 as part of the investigation. He said that he was ready to testify publicly, which the Republicans refused, stating that he had to agree to testify behind closed doors, in addition to public testimony.
On the day he was scheduled to testify, Hunter Biden appeared in front of Congress and spoke to reporters, but did not testify.
After the committee votes in contempt of Congress, the full House of Representatives then decides whether to refer it to federal prosecutors. Contempt orders, which are passed by Congress, are usually enforced by the Justice Department, according to the Congressional Research Service.
According to the service, the House of Representatives has indicted 2008 people in contempt of Congress since 10, but the Justice Department decided to indict only Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, associates of former President Donald Trump.
Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison but appealed, while Navarro was found guilty in September last year.
There is no record of a family member of the current president being charged with contempt of Congress, according to congressional records that include resolutions dating back to 1980.
Contempt of Congress carries a fine of up to $100.000 and one to 12 months in prison.
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