The chairmen of two House committees leading Republicans impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden suggested in a letter on Wednesday that the President may have obstructed justice after Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena earlier this month.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Edward Siskel, White House counsel and assistant to the president, demanding documents to determine whether Biden knew that his son was not going to comply with their subpoena.
The chairmen are demanding “documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden,” and records “sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding President Biden’s statement about his family’s business associates on December 6, 2023.”
Comer and Jordan said a statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre raised their suspicions that the president had advanced knowledge that his son would not comply with their subpoenaes.
“The president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say, and I think what you saw was from the heart from his son,” Jean-Pierre said at a Dec. 13 press conference. “And you’ve heard — you’ve heard me say this; you’ve heard the president say this: When it comes to the president and the first lady, they are proud of him continuing to rebuild his life. They are proud of their son.”
Comer and Jordan wrote that Jean-Pierre’s statement suggests “President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress.”
“The fact that the President had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas. Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense,” they added.
House Republicans had subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a closed-door testimony about his foreign business dealings and whether his father benefited from them.
Instead of appearing at the closed door meeting, Hunter Biden demanded to testify publicly and appeared at the Capitol to deliver his remarks.
“I’m here today to make sure that the House committee’s illegitimate investigations of my family did not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies. And I’m here today to acknowledge that I’ve made mistakes in my life, and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded,” Hunter Biden said. “For that, I’m responsible, for that I’m accountable and for that, I’m making amends.”
“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home, nor abroad,” he added.
