Republicans push ahead with Hunter Biden contempt charge after his surprise visit to Capitol

WASHINGTON —  Republicans took the first step Wednesday toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena. They advanced the charge to a full House vote just hours after the president’s son sparked a momentary political frenzy by appearing in the front row for part of the debate.

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The House Oversight and Judiciary committees each passed contempt charges against the younger Biden with unanimous Republican support and all Democrats opposed. The action sets up a House vote on recommending criminal charges against a member of President Biden’s family as the GOP moves into the final stages of an impeachment inquiry into the president himself.

If the House votes to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, it will be up to the Justice Department, specifically the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to decide whether to prosecute him.

It’s the latest step for the inquiry, which began in September but has yet to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in wrongdoing involving his son’s business dealings.

Hunter Biden has defended his lack of compliance with the GOP-issued subpoena, which ordered him to appear for closed-door testimony in mid-December. He and his attorneys said information from private interviews could be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans and insisted that he would testify only in public.

His arrival with his legal team, including attorney Abbe Lowell, before the Oversight Committee — which has been investigating him for a year — sent the panel into chaos.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina insisted that he be quickly arrested. Democratic lawmakers argued that the younger Biden should be allowed to speak publicly. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called him a coward as he left during her remarks.

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) struggled to regain control of the hearing.

“Mr. Biden doesn’t make the rules; we make the rules,” he said.

He and his lawyers left the committee room shortly after that, making a brief statement to reporters outside. Lowell reiterated Wednesday that, unlike the president, his client “was and is a private citizen.”

“Despite this, Republicans have sought to use him as a surrogate to attack his father,” Lowell said. “And, despite their improper partisan motives, on six different occasions, since February of 2023, we have offered to work with the House committees to see what and how relevant information to any legitimate inquiry could be provided.”

Hunter Biden’s only remarks to reporters came when he was asked why he had his father on speaker phone several times during business meetings.

“If he called you, would you answer the phone?” he responded.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also emphasized Wednesday that the younger Biden is a private citizen. She wouldn’t say whether the White House was informed in advance that he planned to appear on Capitol Hill.

“He makes his own decisions, like he did today,” Jean-Pierre said.

If the contempt referral against Hunter Biden passes the full House, it would be yet another challenge for federal prosecutors already under heavy scrutiny for their handling of charges against him related to his taxes and his purchase of a gun.

Shelving the contempt of Congress charges would likely further stoke conservative criticism that the Justice Department is politicized — especially given that two onetime advisors to former President Trump were prosecuted for contempt of Congress by the Biden administration. But prosecuting contempt cases can be difficult.

Further angering Republicans, Hunter Biden had come to the Capitol last month on the day specified by the subpoena — but not to testify. Instead, he stood behind microphones outside the Capitol complex — a couple hundred feet away from the awaiting GOP investigators — and delivered a rare public statement defending his business affairs and castigating the years-long investigations into him and his family.

“There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen,” the president’s son said in those remarks.

He added, “There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing — they have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life — so much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson gave his stamp of approval Wednesday to the contempt process, saying that the chamber must uphold its subpoena power.

“We have to do this. This is our role. It’s our responsibility,” the Louisiana Republican said at a news conference. But, he added, “we’re not taking any pleasure in this.”

The contempt resolution, released by Republicans on Monday, says Hunter Biden’s behavior had been “contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions.”

While Republicans say their inquiry is ultimately focused on the president, they have taken particular interest in Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, questioning whether the president profited from that work.

Republicans have also focused a large part of their investigation on whistleblower allegations of political interference in the long-running Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden.

The two committees’ votes Wednesday on contempt of Congress came a day before the younger Biden is scheduled to make his first court appearance on tax charges filed by a special counsel in Los Angeles. He is facing three felony and six misdemeanor counts, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file and failure to pay.

His lawyer has accused David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the years-long case against him, of “bowing to Republican pressure” by bringing the charges.