House Republicans to move toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

Washington — House Republicans said Friday that they will move forward next week with an effort to hold Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, in contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for closed-door testimony.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced that on Wednesday, his panel will consider a resolution and accompanying report to penalize Hunter Biden for his defiance of the subpoena. If the Oversight panel advances the contempt resolution, it would then require approval by the full House. 

The Oversight and Judiciary Committees demanded the president's son appear for a private deposition on Dec. 13, which he declined to do. Instead, Hunter Biden delivered a brief statement to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol, in which he reiterated that he would only answer lawmakers' questions in a public setting. He accused Republicans of "distorting the facts" and selectively releasing information from prior closed-door interviews with others appearing before House committees.

Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement Friday that Hunter Biden's refusal to comply with their subpoenas for testimony constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to federal prosecutors.

"We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name," Comer, of Kentucky, and Jordan, of Ohio, said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, denounced Comer's decision to hold a vote on the contempt resolution, saying there is no precedent for the House holding a private citizen who has offered to testify publicly in contempt of Congress.

"Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies, and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation," he said in a statement. "However, the facts and the evidence all show no wrongdoing and no impeachable offense by President Biden."

Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's lawyer, criticized House GOP lawmakers in a statement to CBS News.

"It's clear the Republican Chairmen aren't interested in getting the facts or they would allow Hunter to testify publicly. Instead, House Republicans continue to play politics by seeking an unprecedented contempt motion against someone who has from the first request offered to answer all their proper questions," he said. "What are they afraid of?"

GOP lawmakers have been investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings for nearly a year and have accused Mr. Biden of profiting from his son and brother's overseas work. But the Republicans have not produced any evidence of wrongdoing by the president or that he benefited from his family's foreign business ventures.

Still, the GOP-led House voted along party lines last month to formalize an impeachment inquiry into the president. As part of their probe, led by the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means panels, Comer and Jordan requested the White House provide information about Mr. Biden's alleged involvement in his son's defiance of the congressional subpoena.

They gave the White House until Wednesday to turn over documents regarding Hunter Biden's scheduled deposition.

Erica Brown contributed to this report

In:
• Jim Jordan
• Hunter Biden

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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