Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, makes a statement to the press outside the US Capitol during public testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
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Hunter Biden on Wednesday defended his business record and denied that his father, President Joe Biden, had anything to do with it financially. He spoke to reporters outside the Capitol, where he defied a congressional subpoena to testify behind closed doors.
“I’m proud of my legal career and business career. I’m proud of my time serving on a dozen different boards of directors. And I’m proud of my efforts to build global business relationships,” said Hunter Biden.
“Let me be as clear as I can. My father was not involved financially in my business — Not as a practicing lawyer, not as a Burisma board member, not in my partnership with a private Chinese businessman , not in my investments at home or abroad, and certainly not as an artist,” Hunter said.
“There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was involved financially in my business, because it never happened,” Biden added.
He reiterated that he would only be willing to testify in public, instead of behind closed doors. Republicans have already rejected that offer.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Wednesday they would begin contempt of Congress proceedings against Biden for defying the subpoena.
“We will not give special treatment because his last name is Biden,” House committee leaders said in a statement.
Comer, Jordan and other Republicans are leading the investigation into whether the president profited from his family business. They accused Biden of lying about his involvement in his relatives’ money-making schemes.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) (L) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) speak to reporters at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC .
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Little evidence has emerged showing that Biden accepted bribes or otherwise financially abused his public office as president or vice president. Democrats have accused Republicans of politicizing the impeachment power.
The House is set to vote later on Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry.
An impeachment inquiry could stretch well into next year, casting a shadow over Biden as he runs for re-election. If the Republican-majority House votes to impeach him, the Democratic-controlled Senate will hold an impeachment trial to decide whether to remove him from office.
Former President Donald Trump, the leading 2024 Republican primary candidate, has been impeached twice. He was acquitted both times by a Republican controlled Senate.
Comer, Jordan and their allies “distorted the facts, by cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating the texts I sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former partners in business, and misrepresenting personal information stolen from me,” Hunter said outside the Capitol.
