Hours after it was reported that the House of Representatives will vote to declare Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress next week for defying subpoenas from the various committees that are carrying out an impeachment inquiry against his father, the president's son's lawyer sent a letter to the Oversight and Judiciary Committees, stating that if a new subpoena is issued, this time Hunter will attend.
"If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition," wrote Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's attorney.
Lowell also claims in the letter that the previously issued subpoenas were "legally invalid" since they took place before the full House of Representatives voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
The president's son had said until now that he was not willing to attend a closed-door session and that he would comply with the orders of the different congressional committees only if a public hearing was held. Both the Oversight Committee and the Judicial Committee affirmed that they would grant him the public hearing after he appeared in a closed-door session.
However, Hunter Biden decided to disobey the subpoena and, in an act of defiance, he appeared unexpectedly outside the Capitol and gave a speech to the media on the day that he was scheduled to testify in the House. In another completely unexpected development, on Wednesday of this week, while the House Oversight Committee was discussing a resolution to declare him in contempt, the president's son arriveed unannounced and sat in the front row of the room before leaving a few minutes later.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer stated that Hunter Biden "blantantly defied two lawful subpoenas," and that "Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the committees’ subpoenas is a criminal act" and "constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law."
Hunter Biden defies Congress again
Not content with the uproar he caused by ignoring the subpoena in mid-December and then making a surprise appearance this week in a congressional hearing, the president's son is now telling House Republicans that he is willing to testify and has asked them to issue a new subpoena. Furthermore, his justification for missing the prior depositions is based on a lie, because his lawyer stated in the letter sent to the committees that the initial subpoenas were "legally invalid," having been issued before the House voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry into Biden.
But the truth is that the previous subpoenas, which the president's son disregarded, were absolutely valid. Hunter Biden not only ignored the two committees that subpoenaed him, he waited for them to issue resolutions to declare him in contempt and establish a vote in front of the full House to affirm that he will accept a new subpoena.
Now that it has been established that next week the House of Representatives will vote to declare him in contempt of Congress and, if the resolution is approved, the matter will be handed to the Department of Justice, that is when the president's son confirms that he will comply with the closed-door deposition
Hunter Biden seems to be teasing Congress, wanting to show that he is the one who makes the rules, ignoring subpoenas, and walking through the halls of Rayburn whenever he pleases. Now the two House committees handling the impeachment inquiry must decide whether to go ahead with the vote to declare him in contempt and send the issue to the Department of Justice, or whether to give Hunter a second chance and ignore his prior disregard for legal obligations.
Although the Biden Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute the president's son, finding him in contempt will make clear to Americans the nature of the current judicial system and show even more clearly whether it is true that the Bidens are above the law.
