Hunter Biden appears on Capitol Hill but refuses to testify behind closed doors

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, says he is willing to appear before an open hearing of the House Oversight Committee but did not appear at a scheduled closed-door session. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

toggle caption Jose Luis Magana/AP

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, says he is willing to appear before an open hearing of the House Oversight Committee but did not appear at a scheduled closed-door session.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

Hunter Biden told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday that he is willing to testify in a public hearing, but would not commit to a closed-door deposition.

The president’s son made an unexpected appearance at a press conference outside the Capitol at the same time he was scheduled to appear in a closed-door deposition following a subpoena by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky.

“I am here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee’s legitimate questions,” Biden said. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics exposed, expose their baseless inquiry or hear what I have to say.”

House Republicans set to vote on impeachment inquiry

Biden’s appearance comes as House Republicans are intensifying their focus on him and his father. The House is scheduled to vote later Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry against President Biden over alleged influence peddling and financial misdeeds involving Hunter Biden’s foreign business.

So far, Republicans have not presented any evidence of impeachable offenses by President Biden. Both Hunter Biden and the White House have vehemently denied the allegations.

“Let me state as clearly as I can,” Hunter Biden said at the Capitol. “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, and certainly not as an artist.”

Last month, Oversight Committee Chair Comer presented documents that allegedly suggested President Biden received payments from Hunter Biden’s law firm, which had received payments from Chinese companies and other foreign entities. Hunter Biden’s lawyers responded that the payments were from Hunter to his father, to repay him for financing a truck when he was unable to secure credit.

“In the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances,” Hunter Biden said. “But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It’s shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business. Because it did not happen.”

Hunter Biden accused House Republicans of “cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts I sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners, and misstating personal information that was stolen from me.”

Republicans defend their probe

Comer defended his investigation, calling it “a serious, credible, transparent investigation from day one.”

“This is an investigation about public corruption at the highest levels,” the Kentucky Republican added. “We have accumulated mountains of evidence that’s concerning to an overwhelming majority of Americans. … We expect to depose the president son and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing with him.”

Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee, said a public hearing wouldn’t work.

“You do it in an open format now, you’re gonna get filibusters, you’re gonna get speeches, you’re gonna get all kinds of things,” he said. “What we want is the facts.”

The White House has dismissed the impeachment inquiry — with claims dating back before Biden was president — as a political charade. It’s occurring as Biden’s predecessor and likely opponent in the 2024 campaign faces dozens of criminal charges in several indictments, including for attempts to subvert the 2020 election.