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WASHINGTON (AP) – Hunter Biden was defiant Wednesday in a closed-door deposition at the Capitol, saying the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father and his family’s business affairs was “on sand” built on “lies.” “The House of Lords” and accused of facing a gunfight. A probing question from a member of Congress.
“For over a year, your committee has pursued my father in a partisan political pursuit and hounded me,” Hunter Biden said in an opening statement obtained by The Associated Press. . He accused Republicans of “innuendo, distortion and sensationalism” about human trafficking and insisted, “I don’t involve my father in my business.”
The deposition of President Joe Biden’s son marked a crucial point in the 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family. The investigation centers on Hunter Biden and his work overseas for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long questioned whether these business deals involved corruption or influence peddling by President Biden, particularly during his time as vice president.
But despite conducting dozens of interviews and obtaining more than 100,000 pages of documents, Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence of wrongdoing by the president. Meanwhile, an FBI informant who alleged a bribery scheme involving the Bidens — a claim Republicans have repeatedly cited to justify their investigations — has been indicted by federal prosecutors for fabricating the story.
Despite the stakes of the investigation, it was ultimately unclear how much useful information Republicans could extract from Hunter Biden during his deposition. He is under federal investigation and has been indicted on nine federal tax charges and a firearms charge in Delaware, and has refused to answer some questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights. It means there is a possibility.
But by midday, Hunter Biden had not asserted those rights, according to Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.), one of the members of the statement. Instead, Mace told reporters Wednesday that the first hour of testimony given by the president’s son was “defiant and dishonest.”
Most Republicans remained silent as depositions dragged into the afternoon, and the Republican committee chairs leading the investigation, Rep. James Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan, refused to answer questions from reporters in the hallway. . Both men cited the confidentiality of personal testimony as the reason.
Democrats on the Oversight and Judiciary committees have repeatedly criticized the deposition, calling it “an embarrassing spectacle of Republicans making endlessly boring talking points.”
“This thing is over. If this was a boxing match, the referee would stop it. The coroner would declare this a death,” California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said of the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Ta.
He added that Hunter Biden “leaned in” and answered any questions without fear. “In fact, he has challenged many Republicans on baseless theories,” Swalwell said.
The task of interviewing Hunter fell primarily to Comer and Jordan. They first subpoenaed Hunter Biden in November, demanding he appear before lawmakers in private. Biden and his lawyers have rejected this, warning that his testimony could be selectively leaked and manipulated. They insisted that he testify only in public.
On the day of the subpoena, Hunter Biden not only disrespected the members of Congress who were waiting for him in the hearing room, but he also appeared just outside the Capitol to hold a press conference and denounce the investigation into his family.
Both sides ultimately agreed to private depositions in January, with certain conditions. Hunter Biden’s interview was not filmed, and Republicans agreed to quickly release the recording.
Hunter is the second member of the Biden family to be questioned by Republicans in recent days. They conducted more than eight hours of interviews last week with the president’s brother, James Biden. He insisted to lawmakers that Joe Biden has “no involvement, financial or otherwise,” in his business.
Looming over this interview are developments on the other side of the country, in Nevada. In Nevada, federal prosecutors this month indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, alleging a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the president, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian national. energy company. Prosecutors allege in court documents that Mr. Smirnov had “extensive and very recent” contact with people affiliated with Russian intelligence services.
Mr. Smirnov’s lawyer said he is presumed innocent.
Republicans pressured the FBI last summer over the informant’s claims, demanding to see the underlying documents and ultimately releasing unconfirmed information to the public. This claim was cited repeatedly in a letter sent by House Republicans to impeachment witnesses.
Many Republicans have yet to see evidence of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” needed for impeachment, despite allegations that the Biden family is trying to use its last name on the payrolls of domestic and foreign companies. It states that there is no.
But Comer and Jordan were undaunted by a series of setbacks in the main investigation. Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said last week that the indictment of an informant who said the Biden family used the family name to profit from multiple overseas businesses “changes the fundamental facts. Not,” he said.
And Comer told Fox News on Tuesday that Smirnov never “played a significant role in this investigation.”
Both men have maintained over the past year that their investigations and inquiries focused solely on Joe Biden and what, if anything, he did for his family while vice president or president. But almost every time, their investigation has consistently focused on Hunter Biden. Several investigations are underway into Hunter’s international business affairs, the sale of his artwork, and even his personal life and ongoing struggle with addiction.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has no shortage of legal troubles outside of the Capitol, as he faces criminal charges in two states as a result of a special counsel investigation. He was charged in 2018 with a firearms offense in Delaware for violating a law that prohibits drug users from possessing firearms, and he has acknowledged that he struggled with addiction during that time. Special prosecutor David Weiss filed additional charges late last year alleging he failed to pay about $1.4 million in taxes over three years.
He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves and video journalists Nathan Ellgren and Rick Gentillo contributed to this report.
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