Defiant Hunter Biden defends corporate moves, triggers Kushner deal

Hunter Biden, a leading witness in the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father, will appear at the Capitol on Wednesday, where Republicans will delve into the details of the overseas business operations that have been portrayed as a web of corruption involving President Biden. It’s been a long day.

But even if Republicans had hoped to unearth elusive evidence of financial wrongdoing to support their claims, they were unable to find it during a nearly seven-hour closed-door interrogation of the president’s son. It seems so.

Instead, a defiant Hunter Biden defended his various business dealings, amplifying his previous claims that his father was not involved in those pursuits, and the former president’s son-in-law. He brought up Jared Kushner’s overseas business and brought the investigation back to the Republican side. Shortly after leaving the White House, President Trump received a huge investment contract from Saudi Arabia.

“One of his most powerful lines was when he declared that he had never had any business dealings with any government agency. He then pointed out: “This is not like Jared Kushner, who received $2 billion from the Saudi government shortly after,” said Rep. Dan Goldman of New York.

Republicans are already eyeing an opportunity to confront the president’s son again.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, called Wednesday’s marathon testimony “a great testimony for us,” and called Hunter Biden to the committee for a hearing this time. I promised to return it to before. He said he wanted to “resolve some discrepancies” between the president’s son and previous statements by witnesses.

“There are also some contradictory statements that I believe require further consideration, which leads us to the next stage of this impeachment inquiry, which is a public hearing,” he said.

When asked when a public hearing would be held, Comer said, “The sooner the better.”

Wednesday’s testimony was the latest in a series of complaints made by Republicans on the Oversight and Judiciary committees seeking evidence to support allegations that the president’s family had shady dealings overseas that relied heavily on the powerful Biden name. It was the latest public deposition.

Hunter Biden has publicly denied these allegations and denied them again during a private deposition.

“I am here today to provide the committee with one indisputable fact that should put an end to the false premise of this investigation: Not when I was a lawyer, not when I was involved in domestic or international investments or transactions, not as a member of a board of directors, not as an artist. Never,” he said in his opening statement.

The message was echoed by President Biden’s Democratic allies on the Oversight and Judiciary committees, who accused Republicans of conducting a witch hunt against the president to reduce his chances of re-election in November. are doing.

“It was a comedy of errors from the beginning,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee that led former President Trump’s second impeachment.

But Republicans have cast doubt on Biden’s testimony, criticizing his demeanor and questioning the credibility of his answers, which at times deviate from the testimony of other witnesses.

“They’re not sitting in the same hearings as me,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.), a member of the oversight committee, said of Democrats.

Rather, Mace said that Hunter Biden was “defiant and dishonest” in the first hour of his testimony, and that he spoke “directly with other witnesses,” including Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer. They accused him of making “confrontational” statements.

“There will be records. I won’t go into details, but you can see for yourself,” Mace said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a fierce critic of Biden, called the president’s son a “liar.”

“The theme we heard in the room was that Hunter Biden is a liar,” Greene told reporters after her deposition. “The Bidens have no products or services.”

“I can’t show a single thing, product or service that Hunter Biden has ever sold to anyone other than his own father,” she later added.

Greene lied when she said Hunter Biden was not involved in Blue Star Strategies, a lobbying firm that worked for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company where she was a director. accused of being there. She said the Republican presented an email thread discussing the Blue Star Strategies and Burisma ties, which he also participated in.

When Republicans pressed him, Hunter Biden mentioned his previous struggle with addiction, Greene said.

“He denied any involvement, but we were confronted with evidence that he was, in fact, involved. And when the pressure was put on Hunter Biden, he said, you know what? Like, back to being a pathetic, pathetic junkie. So when he tried to brag about something, well, he was the smartest, most successful businessman in the room.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abby Rowell, later told reporters that Republicans “wanted to spend more time talking about my client’s addictions than asking questions related to what is being called an impeachment inquiry.” ” he said.

A person with direct knowledge of the deposition told The Hill that Hunter Biden “discussed his addiction at length.”

At one point, the president’s son caused controversy by sending a WhatsApp message to a Chinese business associate in 2017 that claimed to be “sitting here with my father,” according to officials. They said they talked about it. He then pressed his colleague to fulfill an unspecified “promise.” Otherwise, he risks angering the Bidens. Joe Biden was not in office at the time.

Throughout their investigations, Republicans have seized upon the communications as evidence of influence-spreading. That was revealed by testimony from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley.

But on Wednesday, Hunter Biden told lawmakers he was high or drunk when he sent the messages, that he sent them to the wrong person and that he was embarrassed by the exchange, officials said. . He also acknowledged that he was not sitting with his father at the time, as President Biden himself has stated.

Comer argued that despite the inconsistencies pointed out, Wednesday’s deposition helped move the Republican impeachment inquiry forward. The chairman said Hunter Biden “vindicated some of the evidence that we’ve had throughout this investigation.”

“Overall, I’m very optimistic and very excited about this deposition,” he later added.

Despite Comer’s optimistic assessment, Hunter Biden’s lackluster testimony appeared to be the latest stumbling block in House Republicans’ sluggish impeachment inquiry. House Republicans have struggled to present evidence to support various claims of financial wrongdoing by the president and his family.

The biggest blow to the investigation came earlier this month, when the Justice Department indicted an FBI informant at the center of a key Republican allegation that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden each received $5 million in bribes from Burisma. I woke up because of what I did.

Authorities said the allegations were fabricated by informant Alexander Smirnov, who later told investigators he had received information from “Russian intelligence officials.”

The move was not missed by Democrats seeking to undermine the credibility of the Republican case, as other Republican witnesses also face legal problems of their own.

“They have nothing… One of their witnesses was charged with collaborating with Russian intelligence. Another witness was charged with collaborating with Chinese intelligence. Another witness has 14 years of He is in prison for a felony,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

“This is No. 4, 20 out of 10 on their own. They don’t have Patrick Mahomes.”

But Biden’s testimony wasn’t enough to deter Republicans from launching a full-scale investigation. And he vowed to hold a hearing to face again the star witness who failed to provide much-needed evidence.

“There’s a lot more to come,” Green told reporters. “We need to continue our investigation and we need to hold a public hearing.”

Contributed by Nick Robertson.