Hunter Biden defies congressional subpoena, says will only testify in public

Hunter Biden on Wednesday defied a congressional subpoena to appear privately for a deposition before Republican investigators who have been digging into his business dealings, insisting outside the US Capitol that he will only testify in public.

In a rare public statement, the Democratic president's son slammed a GOP subpoena requesting closed-door testimony, saying it could be manipulated.

"Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say," Biden said outside the Capitol. "What are they afraid of? I am here."

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has said Republicans expect "full cooperation" with the private deposition. Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters later Wednesday that they will begin looking at contempt of Congress proceedings in response to Hunter Biden's lack of cooperation.

"He just got into more trouble today," Comer said.

For months, Republicans have been pursuing an impeachment inquiry seeking to tie President Joe Biden to his son Hunter's business dealings. So far, they have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating President Biden in any wrongdoing.

Democrats have been united against the Republican impeachment push, saying it's "an illegitimate exercise" merely meant to distract from GOP chaos and dysfunction.

"We are at a remarkable juncture for the U.S. House of Representatives," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. "Because this is an impeachment inquiry where no one has been able to define what criminal or constitutional offence they're looking for."

But questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family's international business, and lawmakers insist their evidence paints a troubling picture of "influence peddling" in their business dealings, particularly with clients overseas.

"There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen," Hunter Biden said.

Separately, Hunter Biden is facing criminal charges in two states from a special counsel overseeing a long-running investigation. He's charged with firearm counts in Delaware, alleging he broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction. Special counsel David Weiss also filed new charges and nine new tax counts last week, alleging he schemed to avoid paying about $1.4 million in taxes over a three-year period.

Later Wednesday, the House is expected to authorize the impeachment inquiry into the president. House Republicans are hoping a vote to formalize their investigation will help their legal standing when enforcing subpoenas to Hunter Biden and other Biden family members.

"Mr. Biden's counsel and the White House have both argued that the reason he couldn't come for a deposition was because there wasn't a formal vote for an impeachment inquiry," Jordan told reporters. "Well, that's going to happen in a few hours."

He added, "And when that happens, we'll see what their excuse is then."

The White House has chalked the whole process up as a "partisan smear campaign" that Republicans are pushing ahead with "despite the fact that members of their own party have admitted there is no evidence to support impeaching President Biden."

"If they press onwards with this baseless fishing expedition, it only proves how divorced from reality this sham investigation is, and will come at the expense of meaningful work to actually address the issues the American people care about, like lowering costs, creating jobs, and strengthening our health care," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a recent statement.