After surprise trip to Capitol Hill, Hunter Biden faces contempt vote from House GOP for defying subpoena

WASHINGTON – Two House committees voted Wednesday to hold Hunter Biden in contempt for defying subpoenas, an official sanction that followed a dramatic and surprise appearance by the president's son on Capitol Hill.

The fiery showdown − dismissed by some Republicans as a political stunt − at the House Oversight and Accountability Committee was the latest development in a long-running drama over the Republican-led investigation of Hunter Biden and his father. Republicans have accused President Joe Biden of influence peddling through his son’s overseas business deals, which the White House and president have called baseless lies.

The Judiciary Committee voted 23-14 along party lines to hold Hunter Biden in contempt for defying their subpoena. The Oversight committee voted 25-21 along party lines.

The full House will now consider the resolution, which recommends the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Hunter Biden. Criminal referrals from Congress typically go to the U.S. attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves, whose office prosecuted two cases − against political strategist Steve Bannon and former White House aide Peter Navarro − during the bipartisan House investigation of the 2021 Capitol riot and declined to prosecute former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino.

The votes came hours after Hunter Biden strolled smiling into the Oversight meeting, sparking a fierce reaction among lawmakers who called him a coward. He sat, at times with arms crossed or leaning forward, in the front row as lawmakers debated his potential testimony and called each other names.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Hunter Biden should be arrested on the spot.

“You’re the epitome of white privilege, coming to the Oversight committee and spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of? You have no balls,” Mace said. “I think Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now and go straight to jail.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., countered with a proposal for Hunter Biden to testify immediately, which the Republicans presiding refused to accept. The chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said lawmakers would set the rules of his appearance, not Biden.

“Mr. Biden doesn’t make the rules,” Comer said. “We make the rules.”

Biden walked out as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., began speaking.

“I think it’s clear and obvious for everyone watching this hearing today that Hunter Biden is terrified of strong, conservative Republican women,” said Greene, who in July displayed nude pictures of Biden at a hearing. “What a coward.”

In the hallway outside the meeting, Biden lawyer Abbe Lowell told reporters Hunter Biden had offered six times to testify at a public hearing to avoid having his comments selectively leaked, but was rejected. The Judiciary Committee was also meeting to vote on a contempt resolution.

“The Republican chairs today are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions,” Lowell said. “The question there is: What are they afraid of?”

Comer said after the committee vote Republicans were puzzled by his appearance.

"Hunter Biden brazenly walked into our hearing unannounced after committing a criminal act when he defied our duly issued subpoenas," Comer said in a statement. "We have no idea why he showed up."

The votes carry no penalty but serve as a public rebuke to Biden. The full House could vote on the resolutions and recommend the Justice Department charge him criminally, as happened twice to Trump administration officials. But the department under President Joe Biden isn’t expected to charge his son.

Biden already faces federal gun and tax charges. He is set to be arraigned Thursday on the tax charges.

The contempt votes at the Judiciary Committee and the Oversight and Accountability Committee mark the latest salvo from Republicans investigating President Joe Biden for alleged influence peddling through his son. The House has voted to open a formal impeachment inquiry.

Joe Biden and the White House have dismissed the accusations as “lies” and “baseless.”

Republicans allege Hunter Biden funneled millions of dollars to himself and his relatives through lucrative business deals in Ukraine, China and elsewhere by trading on his father's position as vice president and president.

The White House has argued Joe Biden didn't participate in his son's business and that lawmakers have uncovered no direct payments. Checks to the president from his brother, James Biden, who was also involved in some of the deals − which lawmakers charged was money laundering − were loan repayments, according to the White House.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said a dozen witnesses and thousands of pages of documents haven’t revealed any wrongdoing by Joe Biden or the Biden administration.

“After all of that work, House Republicans have found not a shred of evidence to suggest that President Biden was anything other than a supportive father to his son,” Nadler said.

Tensions run high in Hunter Biden investigation

Republicans and Democrats have tangled repeatedly and vocally about how the investigation is being conducted. At one point, Moskowitz held up a poster of Donald Trump with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, even though there is no evidence linking Trump to Epstein's illegal activities.

The top Democrat on the Oversight committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, quoted Comer from national broadcast or streaming interviews on Sept. 13, Oct. 31, Nov. 6 and Nov. 28 inviting Hunter Biden to testify at a hearing.

“The chairman has refused to take yes for an answer,” Raskin said.

But Republicans have insisted on a closed-door deposition first to question Biden, to avoid anticipated Democratic grandstanding and delaying tactics.

“He can come in for a hearing – after a deposition,” Comer said.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., complained about lawmakers interrupting and talking over each other.

“This is absurd and inappropriate,” Biggs said. “I think you have decorum and courtesy and don’t act like a bunch of nimrods.”

Democrats accused GOP of hypocrisy over enforcing subpoenas

Democrats noted that a handful of Republican members of Congress – former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, former Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania – defied subpoenas from the committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, without being found in contempt.

Moskowitz, in the Oversight committee, offered to vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt if Republicans added the names of Republican lawmakers to the resolution.

Jordan now heads the Judiciary Committee and is a member of the Oversight committee.

“The chairman himself blew off a valid subpoena," Nadler said. "What chutzpah. What gall."

Jordan didn’t respond to Nadler’s comment about his subpoena, but said Hunter Biden deserved a contempt citation.

“This flagrant disregard for Congress’ constitutional oversight role clearly merits a citation of contempt,” Jordan said. “It’s an open and shut case.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House GOP votes to cite Hunter Biden for contempt for defying subpoena