Two House committees voted to approve a recommendation to the full House that presidential son Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress for his failure to abide by a House subpoena, multiple media outlets reported Wednesday evening.
The votes were made only a few hours after Biden had showed up, unannounced, at one of the committee hearings in a “stunt” designed to show that he was ready to testify publicly, according to Axios.
House Republicans have insisted that Biden first be deposed behind closed doors before any public hearing would take place, CNN reported.
The House Judiciary voted 23-to-14 in favor of forwarding the contempt recommendation to the House, according to NBC News; the Oversight Committee, voting a little later in the day, recommended the House review 25-to-21.
“Resolved, That Robert Hunter Biden shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena,” the report from the Oversight Committee read.
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“Resolved, That pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §§ 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, detailing the refusal of Robert Hunter Biden to appear for a deposition before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as directed by subpoena, to an appropriate United States attorney, to the end that Mr. Biden be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law,” it continued.
“Resolved, That the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena,” the report said.
Despite the possible referral of Biden to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecution for contempt, CNN noted that Congress has “few — if any — ways to enforce a punishment,” a situation of which Biden and his legal team are certainly aware.
“The Committees have accumulated significant evidence suggesting that President Biden knew of, participated in, and profited from foreign business interests engaged in by his son, about which the Committees intended to question Mr. Biden during his deposition,” the report’s conclusion stated.
Will Hunter Biden’s aggressive tactics end up working well for him?
“However, Mr. Biden brazenly defied the Committees’ subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for a deposition as required by the subpoenas. Mr. Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the Committees’ subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law.”
Democrats on the Hill were apparently as surprised as Republicans at Biden’s sudden appearance in the committee hearing room. It wasn’t immediately known whether Biden had even told his father, President Joe Biden, that he was planning to attend.
Several White House officials only learned of Biden’s Capitol Hill visit when they saw television news reports about it, an unnamed “senior White House official” told CNN.
That, Axios said, was yet another signal that Biden was taking charge of his own defense when it comes to the mounting legal problems he is facing — legal problems that will undoubtedly have at least some impact on the 2024 election.
You can read the 19-page contempt resolution from the House Oversight Committee in its entirety below.
Hunter Biden Contempt Report Oversight by The Western Journal on Scribd
No schedule for a full House vote on the resolution was immediately published, but CNN suggested it could come “as early as next week.”
