What They Are Saying: Hunter Biden Fails to Make a Point with Stunt Appearance to Distract from Contempt for Congress
WASHINGTON—As the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability today began a markup to consider a resolution and accompanying report to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, Hunter Biden flaunted his own defiance of congressional subpoenas by making a brief appearance at the markup as his latest political stunt.
Make no mistake: Hunter Biden’s attempt to avoid sitting for a deposition pursuant to the terms of his congressional subpoenas is a criminal act.
Even the media and Democrat attorneys are fed up with Hunter Biden’s political stunts and are calling on him to cooperate with the Committees’ questions. “You don’t get to say, no…I will comply with subpoena only if you do it my way,” Democrat attorney Julian Epstein, a former colleague of Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, said on Fox News today.
“We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name” Chairman Comer emphasized in opening remarks at the markup.
Here’s what they are saying:
WSJ Editorial Board: Hunter Biden’s Contempt of Congress Circus
“The committee was marking up a criminal contempt resolution against him when the President’s son surprised everyone by showing up, and staying about 10 minutes before departing and creating a media spectacle.
“It was a repeat of his performance on Dec. 13, the day he had been subpoenaed to give a deposition. Then he showed up outside the Capitol to denounce Republicans, insist he would only testify at a public hearing (where questions are more limited), and then left without taking any questions. Now he is daring them to hold him in contempt.
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Despite Democratic claims that Hunter is right to refuse because he offered to testify in public, that’s not his choice to make. His choice is either to answer the question put to him or invoke his Fifth Amendment right to decline. Either way, he has to appear.
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“Today House Republicans want Hunter Biden to do what those subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee had to do: testify in a closed-door deposition before appearing at a public hearing. In the end Hunter’s stunt probably eliminated any Republican reservations about holding him in contempt.”
New York Magazine: Hunter Biden’s Stunt Appearance in Congress Was a Mess
“Over the past several weeks — even though he held a press conference outside the Capitol — the younger Biden has ignored a subpoena from the committee to sit for a closed-door deposition amid the impeachment inquiry launched in December to determine if the president has ever directly benefitted from his son’s business dealings.
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“Biden, perhaps realizing this was not a productive idea, left the room just as Marjorie Taylor Greene was given an opportunity to speak. ‘Apparently, you’re afraid of my words,’ she said as he walked out to a gaggle of reporters in the hall.”
“The president’s troubled son, 53, burst through the doors of a hearing by the Oversight Committee where Republicans were going to mark up and vote on a resolution to hold him in contempt.
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“Hunter staged the spectacular stunt and sat and listened as GOP Rep. Nancy Mace said he ‘had no b***s’ and ‘should be in jail’ for refusing to sit for a deposition behind closed doors.”
National Review: Hunter Biden Piles Contempt upon Contempt
“Late last year, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena seeking testimony from the younger Biden, compelling him to answer the committee’s questions behind closed doors. His attorneys disregarded this courtesy, treating it as an opportunity to enter into public negotiations with the committee over the terms to which their client might graciously submit to Congress’s demand.
“Hunter Biden wanted to testify in public and before the cameras — a request the Republican-led committee denied. Rather than observe Congress’s authority, Hunter Biden made a theatrical show of appearing in Washington on the day he was supposed to comply with the subpoena, but only to issue a fiery condemnation of House Republicans.
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“At no point has Hunter Biden demonstrated anything other than contempt for Congress.”
The Messenger: A Party of Short Sellers: Why Democrats Need to Re-Think Hunter’s Contempt
“Now, Democrats are about to do another short sell. They are expected to unanimously oppose holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress despite his flagrant violation of a subpoena to appear for a standard closed deposition. It is the very same demand made by Democrats in prior congresses, before witnesses subsequently appeared for public hearings on controversies like the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“Raskin said that Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) ‘repeatedly urged Hunter Biden to appear at a committee hearing, and Hunter Biden agreed’ — without mentioning, of course, that Hunter set his own conditions on any appearance.”
Fox News: Hunter Biden ‘PR stunt’ criticized by Democratic attorney: ‘Not how the system works’
“During a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance as lawmakers weighed holding the president’s son in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena. On ‘The Brian Kilmeade Show,’ Democratic attorney Julian Epstein, a former colleague of Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, ripped the ‘PR stunt’ and argued the Biden family would be ‘better off’ answering questions about the family business dealings.”