by House Republicans said Wednesday they were investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden’s decision to defy a congressional subpoena in his latest attempt to link the White House to allegations against the president’s son. .
The chairs of the Oversight and Judiciary Committees wrote a letter to Ed Siskel, the White House counsel, demanding all documents and communications between the president’s office and Hunter Biden, his legal team, and Kevin Morris, a wealthy Hollywood lawyer who is a friend of the president’s son.
What is at stake are the events of December 13, when Hunter Biden appeared at the Capitol, but not to give a closed-door statement as Republicans demanded. Instead, he held a press conference to denounce the Republicans’ investigation into him and his father, and insisted on testifying only in public, suggesting that Republicans would twist his words with selective leaks.
The younger Biden is under federal indictment and faces accusations of tax crimes related to his business interests abroad, including with companies and partners in Ukraine and China. At the news conference, he acknowledged his personal failings, described in scandalous detail in the indictment, but said they had nothing to do with his father.
Republicans subsequently threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying their subpoenas.
In their letter Wednesday, Reps. James R. Comer of Kentucky and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the two presidents leading an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, said they were focusing on a statement made by the press secretary of the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre. She had told reporters on December 13 that the president was “certainly familiar with what his son was going to say.”
“In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden knew in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are forced to examine, as part of our impeachment inquiry, whether the president participated in a conspiracy. obstruct a congressional proceeding,” Comer and Jordan wrote in their letter.
In saying they were investigating obstruction of Congress, Republicans echoed two of the charges in the federal criminal case against former President Donald J. Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.
The House voted this month to formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, as Republicans attempt to link the younger Biden’s conduct to that of his father while seeking evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors. Democrats have denounced the investigation as a fishing expedition and a political stunt, while Trump has applauded it.
