Republicans

on Wednesday

taken the first step

Wednesday

toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena. They advanced the charge for a vote in the full House just hours after the president’s son stoked a temporary political frenzy by appearing in the front row for part of the debate.

The House of Representatives Oversight and Judiciary committees each passed contempt charges against the younger Biden, with unanimous Republican support, and all Democrats opposed. The action sets up a House vote on recommending criminal charges against a member of President Biden’s family, as the Republican Party enters the final stages of an impeachment inquiry into the president himself.

If the House votes to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, it will be up to the Justice Department, and specifically the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, to decide whether to prosecute him.

It is the latest step in the investigation, which began in September but has not yet uncovered evidence directly implicating the president in misconduct involving his son’s business dealings.

Hunter Biden has defended his failure to comply with the subpoena issued by the Republican Party, which ordered him to appear for closed-door testimony in mid-December. He and his lawyers said information from private interviews could be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans, and insisted he testify only publicly.

His arrival with his legal team, including attorney Abbe Lowell, before the Oversight Committee that has been investigating him for a year, threw the panel into chaos.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina insisted he would be arrested quickly. Democratic representatives argue that the younger Biden should be allowed to speak in public. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called him a coward as he left during her remarks.

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) struggled to regain control of the hearing.

Mr. Biden doesn’t make the rules; We make the rules, he said.

He and his lawyers left the committee room shortly afterwards and made a brief statement to reporters outside. Lowell reiterated Wednesday that his client, unlike the president, was and is a private citizen.

Still, Republicans have tried to use him as a surrogate to attack his father, Lowell said. And despite their improper partisan motives, on six separate occasions since February 2023, we have offered to work with House committees to see what and how information relevant to a legitimate investigation could be provided.

Hunter Biden’s only comments to reporters came when he was asked why he had his father on speakerphone multiple times during business meetings.

If he called you, would you answer the phone? he replied.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also emphasized on Wednesday that the younger Biden is a private citizen. She would not say whether the White House was notified in advance that he planned to appear on Capitol Hill.

He makes his own decisions, as he did today, Jean-Pierre said.

If the contempt referral against Hunter Biden is passed by the full House, it would pose a new challenge for federal prosecutors who are already under heavy scrutiny for their handling of charges against him related to his taxes and his gun purchase .

Suspending the contempt of Congress charges would likely further fuel conservative criticism that the Justice Department has been politicized, especially given that twice

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advisors to former President Trump were prosecuted by the Biden administration for contempt of Congress. But prosecuting contempt cases can be difficult.

What angered Republicans even more was that Hunter Biden came to the Capitol last month on the day specified by the subpoena, but not to testify. Instead, he stood behind microphones outside the Capitol complex, a few hundred yards from waiting Republican investigators, and made a rare public statement defending his business dealings and denouncing the years-long investigations into him and his family.

There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my company because this did not happen, the president’s son said in those comments.

He added: “There is no honesty or decency in what these Republicans are doing. They have lied again and again about every aspect of my personal and professional life, so much so that their lies have become the false facts that too many people believe. ”

House Speaker Mike Johnson approved the contempt process on Wednesday and said the chamber must maintain its subpoena power.

We must do this. This is our role. It is our responsibility,” the Louisiana Republican said at a news conference. But he added that he didn’t enjoy this at all.

The contempt resolution, released by Republicans on Monday, said Hunter Biden’s conduct “had been contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions.”

While Republicans say their investigation is ultimately focused on the president, they have taken a particular interest in Hunter Biden and his foreign business dealings, questioning whether the president has profited from that work.

Republicans have also focused much of their investigation on whistleblower allegations of political interference in the Justice Department’s long-running investigation into Hunter Biden.

The two committees’ vote on contempt of Congress came Wednesday, a day before the younger Biden is scheduled to make his first court appearance on tax charges brought by a special prosecutor in Los Angeles. He faces three felonies and six misdemeanors, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file a return and failure to pay.

His attorney has accused David Weiss, the special prosecutor overseeing the yearslong case against him, of bowing to Republican pressure by filing the charges.