Hunter Biden, faced with contempt reference, says subpoenas are invalid
Hunter Biden argued Friday that the subpoenas served on him by House Republicans are invalid. This is his latest attempt to evade their demands to question him behind closed doors in the impeachment inquiry against his father.
In a letter to Congress, Mr. Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, argued that the subpoenas have no legal weight because they were approved before the House voted to open an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
“I am writing to make you aware (if you are not already) that your subpoenas were and are legally invalid and cannot provide a legal basis for proceeding with your misdirected and impermissible contempt resolution,” Mr. Lowell wrote to Rep. James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, and Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio.
The Oversight and Judiciary committees, chaired by Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan respectively, issued subpoenas for the younger Mr. Biden in November, but the full House did not vote to authorize the investigation until mid-December, more than a month later approve. .
Republicans howled in 2019 when Democrats took a similar approach in their first impeachment inquiry into former President Donald J. Trump.
To try to address the issue, their resolution authorizing the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden retroactively approved subpoenas that had already been issued.
But Mr. Lowell wrote that that was insufficient, citing a 2020 opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel that the “subpoena first, impeachment inquiry second” approach was inappropriate.
“If you issue a new, proper subpoena, now that a duly authorized impeachment investigation is underway, Mr. Biden will comply with a hearing or deposition,” Mr. Lowell wrote.
Hunter Biden has embarked on an aggressive strategy to counter Republicans' efforts to question him behind closed doors. He has repeatedly appeared unannounced on Capitol Hill to demonstrate his willingness to testify publicly at a hearing but refuses to do so in private.
Mr. Biden has said he worries that Republicans will leak parts of his testimony without proper context, in an effort to hurt him legally and harm his father politically. Republicans counter that Hunter Biden fears prolonged questioning by staff attorneys and prefers the partisan theatrics and circus atmosphere that often comes with a politically charged congressional hearing.
On Wednesday, both the Judiciary and Oversight Committees voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. A vote in the full House could take place as soon as next week.
Mr. Comer said in an interview that he was confident the derogatory quote would pass, but given the Republican Party's several vacancies and the party's narrow margin of control in the House of Representatives, he would likely need every Republican to be present.
“If everyone is here, we have the votes,” he said.
Should the full House approve the contempt citation, it will be up to federal prosecutors to decide whether to pursue criminal charges. Contempt offenses carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Hunter Biden is already under federal indictment on charges of tax crimes related to his foreign business interests, including with companies and partners in Ukraine and China. He pleaded not guilty Thursday during a hearing in Los Angeles, and a judge set a tentative trial date for June.
Republicans' impeachment inquiry is trying to unearth evidence that his father was improperly involved in his foreign business dealings, but so far they have turned up no evidence.