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House GOP probing if Biden was involved in Hunter's

'scheme' to defy subpoena, potential 'impeachable
offense'
The White House said President Biden was ‘certainly familiar with what his son was going to say' when he defied his
subpoena
By Brooke Singman Fox News

Published December 27, 2023 2:45pm EST

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Karine Jean-Pierre: What you heard from Hunter Biden was 'from the heart'
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reacts to the first son skipping his deposition.

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are investigating whether President Biden was
involved in his son Hunter Biden’s "scheme" to defy his subpoena for deposition earlier this
month — conduct, they say, "could constitute an impeachable offense."

The House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Ways & Means
Committee are investigating "whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of
impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House." The House
formalized the inquiry earlier this month.

JORDAN SAYS HUNTER BIDEN MADE A 'HUGE CHANGE' BY SAYING HIS FATHER WAS
'NOT FINANCIALLY INVOLVED' IN BUSINESS

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday penned a letter, obtained by Fox
News Digital, to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, notifying him of the additional area
of their investigation.

"In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in
advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas,
we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President
engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress," Comer and Jordan wrote
to Siskel.

The subpoenas were both for Hunter Biden's deposition — one from Comer and one from
Jordan. The two chairmen planned to hold the deposition in the same room, at the same
time.

Joe and son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The president’s son was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition before the House
Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this month. Hunter Biden defied that
subpoena, and instead, appeared on Capitol Hill and delivered a public statement before
the press.

"On December 13, Mr. Biden did not appear for the deposition as required by the
Committees’ subpoenas. Instead, Mr. Biden appeared on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol
with his attorney and Representative Eric Swalwell," they wrote. "Mr. Biden gave a lengthy
public statement to an assembly of reporters in which he made several statements that
are relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry, including representations about his
business activities, assertions about President Biden’s awareness and ‘financial’
involvement in these activities, and attacks on the Committees’ inquiry."

Hunter Biden "indicated that he would only testify in a public forum, a demand for special
treatment that the Committees had previously rejected."

HUNTER BIDEN WILL NOT SIT FOR DEPOSITION BY GOP, SAYS FATHER NOT
'FINANCIALLY' INVOLVED IN HIS BUSINESS

"Although Mr. Biden professed an interest in answering questions about his actions, he
departed the Capitol grounds without taking any questions. The committees subsequently
recorded Mr. Biden’s non-appearance at his deposition," they wrote.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., Hunter Biden and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. (Getty Images)

But later that day, Comer and Jordan pointed to a statement made by White House Press
Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She was asked whether the president had watched his son’s
public statement.

"White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden was
‘certainly familiar with what his son was going to say,’" they wrote. "Ms. Jean-Pierre
declined, however, to provide any further details about the President’s actions on whether
the president approved of his son defying congressional subpoenas."

They added, though, that Jean-Pierre’s statement "suggests the President had some
amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two congressional
subpoenas."

The chairmen pointed to the criminal code, citing the section which it states that it is
unlawful to "corruptly…endeavor to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper
exercise of the power of inquiry under which any investigation or inquiry is being had by…
committee of either House or any joint committee of Congress."

Hunter Biden and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. (Getty Images)

"Likewise, any person who ‘aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures’ the
commission of a crime is punishable as a principal of the crime," they wrote.

"In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of
the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas," they wrote. "The
Committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business
endeavors have improperly included his father, and the President has made false claims
about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes."

WHITE HOUSE, HUNTER BIDEN’S TEAM KEEP SHIFTING GOALPOSTS IN DENYING DAD’S
INVOLVEMENT WITH BUSINESSES

Comer and Jordan also said that just days before Hunter Biden was scheduled to appear
for his deposition, the president "claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s
business partners."

"This is false," they wrote. "The President has met with, spoken to, and received money
sourced from his son’s foreign business partners."

President Joe Biden at the White House on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Comer and Jordan said that in light of the evidence they have collected, "the fact that the
President had advanced awareness" that his son would defy the subpoenas "raises a
troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to
influence or obstruct the Committee’s proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or
dissuading his son from complying with the Committee’s subpoenas."

"Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense," they wrote.

The chairmen demanded all documents and communications sent or received by the
White House regarding Hunter Biden’s deposition, including communications with Hunter
Biden, law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin Morris.

They also demanded all documents and communications sent or received by employees
of the White House Executive Office regarding the president’s statement about his family’s
business associates on Dec. 6, 2023.

Comer and Jordan gave Siskel until Jan. 10, 2024 to produce the information.

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her at
Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.

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