WASHINGTON – Hunter Biden faces questions Wednesday from members of two Republican-led House committees in a closed-door deposition that President Joe Biden's son has refused to participate in for months. .
The depositions are being conducted by two committees that have led the impeachment inquiry into the president: the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.
“I am here today to end the false premise of this investigation and provide the committee with one undisputed fact: that I did not involve my father in my business. “We have not done so,” he said in his prepared opening statement. “Never when I was a lawyer, never when I was involved in domestic or international investments or transactions, never as a board member, never as an artist.”
In a prepared statement, Hunter Biden harshly criticized the Republican-led investigation as a “baseless and destructive political farce” based on a “MAGA-driven conspiracy.”
“For over a year, the committee has been hounding me in a partisan political pursuit of my father,” he said. “You trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism while ignoring clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face. We have no evidence to support a MAGA-motivated conspiracy.”
Hunter Biden's lawyers plan to enter Biden's resume into the record as evidence after opening statements, according to a copy obtained by NBC News. A person close to Hunter Biden's legal team said they intend to use the exhibit to make the case that Hunter is qualified for the job he was doing during this period of focus for Republicans. .
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told reporters ahead of his testimony that if lawmakers were satisfied with Hunter Biden's testimony, “that would be the end of this issue.” ” he said.
“I think this investigation is closed at this point,” Raskin said, noting that no one has been able to prove that President Biden committed any high crimes or misdemeanors.
Hunter Biden comes a week after the president's brother James Biden told lawmakers that Joe Biden has never been involved in his work during his 50-year business career. Appear in court.
Nearly every witness who testified before the committee presented evidence that the president was not involved in his family's business dealings or that occasional chance meetings with Hunter Biden's business partners involved business discussions. He says he couldn't do it.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) disputed this testimony in a statement to NBC News, saying, “Joe Biden was a 'brand' sold by the Biden family to enrich them.” He said the committee had found evidence to support his oft-repeated claim. ”
Comer said Biden was “aware of, participated in, and benefited from these plans.” Joe Biden attended dinners, spoke on speakerphone, appeared at meetings and had coffee with his son's foreign business associates. In fact, we are documenting how Joe Biden behaved. He met with nearly all of his son's foreign business associates, who were collectively funneling millions of dollars to the Biden family. ”
Republican officials on the oversight committee have previously described Biden's testimony as the “culmination” of the House impeachment inquiry, but Comer said it is not the end of the investigation and is not expected to issue further subpoenas. He promised a witness, but gave no details on who that witness would be. Might be so. He added that Congressional investigators “will continue to follow the facts to inform legislative reform of federal ethics laws and determine whether the articles of impeachment are warranted.”
A Republican House Oversight Committee official with knowledge of the preparations said Hunter Biden's deposition would be released “promptly” and Biden's lawyers would have an opportunity to review it in advance. The official also said the investigation is expected to produce a report “in the coming months” with legislative and other recommendations, as well as possible criminal charges.
Republicans first issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden in early November, but Biden, through his lawyer, chose not to comply with the subpoena for months. He said he would only testify at the hearing because he felt he did not trust Republicans in private.
Hunter Biden spoke out in an unusual public appearance at the Capitol in December, calling out “MAGA Republicans who have attacked my character, invaded my privacy, and attacked my wife, children, family, and friends” for six years. He said he was being targeted. . They mocked my struggle with addiction. They belittled my recovery and tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and hurt my father, who had dedicated his life to service. ”
Sources say Hunter Biden is “ready” to take a deposition, saying they don't believe Republicans on the committee have evidence to support their claims and that they're using old electronic He added that he would focus on taking emails out of context.
Hunter Biden plans to reiterate what he and other witnesses have previously said before the committee, that his father was not involved in his business, the people said. The president's son will acknowledge the “mistakes” caused by his addiction, but will stress that he, not his father, is responsible for it, the people said.
After months of investigation, Republicans have presented no evidence of wrongdoing by the president, and the White House and Democrats have repeatedly said the claims made by Republicans about Biden are false.
A House Democratic official told NBC News that rather than finding evidence of wrongdoing by the president, the investigation “uncovered a mountain of exculpatory evidence that disproves their claims” against Biden.
“The evidence could not be any clearer. Joe Biden was not involved in, did not profit from, or took any official action to benefit from the family's business dealings,” the source said. Stated. “So how can Republicans justify continuing to pour Congressional resources and millions of taxpayer dollars into a discredited impeachment inquiry after 14 months of investigation?”
The impeachment effort is centered on former FBI intelligence officer Alexander Smirnov, who was indicted this month for allegedly feeding the bureau false information about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign. This is false information obtained.
The indictment says Smirnov “provided false and derogatory information to the FBI” about them and “spread new false stories after stating that he had met with Russian officials.”
But Republicans have ignored news of the charges against Mr. Smirnov and are still moving ahead with the impeachment inquiry, despite claims by Democrats that the central issues of impeachment are based on falsehoods.
A Republican House Oversight Committee official told NBC News that Smirnov was “a brick, but not the foundation” of the impeachment inquiry, adding that the committee had “many unanswered questions” about Smirnov. He said he would put a new focus on the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our confidential talent source program will continue.
Hunter Biden referenced Smirnov in his opening statement, telling Republican lawmakers that the former FBI informant “made you a coward in running the Russian disinformation campaign that was waged against my father.” he said.
