Hunter Biden told House Republicans on Tuesday he will testify in public any day in December after he was issued a subpoena for a closed-door interview.
‘We take you up on your offer,’ Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to House Oversight Chairman James Comer.
Then Lowell offered the condition to Hunter’s testimony: ‘But – rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process – he will appear at a public Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.’
He explained their reasoning: ‘A public proceeding would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.’
Hunter Biden has been going on the offensive in the charges against him and his latest volley escalates the battle he’s facing with House Republicans.
Republicans responded they want Hunter to testify on the 13th – behind closed doors as they requested but added they would be open to a public testimony too.
Hunter Biden – seen above with his wife Melissa Cohen – offered to testify in public before Congress in December
Lowell’s letter was combative in tone and, in it, Lowell blasted House Republicans for using tax payer dollars in their ’empty investigation.’
‘Your empty investigation has gone on too long wasting too many better-used resources. It should come to an end,’ he wrote.
He went on to add that Hunter was willing to appear on December 13 – which is the date House Republicans asked for – or ‘any date in December we can arrange.’
‘All you will learn is that your accussations are baseless. However, the American people should see that for themselves,’ Lowell wrote.
Rep. James Comer accused Hunter of ‘trying to play by his own rules’ and said they want him to testify as they requested.
‘Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else. That won’t stand with House Republicans,’ Comer said in a statement.
‘Our lawfully issued subpoena to Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13. We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition but also agree that Hunter Biden should have opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date,’ he added.
And Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote on X: ‘We are glad that Hunter Biden has decided to cooperate and we look forward to hearing from him in a deposition on December 13 and subsequently at a public hearing.’
House Republicans are investigating Hunter’s business dealings and have charged President Joe Biden personally benefited from his son using his connections. The Biden family have denied any wrong doing and President Biden has repeatedly said he was not involved in his son’s business affairs.
In November, House Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden and President Biden’s brother James to testify. James Biden was asked to appear for an interview with the panel on Dec. 6 and has yet to respond.
There are risks for Hunter Biden in testifying in public.
He is currently under indictment for gun charges brought by special counsel David Weiss where he has pleaded not guilty.
But additional tax charges could also be handed down, and anything Hunter Biden testified to in a congressional hearing would be admissible in criminal trial.
Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to House Oversight Chairman James Comer
Melissa Cohen and Hunter Biden with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden in Nantucket over the Thanksgiving holiday
Hunter and James were subpoenaed as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry in President Biden, which is used to determine whether there is enough evidence to launch a formal impeachment.
They say they have 12-15 more interviews to conduct.
They must then decide whether to vote on impeachment articles – and force moderates to make a politically fraught vote on whether or not to impeach the president.
Ending an impeachment inquiry without a vote, or with a failed vote, would be an embarrassing defeat for Republicans, and would effectively look like it cleared the president of any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has been going on the offensive after being hit with three federal charges related to his 2018 purchase of a handgun and facing an investigation into his taxes. He has sued the IRS for releasing his tax information, which he claims should have remained confidential.
House Republicans are also investigating if politics affected any decisions about bringing charges against Hunter Biden after a plea deal with federal prosecutors fell apart.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss and Hunter’s lawyers reached a plea deal in July that called for the president’s son to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors’ recommending probation.
A separate felony gun charge of illegally owning the Colt Cobra .38 special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what is known as a diversion agreement.
The plea deal, which Republicans blasted as a ‘sweetheart deal’ fell apart in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge started to question some of its details, including one that including would theoretically protect Hunter Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same period.
Prosecutors said it would not. Hunter’s lawyers said it would. The agreement fell apart. The three federal charges related to the gun purchase were announced on earlier this month.
Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss leaves the interview before members of the House Judiciary Committee in early November
Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month that politics have played ‘no part’ in his investigation into Hunter Biden and that he was never stopped from bringing charges by the Justice Department or other federal offices.
That testimony happened behind closed doors as was part of House Republicans’ probe into Weiss after two IRS whistle blowers claimed Weiss was stiffled in his probe of the president’s son.
‘I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case,’ Weiss said according to his prepared remarks.