Hunter Biden is willing to testify publicly before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on any day in December, according to his lawyer Abbe Lowell.
In a letter sent to Oversight chairman James Comer (R., Ky.), Lowell said the president’s son will testify before the congressional panel rather than show up to a private deposition. The correspondence was written in response to House Republicans subpoenaing Hunter Biden on November 8 for a closed-door deposition as part of the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
“We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public. We therefore propose opening the door … rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process,” Lowell wrote Tuesday in a letter.
Hunter Biden’s attorney said he can appear at the public hearing on December 13, or any other date next month that both parties can agree on. Comer provided a statement to National Review in response to the letter, maintaining that Hunter Biden is still ordered to appear for a private deposition.
“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,” the Kentucky Republican said. “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.”
Rob Walker, a business associate to the Biden family, and James Biden, the president’s brother, were also subpoenaed for depositions.
Hunter Biden has ramped up his legal counter-offensive in the past three months, as House Republicans continue to investigate the Biden family’s alleged involvement in influence-peddling schemes while his father was vice president.
The younger Biden has filed multiple lawsuits — one of which targeted former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani — and has also challenged his federal indictment on three gun charges by claiming the prosecution was pressured by Republicans, according to Politico. He also tried to subpoena former president Donald Trump earlier this month.
Comer’s Oversight staff and the House Judiciary Committee, led by Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), are considering President Biden for impeachment, investigating whether or not he financially benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings when serving in the Obama administration.
Both committees have uncovered such evidence in recent weeks, including a $200,000 personal check that James Biden sent his older brother after the former received the same amount in a loan payment from his now-bankrupt healthcare business, Americore. The White House has repeatedly insisted the check was merely a “loan repayment” and that there was nothing suspicious about the transaction.
The subpoenas issued this month were the latest step in House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) previously endorsed the inquiry, which former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) launched in September.