Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, has declined an invitation from House Republicans to appear in a public hearing scheduled for next week alongside his former business associates. In a scathing letter to Rep. James Comer (R-TN), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, characterized the probe into his client's business dealings abroad as a "carnival side show" and a "made-for-right-wing-media, circus act."
The invitation, sent by Comer last week, stated that three of Biden's former business associates, all currently facing their own legal challenges, were set to testify before the committee about allegedly illegal business deals involving the Bidens. Lowell, however, dismissed the invitation as "not a serious oversight proceeding" and an attempt to "resuscitate your Conference's moribund inquiry."
In his letter, Lowell also cited a scheduling conflict with a court hearing in California on March 21 as one of the reasons for declining the invitation. He went on to criticize the credibility of two of the invited former business partners, Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, labeling them as "discredited."
Comer, in a statement, slammed Hunter Biden for turning down the invitation to testify publicly after months of calling for a public deposition. "Hunter Biden for months stated he wanted a public hearing, but now that one has been offered alongside his business associates that he worked with for years, he is refusing to come," Comer said, vowing to proceed with the hearing as planned.
The Oversight chairman also claimed that during Hunter Biden's closed-door deposition on Feb. 28, which lasted seven hours, the younger Biden confirmed "key evidence" but contradicted testimony from former business partners who appeared before House investigators. Democrats in attendance, however, described the deposition as an "embarrassing spectacle" that accomplished nothing and wasted government resources.
In a transcript of the deposition, Hunter Biden repeatedly insisted that his father never received money or benefited financially from any of his business ventures. He also came out swinging at Republicans in a prepared statement, accusing them of engaging in a "partisan political pursuit" of his father and trafficking in "innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, criticized Comer for scheduling a public hearing after he skipped out on much of Biden's deposition last month.
The House GOP's probe into the Bidens has faced setbacks in recent weeks, particularly after the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, a one-time FBI informant who allegedly lied about President Biden and his son accepting $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian energy company. Prosecutors revealed that Smirnov claimed to have ties to Russian intelligence officials.
Lowell seized on this development, denouncing the impeachment inquiry as "based on a patchwork of conspiracies spun by convicted liars and a charged Russian spy." He expressed his belief that even Comer "would recognize your baseless impeachment proceeding was dead."
As the political battle over Hunter Biden's business dealings continues to unfold, the House Oversight Committee's public hearing is set to proceed on March 20, despite the younger Biden's refusal to participate. The outcome of this hearing and its impact on the larger impeachment inquiry against President Biden remain to be seen, as both sides continue to trade accusations of partisan motives and questionable credibility.
