WASHINGTON – Hunter Biden weighed in on House Republicans' claims that President Joe Biden was improperly involved in business dealings as he met with lawmakers as part of a major impeachment inquiry into the president and his family. I strongly refused.
“I did not involve my father in my business,” his prepared opening statement said. “There is no evidence to support this baseless, MAGA-motivated conspiracy about my father, because there is none.”
Hunter Biden appears before investigators for closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning as Republicans claim Joe Biden influenced U.S. foreign policy to financially benefit his family did. Hunter Biden's business development is at the center of criticism from House Republicans.
To date, investigators have yet to find any evidence directly linking Joe Biden to his family's troubles. Hunter Biden's long-awaited testimony before investigators could be the last chance for House Republicans to ratchet up the accusations against the president, but the lawmakers leading the probe have rejected that characterization and have been in the news for months. He said the investigation will not end after Hunter Biden's deposition. .
“This deposition is not the conclusion of the impeachment inquiry,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told USA TODAY in a statement ahead of the deposition. “More subpoenas and witness interviews are expected.”
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Before Hunter Biden's testimony, Comer told reporters that the president's family was trying to sell their last name as a “brand” as part of a “plan to expand their influence over the family.” repeated the claim.
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House Republicans questioned Joe Biden's brother James Biden in a closed-door interview last week in a long-awaited testimony that largely failed, with Biden denying the president's involvement in business dealings. Hunter Biden is expected to take similar action and protect his father from any accusations of wrongdoing.
“Republicans have taken my communications out of context and are relying on doctored documents and select fragments of financial and other records to misrepresent what actually happened,” his statement read. I could continue. “If you try to do the same thing again today, my answer will reveal your tactics and prove the truth that my father has no involvement in my business.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday morning after Hunter Biden's testimony that “this investigation is closed at this point,” adding, “There are no questions that need to be pursued.” There's really nothing left.”
Why is Hunter Biden testifying?
House Republicans have long sought to question Biden about his overseas business dealings as part of the president's impeachment inquiry, and last year engaged in lengthy back-and-forth with Biden and his lawyers over his testimony.
Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, subpoenaed Hunter Biden last year to compel him to testify before the committee, but Biden publicly He ignored the subpoena and instead delivered a passionate and violent speech in front of the National Diet Building. On the day he was called to testify, he defended his father against accusations of wrongdoing.
Hunter Biden and his representatives have refused to testify publicly because of concerns that if they did so privately, investigators would selectively leak parts of the records and distort their testimony. He insisted. But House Republicans argued that House Democrats would have disrupted the hearing.
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After Hunter Biden defied a subpoena, House Republicans moved to hold him in contempt of Congress, but both parties later asked him to first meet with investigators in private. It was agreed that he would be allowed to testify and then speak before the committee at a public hearing.
What are the House Republicans' case against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden?
House Republicans have long argued that Joe Biden influenced U.S. foreign policy to support his family's businesses while also benefiting financially from the deals.
The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have questioned several business associates of the Biden family, most of whom told lawmakers the president had no direct involvement in their business affairs.
For example, Devon Archer, one of Hunter Biden's longtime business partners, told Republicans last year that while Hunter Biden sometimes puts the president on speakerphone during business conversations, Joe Biden He pointed out that they only exchanged small talk over the phone, such as small talk about fishing. And the weather.
But one witness, Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of James Biden, told investigators that Joe Biden “enabled” his brother's business relationship with a bankrupt Chinese energy conglomerate. did.
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But Bobulinski's testimony and claims were challenged by several other witnesses, including Rob Walker, another of Hunter Biden's former business partners. James Biden and the Democratic Party also dismissed Mr. Bobulinski's accusations, insisting that Mr. Bobulinski remained dissatisfied with being removed from his family's business dealings.
“This has been a comedy of errors from the beginning,” Raskin told reporters Wednesday morning.
House Republicans are expected to question Hunter Biden about various aspects of his business activities, including his seat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, his dealings with companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and his work as an art and art gallery dealer. ing.
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Democrats will almost certainly take up the prosecution of FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who was falsely indicted for his involvement in Joe Biden and Hunter Biden's Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Before Mr. Smirnov's indictment and after his arrest, House Republicans used the FBI's FD-1023 form (a document used to record information from confidential human sources) as credible evidence supporting allegations of wrongdoing by the president. It was advertised as. In his letter, Smirnov alleged that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were involved in a corrupt and bribery scheme with Burisma.
But since Mr. Smirnov's arrest, Republicans have downplayed his prosecution, insisting that their far-reaching investigation did not rely on the FD-1023 form. In any case, Smirnov's indictment significantly undermines Republican claims that Joe Biden was improperly involved in Hunter Biden's business dealings.
Following Smirnov's indictment, Raskin called on Republicans to halt the impeachment inquiry immediately, arguing that there was no basis for continuing it.