WASHINGTON – In a long-awaited era closed sediment On Capitol Hill Wednesday, Hunter Biden disputed allegations by House Republicans that President Joe Biden’s son was involved in business deals.
The deposition was conducted by the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, two GOPc-controlled panels. impeachment inquiry against the president.
“I am here today to present to the Committees the one indisputable fact that should put an end to the false premise of this inquiry: I did not implicate my father,” Hunter Biden said in his prepared opening statement. “As long as I am a practicing lawyer, in my domestic or international investments or operations, as a board member and artist. Not ever.”
In his opening remarks, Hunter Biden also sharply criticized the Republican-led investigation as an “unwarranted and destructive political shambles” based on “MAGA-motivated conspiracies.”
“For over a year your committees have been hounding me in my father’s political pursuit,” he said. “You have engaged in innuendo, distortion and sensationalism – while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face. You have no evidence to support baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father, because there is none. .”
According to a transcript obtained by NBC News, Hunter Biden’s attorneys were expected to enter his biography into the record after his opening statement. A source close to Hunter Biden’s legal team said they will use the exhibit to show that Hunter is consistent with what he has done during this time of Republican spotlight.
In an update to reporters, House Democrats who participated in the interview reiterated that Hunter Biden’s answers to Republican questions so far do not warrant an impeachment inquiry into the president.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member D-Md. “I believe, based on this first hour, that this has really been a huge waste of our legislative time and people’s resources,” Rep. Jamie Raskin said.
The first hour of the deposition “is the nail in the coffin of what is a completely bogus and bogus impeachment inquiry,” said D.N.Y., who was lead counsel for Democrats during the first impeachment inquiry at the time. – President Donald Trump in 2019.
“Hunter Biden gave very detailed and clear explanations of what the arms-length business transactions are with private parties who are investors and businessmen in foreign countries,” Goldman said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said Democrats experienced “second-hand embarrassment” when Republicans began asking Hunter Biden about personal details about his divorce from his wife nearly a decade ago, saying they were “so desperate to humiliate the president.”
On the Republican side, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina told reporters that the statements were “bullshit, lies and stupid.”
“This is not about Hunter Biden’s drug problem, which a lot of families are dealing with and it’s sad and horrible and tragic, and I empathize with their family on that,” he said. “It’s about pay-to-play, it’s about corruption, it’s about selling access to the president of the United States.”
Hunter Biden’s appearance came a week after the president’s brother, James Biden. told the deputies In his 50-year business career, Joe Biden has never interfered with his business.
Nearly every witness who testified before the committees said the president’s family was not involved in business deals or could provide no evidence that Hunter Biden’s casual meetings with business associates involved business discussions.
Comptroller James Comer, R-Ky., disputed the testimony in a statement to NBC News, saying the committees found evidence to support the oft-repeated claim that it was “a ‘brand’ sold by the Joe Biden family to enrich the Bidens.”
Comer said that Biden “knew about, participated in, and benefited from these schemes. Joe Biden attended dinners, spoke on speakerphone, went to meetings and had coffee with his son’s foreign business associates. In fact, we documented how Joe Biden. His son almost all met with foreign business associates because together they were sending millions to the Bidens.
While Republican sources on the Oversight Committee previously described Biden’s testimony as a “crescendo” of the House impeachment inquiry, Comer said it would not be the end of the investigation and promised more subpoenas and witnesses would come, but did not say who those people would be. can be. He added that congressional investigators “will continue to monitor the facts to determine whether legislative reforms to federal ethics laws and articles of impeachment are warranted.”
Hunter, a Republican House Oversight Committee source familiar with the preparations, said a transcript of Biden’s deposition would be released “soon” and that Biden’s lawyers would have an opportunity to review it in advance. The source also said the inquiry will report “within the next few months” with legislative or other recommendations and possible criminal investigations.
Republicans first issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden in early November, but through his attorney, he chose not to comply for months. He said he would only testify in public hearings because he felt he did not trust Republicans in personal circumstances.
After months of investigation, Republicans have produced no evidence of wrongdoing by the president, and the White House and Democrats have repeatedly argued that GOP lawmakers’ claims about Biden are false.
At the heart of the impeachment attempt is false information from former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov. who was accused this month and is accused of providing false information to the bureau about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.
The indictment states that Smirnov “provided false and disparaging information to the FBI” about them and “created a new false narrative after saying he met with Russian officials.”
And the Republicans have it He shrugged off the news about the accusations against Smirnova and are still pursuing impeachment investigations despite Democrats’ arguments that the underlying issue is based on lies.
A House Republican Oversight Committee source told NBC News that Smirnov was “a building block, but not the foundation” of the impeachment inquiry. The source said the panel had “many unanswered questions” about Smirnov and would focus the new focus on the FBI and the FBI. confidential human resources program is moving forward.
Hunter Biden named Smirnov in his opening remarks, telling GOP lawmakers that the former FBI informant “deceived you in carrying out the Russian disinformation campaign against my father.”