Hunter Biden has an appointment at the Capitol on February 28. The son of Joe Biden, president of the United States, has finally agreed to testify behind closed doors following a new request from a House of Representatives committee that has opened an investigation to try to find evidence for a political prosecution (impeachment) of the president. With the agreement to testify, Hunter Biden avoids a complaint for contempt.
The president’s son had until now volunteered to appear at a public session. He argued that he feared Republicans would manipulate and distort his statement if the public could not witness it. He took advantage of the fact that the Republican chairman of the commission, James Comer, had said publicly that Hunter Biden could choose whether he preferred a closed-door deposition or a public appearance.
When push came to shove, Republicans did not want the session to be public and Hunter Biden refused to testify behind closed doors. He had another trump card in his power: the subpoena had been issued as part of an investigation that had not been approved by the full House and there were, therefore, doubts about whether it was binding.
Still, the commission decided to report Hunter Biden for contempt. In the session on January 10 in which his refusal to appear was being debated, the president’s son showed up by surprise at the Capitol and the Democrats offered to have him testify, but the Republicans again refused. Now it was the plenary session that had to rule on whether Hunter Biden had been in contempt and, if applicable, send a complaint to the Department of Justice. But before the blood reached the river, Hunter Biden was willing to accept a new subpoena now that the investigation already has the support of the plenary session.
“The president’s son is a key witness in this investigation and he is going to be able to come now and sit down and answer questions in a substantive and orderly manner,” Rep. James Comer, chairman of the Oversight Committee, told reporters, according to picks up the Associated Press. He added that Hunter Biden will be able to testify publicly at some point after his testimony.
Republicans are trying, so far without success, to find evidence that Joe Biden profited from his son’s foreign business dealings while he was vice president. Curiously, while they investigate in an almost inquisitorial manner whether any dollars from foreign governments reached the hands of Joe Biden, they naturally defend that Donald Trump’s companies received millions of dollars from foreign governments and public companies when he was president.
Last November, the day he was summoned for the first time, Hunter Biden gave a speech at the doors of the Capitol: “For six years, MAGA Republicans [las siglas del lema de Donald Trump, Make America Great Again], including members of the House of Representatives committees who are currently in closed session, have questioned my character, invading my privacy, attacking my wife, my children, my family and my friends. They ridiculed my struggle with addiction. They have belittled my recovery and attempted to dehumanize me, all to shame and harm my father, who has dedicated his entire life to public service. For six years, I have been the target of Trump’s relentless attack machine screaming, ‘Where’s Hunter?’ Well, here is my answer: here I am,” he said then.
“Let me say it as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my businesses, neither as a practicing lawyer, nor as a member of the board of directors of Burisma [una empresa energética ucrania]”, nor in my association with a private Chinese businessman, nor in my investments in the country or abroad, and much less as an artist,” he continued, highlighting the support of his family: “During my battle against addiction, my parents were by my side. They literally saved my life. “They helped me in a way that I can never repay them, and of course they would never expect me to.”
In parallel, Hunter Biden is accused of 12 alleged crimes in two indictments. Of three, in Wilmington (Delaware) for buying and possessing a gun when he was a drug addict. Of another nine, in Los Angeles (California) for alleged tax fraud. The problems that the president’s son had with his addictions have made him a preferred target of Republicans for years.
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