Hunter Biden defies subpoena, defends business record

Hunter Biden on Wednesday defended his business record and denied that his father, President Joe Biden, was financially involved in it. He spoke to reporters outside the Capitol, where he defied a congressional subpoena to testify behind closed doors.

“I'm proud of my legal career and business career. I'm proud of my time serving on a dozen different boards of directors. And I'm proud of my efforts to forge global business relationships,” Hunter Biden said.

“Let me state as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my business — Not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist,” Hunter said.

“There's no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen,” Biden added.

He reiterated that he would only agree to testify in public, rather than behind closed doors. Republicans have already rejected that offer.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said later Wednesday that they will begin contempt of Congress proceedings against Biden for defying the subpoena.

“We will not provide special treatment because his last name is Biden,” the House committee leaders said in a statement.

Comer, Jordan and other Republicans are leading the investigation into whether the president corruptly profited off his family's business dealings. They have accused Biden of lying about his involvement in his relatives' money-making schemes.

Little evidence has emerged showing Biden accepted bribes or otherwise financially abused his public office as president or as vice president. Democrats have accused Republicans of politicizing the impeachment power.

The House is set to vote later Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry.

An impeachment investigation could extend well into next year, casting a shadow over Biden as he runs for reelection. If the Republican-majority House votes to impeach him, the Democratic controlled Senate will hold an impeachment trial to decide whether to remove him from office.

Former President Donald Trump, the leading 2024 Republican primary candidate, was impeached twice. He was acquitted both times by a Republican controlled Senate.

Comer, Jordan and their allies “have distorted the facts, by cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts I sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners, and misstating personal information that was stolen from me,” Hunter said outside the Capitol.