Hunter Biden chose to hold a presser on Capitol Hill instead of complying with a congressional subpoena earlier this month. This act, in and of itself, means that he now has new legal problems. However, it also means the House Republicans can add a new offense to Biden’s list of impeachable crimes.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre let a detail slip during a White House press briefing that Joe Biden spoke with Hunter before he defied the subpoena and knew what he was going to say.
“Look,” she said, “as you know, Hunter Biden is a private citizen. And so, I certainly would refer you to his representatives. Look, you know, the president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say. And I think what you saw was from the heart of his son.”
Jonathan Turley, a constitutional scholar, called Jean-Pierre’s admission “a breath-taking mistake.”
If this latest allegation was true, then the president spoke with his son regarding committing an act of possible criminal contempt. Hunter refused to testify about his involvement in the alleged influence-peddling, but rather on his father’s possible role. Turley said that the House could pursue evidence about this conversation and whether or not the president supported his son.
Now that’s the question Republicans are asking. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer (R. Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R. Ohio) announced on Tuesday that they were investigating “whether or not President Biden attempted to influence or obstruct Committees proceedings by preventing or discouraging his son Hunter Biden from complying with Committees subpoenas in the House of Representatives ongoing impeachment investigation” which, they said, “could be an impeachable offense.”
Jean-Pierre’s claim that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter’s plans and Jean-Pierre’s statement is important evidence.
In a letter sent to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, Chairmen Comer & Jordan wrote: “In light a White House official statement that President Biden knew in advance that Hunter Biden would knowingly ignore two congressional subpoenas. We are therefore compelled to investigate as part of our investigation into impeachment whether the President has engaged in a plot to obstruct the proceedings of Congress.” According to the relevant section in the criminal code it is illegal to “corruptly. . . The act of attempting to influence, obstruct, or hinder the proper and due exercise of investigative powers by any investigator or inquirer. . . Any committee of either House or any joint committees of the Congress[. “Anyone who aids, abets or counsels a crime, commands it, induces it, or procures its commission is punished as the principal.”
Joe Biden didn’t need to add this to the list of bribery, influence peddling, and other things that House Republicans uncovered in their ongoing investigation. Jean-Pierre should be fired for revealing the nugget of info that Republicans now treat as evidence.
Comer and Jordan wrote: “In light of Ms. Jean Pierre’s statement we are compelled to examine the President’s involvement in his son’s scheme to resist the Committees’ subpoenas.” The Committees have accumulated significant evidence that Hunter Biden’s business ventures improperly involved his father. And the President has falsely claimed his knowledge and participation in these schemes.
