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In a fiery response, Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused special counsel David Weiss of “bowing to Republican pressure” in the case. Control of the House is unclear, with the results in several races still not final, but Republicans are expected to hold a slim majority, a much different outcome than top GOP leaders forecasted in a "red wave" that failed to materialize. Comer admitted he expected his party would win more seats, but as for his planned investigations he said nothing has changed — "full steam ahead." Separately, Hunter Biden on Thursday pleaded not guilty to nine federal tax charges in federal court in California. Prosecutors allege the president's son engaged in a years-long scheme to avoid paying more than $1 million in taxes.
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Republicans charged ahead, insisting they had a closed-door deposition with Hunter Biden to prepare for, even though they had repeatedly put those unverified claims at the center of their case. Less than a month later, the House removed McCarthy as speaker, leading to three weeks of chaos and paralysis, which put the inquiry on hold at a moment when the pressure to deliver was building. The expert GOP witnesses testified they supported the opening of the inquiry, but the takeaway became their acknowledgement that Republicans did not yet have the evidence to prove the accusations they were leveling. Shortly after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally launched the inquiry, Comer held his first hearing in September, hoping to deliver a splashy opening salvo to set the tone for the investigation and bring to the forefront months of behind-the-scenes work. “Chairman Comer has done extraordinary work leading a fair investigation and carefully following the facts where they lead,” Johnson, who has worked to tamp down concerns that the investigation has not moved fast enough, said in a statement to CNN. Washington (CNN) — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer was eager to take the reins of a high-stakes investigation into President Joe Biden and his family, seen as central to the House Republican agenda – a coveted perch that brought the added benefit of elevating his national profile.
To pass Ukraine aid, 'Reagan Republican' leaders in Congress navigated a party transformed by Trump
The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees both subpoenaed Hunter Biden to sit for depositions, but did so before the full House voted to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden last month. The Republicans who lead the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Judiciary Committee announced Friday that they will hold votes on contempt charges against Hunter Biden as the GOP moves into the final stages of its impeachment inquiry. The Republicans who lead the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Judiciary Committee announced Friday that they will hold votes on contempt charges against Hunter Biden as the GOP moves into the final stages of its impeachment inquiry. WASHINGTON — House Republicans on the Judiciary and Oversight committees are prepared to move forward with a resolution to hold the president’s son Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying their subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition.
Mr. 80 Percent
While there are three Republican chairmen co-leading the inquiry, Comer has arguably quarterbacked the most controversial pillar of the probe – millions of dollars’ worth of business dealings by the Biden family. Through that work, Comer has made sweeping claims that the president was involved in bribery and influence-peddling schemes that compromised his job. Without providing evidence, promising it will come Thursday, Comer said the president was looped in on actions by Hunter that he called "influence peddling" and described it as lobbying foreign governments without registering, as required by law. "Hunter Biden's willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney's Office for prosecution," said Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a joint statement. The House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees wrote to Morris in November to request his testimony, noting that news reports indicated he had lent Hunter Biden more than $2 million and that other testimony they obtained said he made tax payments on behalf of Biden. They also pointed to Biden’s initial plea deal that fell apart in August, which identified a third party that had made tax payments on his behalf.
Embarking on a high-stakes GOP investigation into the president and his family in an election year with a divided, paper-thin majority was always going to be an uphill climb. Comer and his fellow top Republicans leading the probe have consistently been caught between the far-right wing’s early demands for impeachment and skeptical Republicans in vulnerable districts, all amid Democrats’ relentless efforts to dismantle their work. However, the impeachment investigation and flurry of coverage of the claims made by Mr. Comer and other Republicans against the president may still have served its intended purpose if that purpose was more political than practical. “The Committees will continue to investigate President Biden’s abuse of public office and will outline findings in a final report with recommendations,” the representative said.
House Republicans to move toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
House Republicans Threaten Hunter Biden With Contempt Charge - The New York Times
House Republicans Threaten Hunter Biden With Contempt Charge.
Posted: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Committee staff have not had any further conversations with the Hunter Biden legal team about his failure to comply with the subpoenas, the committees said. The impeachment inquiry, which has been underway for months, was formally approved along partisan lines by the full House of Representatives right before the Congress left for the holiday recess. And I think some of the earlier statements got a little more aspirational than the evidence really allowed,” one of the GOP lawmakers told CNN.
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"We planned to question Hunter Biden about this record of evidence, but he blatantly defied two lawful subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for testimony as required," they said. "Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution. We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name." WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after the president's son defied a congressional subpoena to appear for a private deposition last month. While Republicans say their inquiry is ultimately focused on the president, they have taken particular interest in Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, from which they accuse the president of personally benefiting. Republicans have also focused a large part of their investigation on whistleblower allegations of interference in the long-running Justice Department investigation into the younger Biden's taxes and his gun use. WASHINGTON — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after the president's son defied a congressional subpoena to appear for a private deposition last month.
Hunter Biden defies Republican subpoena in visit to the Capitol, risking contempt of Congress charge
Washington — House Republicans said they would move forward with a floor vote next week on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress unless he agrees to comply with their subpoenas and sit for a closed-door deposition. GOP lawmakers have been investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings for nearly a year and have accused Mr. Biden of profiting from his son and brother's overseas work. But the Republicans have not produced any evidence of wrongdoing by the president or that he benefited from his family's foreign business ventures. Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement Friday that Hunter Biden's refusal to comply with their subpoenas for testimony constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to federal prosecutors. Morris received a formal request — though not a subpoena — for a transcribed interview in November as part of the committees’ impeachment inquiry into the president. And the markup will be held the day before Hunter Biden is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles on the nine federal tax-related charges stemming from a separate special counsel investigation into his finances and other matters.
How the House GOP’s Biden impeachment effort fell apart
Instead of quietly building a case, Comer was quick to make bold accusations on friendly right-wing cable news platforms, sources said, which frustrated some members. But a series of missteps has left the probe stalled and without clear consensus on what a successful conclusion looks like, according to interviews with more than a dozen Republican lawmakers and sources. Asked whether any of his Republican peers had privately voiced frustrations to him about the inquiry, Comer grew defensive and took a swipe at CNN, echoing complaints sources say he has made privately to colleagues about the media coverage.
Still, the GOP-led House voted along party lines last month to formalize an impeachment inquiry into the president. As part of their probe, led by the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means panels, Comer and Jordan requested the White House provide information about Mr. Biden's alleged involvement in his son's defiance of the congressional subpoena. The Oversight and Judiciary Committees demanded the president's son appear for a private deposition on Dec. 13, which he declined to do.
Three of Nevada’s congressional members are born and raised in Nevada, while the other three moved to the Silver State. They gave the White House until Wednesday to turn over documents regarding Hunter Biden's scheduled deposition. "Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee's questions in front of the American people and the world," Raskin said.
Though the Oversight Committee still promises that a formal impeachment is on the table, it’s not clear that they have the votes to pass an impeachment resolution. Mr. Comer eventually responded to this critical blow to his case by saying he would make criminal referrals to the Justice Department and requesting that the president testify in front of his committee. The Kentucky Republican compared Hunter Biden's business dealings to those of Michael Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who served briefly as President Trump's national security advisor. Flynn had to resign after it was revealed he communicated with the Russian ambassador during the transition period between the Obama and Trump presidencies.
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