Attorneys for President Joe Biden’s scandal-embroiled son are requesting that House Oversight Republicans allow Hunter Biden to testify about his business dealings publicly rather than during the closed-door deposition format that House Republicans requested via subpoena last month. “A public proceeding would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers said in a letter to the committee this week regarding the House GOP’s ongoing investigation into the Biden family’s finances.
But despite this pressure, House Oversight Republicans are continuing to push for private deposition first, scheduled for December 13. They’re leaving the door open to a public testimony at a later date.
“It’s what Don Jr. did when he came up through here,” says Representative Russell Fry (R., S.C.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, referring to Donald Trump’s son’s closed-door deposition to the January 6 Committee. “It’s important to let lawyers lead on this, and that’s kind of driving the investigation,” Fry continued. “If he wants to come in after that for a public hearing, sure.”
Giving lawyers the first bite at the apple lays the legal groundwork for House Republicans to ask better questions of the president’s son during a public hearing later on, says Representative Eric Burlison (R., Mo.) “For him to kind of try to shortchange that and ask for a special privilege so he doesn’t have to do the deposition part of it — I don’t think we should accept that,” Burlison tells NR.
As Andrew McCarthy put it earlier this week, we’re seeing quite a bit of political theater from both parties here:
In any event, knowing that the press will play up Hunter’s offer to testify publicly — which, again, he made knowing the committee would decline — Republicans have countered that they will grant Hunter his supposed desire to answer questions publicly . . . but only after he testifies behind closed doors as required on December 13. This is in keeping with prior congressional practice — again, the January 6 committee publicly questioned some witnesses after deposing them behind closed doors.
There is thus no shortage of posturing on both sides — by the committee, which is not actually conducting an impeachment inquiry and lacks the legal arsenal to do the criminal investigation that the Biden Justice Department has failed to do; and by Hunter Biden, who knows that the committee really can’t force him to answer questions because the prosecution the Biden Justice Department really does not want to do provides him with the cover of privilege. There will be no shortage of huffing and puffing over the next two weeks, but Hunter’s eventual testimony is unlikely to amount to much.
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