The House Oversight Committee will recommend that House leadership not hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he shows a willingness to comply with the new subpoena they are expected to issue.
Hunter Biden was first subpoenaed in November to sit for a deposition in December as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, but he defied the subpoena and did not sit for his deposition and instead read a statement to the media outside the Capitol saying he would only testify in a public hearing.
Then, both the Oversight and House Judiciary committees voted to advance contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden after a dramatic hearing in which the president’s son made an appearance.
After they advanced the package, Hunter Biden’s lawyer sent a letter to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) saying he would sit for a deposition if they sent a new subpoena saying the original one was invalid because the full House hadn’t voted to authorize the impeachment inquiry yet. This happened on Sunday when the committees sent Hunter Biden a letter saying they would issue a new subpoena requesting his testimony in a deposition.
“Although the Committee’s subpoenas are lawful and remain legally enforceable, as an accommodation to Mr. Biden and at your request, we are prepared to issue subpoenas compelling Mr. Biden’s appearance at a deposition on a new date in the coming weeks,” Jordan and Comer said in a letter to Hunter Biden’s lawyer. “To be clear, the issuance of these subpoenas does not in any way suggest or imply that the Committees believe the assertions in your January 12 letter to have any merit. Our willingness to issue these subpoenas is rooted entirely in our interest in obtaining Mr. Biden’s testimony as expeditiously as possible.”
According to a source familiar with the matter, if Hunter Biden shows a willingness to comply with the new subpoena, they will likely forgo the contempt charges.
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“If they agree to genuinely cooperate and we can work out a deposition date, the Chairman will recommend to Leadership that we hold the floor vote on contempt in abeyance for now,” the source said.
The contempt of Congress charge for Hunter Biden is still on the schedule to be voted on this week, but it remains to be seen if it will be voted on due to the new development.