US president’s son storms out of court

Hunter Biden surprised Congress by showing up at a hearing about possible contempt charges, then left a few minutes later

US presidential scion Hunter Biden stormed out of a congressional hearing debating holding him in contempt for his failure to appear at a previous hearing on Wednesday, after surprising House Republicans with his presence.

Flanked by his lawyers Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, the son of President Joe Biden caused a stir when he sat down in the front row of the hearing room as the House Oversight Committee was debating a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress over his refusal to attend a scheduled deposition last month.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) was first to address the new arrival, asking rhetorically, “Who bribed Hunter Biden to be here today?”

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“You are the epitome of white privilege — coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of?” Mace continued, declaring that Biden had “no balls.” He “broke the law,” both “deliberately” and “flagrantly” when he flaunted the congressional subpoena, she said.

“Hunter Biden wasn’t afraid of involving Joe Biden in shady business deals with our foreign adversaries” when the elder Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, but he was “too afraid to show up for a deposition,” Mace concluded, suggesting the 53-year-old be “arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail.”  

After Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) defended the younger Biden, arguing the committee chair had given him the option of testifying in a public hearing instead of the deposition, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) began to speak, triggering Biden's hasty exit.

“Hunter Biden didn’t show up for his subpoena, Hunter Biden showed up today to make a clown show of himself, to show that he is nothing but someone that will not obey the law,” Greene observed. “Not only is he a criminal, but he’s a coward.” She contrasted his actions with those of former president Donald Trump and his children, who sat for hours of questioning when subpoenaed.

Lowell echoed Moskowitz's defense of his client in a statement to reporters outside the hearing room, insisting Biden was a “private citizen” whom Republicans had nevertheless “sought to use...as a surrogate to attack his father.” He claimed repeated offers to supply information to the relevant House committees had been rebuffed. 

Biden skipped the December deposition in favor of a press conference outside the Capitol that same day, during which he declared the president was “not financially involved” in any of his dealings and accused House Republicans of attacking his character and invading his privacy. 

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan had rejected Biden's lawyers' offers to testify in a public hearing, arguing Democrats would use the occasion to interrupt with stunts aimed at distracting the public.