Two House committees voted on Wednesday along party lines to hold Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in contempt of Congress, hours after he surprised Republicans by appearing unannounced on Capitol Hill, prompting a partisan free-for-all.
The 23-to-14 vote by the Judiciary Committee and 25-to-21 vote by the Oversight Committee send the matter to the full House, in which Republicans have a slim majority. The measures accuse the younger Biden of failing to sit for a private deposition in the impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
“We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name,” said Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the oversight panel.
The day began with a dramatic twist: the unexpected arrival of the younger Biden, who has repeatedly offered to testify publicly in the impeachment inquiry but refused to be interviewed behind closed doors, in the Oversight Committee’s hearing room. Democrats and Republicans immediately began bickering about whether to allow him to be heard.
Democrats on the panel urged the Republicans who control it to let Mr. Biden testify then and there, but G.O.P. lawmakers insisted he must submit to a closed-door deposition as ordered by their subpoena.
The exchange pitted some of the staunchest supporters of former President Donald J. Trump against the son of his successor and chief political rival, underscoring the bitter polarization that is driving the impeachment investigation.
As Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, was beginning to lecture Mr. Biden, he and his entourage left the room just minutes after arriving, trailed by a gaggle of journalists who had gathered to watch the G.O.P.’s latest move. That prompted Ms. Greene to label him a “coward.”
“Hunter Biden is terrified of strong conservative Republican women because he can’t even face my words,” said Ms. Greene, who had displayed nude photos of Mr. Biden during a previous committee hearing.
Representative Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, called her actions “shameful” and argued that Mr. Biden was justified in leaving as she spoke.
“She is the person that showed nude photos of Hunter Biden in this committee room,” he said.
The spectacle was the younger Biden’s latest attempt to undercut the Republicans’ case that he has failed to comply with their subpoena, by demonstrating that he was making himself available to testify publicly. He did not address the panel on Wednesday, but has previously said that he does not want to be interviewed behind closed doors because he fears Republicans would selectively leak his testimony in an effort to misrepresent it.
Hunter Biden is under federal indictment facing accusations of tax crimes related to his overseas business interests. Republicans are hunting for evidence that his father was inappropriately involved in his foreign business dealings, and are working to build a case for charging the president with bribery and corruption, but have so far turned up no proof of either.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill on the day Republicans hoped to depose him last month, Mr. Biden acknowledged his personal failings, described in scandalous detail in the indictment against him, but said they had nothing to do with his father and that his father had no financial involvement in his business.
Republicans reacted angrily to Mr. Biden’s appearance on Wednesday, and one, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, said he should be arrested and jailed on the spot.
“You are the epitome of white privilege, coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed,” Ms. Mace said to Mr. Biden as he sat in the audience. “What are you afraid of? You have no balls.”
“If the gentlelady wants to hear from Hunter Biden, we can hear from him right now,” Representative Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, shot back.
Should the House endorse the contempt charge, it would be up to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., to decide whether to pursue a criminal case against Mr. Biden.
Outside the Oversight Committee room, a circuslike atmosphere greeted Mr. Biden and his legal entourage as they made their way out of the meeting, with a throng of news cameras jostling for position and journalists shouting questions. Abbe Lowell, his lawyer, accused Republicans of engaging in a “political crusade” that included selective leaks. He said Mr. Biden has offered at least six times to testify in public.
“The Republican chairs today then are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions,” Mr. Lowell told the reporters. “The question there is: What…
Read More: Hunter Biden Appears on Capitol Hill as House G.O.P. Votes for Contempt