WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden on Wednesday rejected an invitation from House Republicans to appear for a public hearing next week alongside former associates, an investigation his lawyer called a “carnival sideshow.”
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Father Lowell, the president’s son’s lawyer, blasted Republican efforts to bring his client to a public hearing after he sat for nearly seven hours last month. last.
“Your latest action – this March 6 invitation – does not constitute a serious monitoring procedure,” Lowell said in the letter. “This is your attempt to resurrect your Conference’s moribund investigation with a circus act designed for the right-wing media.”
The invitation sent last week by Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, included three of Biden’s former business associates, all of whom are currently facing their own legal challenges.
“Your idea of the Congressional ‘investigation’ is, surprisingly, to bring Mr. Biden on trial with the discredited ‘witnesses’ you continue to promote,” Lowell continued.
The committee’s 14-month investigation into the Biden family focused primarily on Hunter Biden’s work overseas in countries including Ukraine and China. While lawmakers have uncovered ethically questionable behavior by the president’s son and other family members, Republicans have yet to produce evidence of misconduct by Joe Biden in the exercise of his public functions.
The rejection of the invitation comes after Hunter Biden and his lawyer insisted late last year that he appear at a public hearing instead of a private deposition, citing concerns that GOP lawmakers do not distort its interview. Both sides ultimately agreed to first hold seated testimony, followed by a public hearing.
In response, Comer said the committee called Hunter Biden’s bluff.
“Hunter Biden has said for months that he wants a public hearing, but now that it is being offered to him alongside his associates he has worked with for years, he is refusing to come,” the Kentucky Republican said .
But Lowell said his client would only appear at a hearing if it was a “legitimate exercise of congressional authority” that also examines efforts by members of the former president’s family Donald Trump for swapping their father’s name while in the White House.
Comer said the hearing scheduled for March 20 would go ahead regardless and that Republicans “fully expect Hunter Biden to participate.”
He added: “The American people are demanding truth and accountability for Biden corruption. »
