Hunter Biden’s trip to Capitol Hill this week highlights how Hunter Biden’s approach to GOP investigations into his business dealings is independent of the White House.
President Biden’s son made two surprise visits to the Capitol last month, showing he wants to defend himself — in his own words — without coordinating with the White House.
White House officials didn’t know the younger Biden was going to make a appearance Wednesday at a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee as members debated whether to hold him in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena last month. A close source told The Hill that “no one” at the White House “was informed or informed Hunter” before the move.
Sources told The Hill that it was not surprising that White House officials did not know in advance and explained that although the president and first lady have a close and transparent relationship with their son, he does not seek advice from White House staff.
A Democrat close to the White House called Hunter Biden’s opinion of the public relations people around his father “very weak.”
“Can you blame Hunter for not following this group’s communications advice? » the Democrat said, noting that Biden’s press team was in place while the president’s approval rating and public opinion of him were consistently and historically low.
Following Hunter Biden’s visit to the hearing, Republicans advanced the resolution holding him in contempt of Congress. On Friday, he said he would accept a new subpoena and testify before Congress.
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, shared the decision in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), two Republicans who led the investigations on the Biden family. In the letter, Lowell initiated a “public deposition/hearing with alternating sets of questions for Republicans and Democrats, and with similar rules (e.g., role of attorney in questioning), as is made in a closed-door deposition.”
Comer and Jordan said in response that they planned to move forward with holding the younger Biden for contempt of Congress.
A former White House staffer offered a different description of the split between the president’s team and Hunter Biden’s, arguing that having the White House advise him would be “bizarre.”
“I didn’t feel like there was a rift, but our whole message was, ‘He’s a private citizen,’ so it would have been a little weird if the White House was closely advising him.” the source said.
Democrats on the Oversight Committee — including ranking member Jamie Raskin (Md.) — said they were not informed in advance of Biden’s plan to participate in the hearing.
But a number of those lawmakers welcomed his visit, saying it was an effective strategy to counter Republicans’ argument that he was unwilling to cooperate with their investigations.
“I thought it was a little stroke of genius. … This completely undermined the Republican argument that he was defying a subpoena. He’s right there in front of you, ready to take the oath and testify,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “The visual was powerful and it clearly disrupted the narrative chain they thought they had.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not say on Wednesday whether the president was informed of the young Biden’s surprise visit to the Capitol. She said in December that the president was “familiar” with what his son planned to say when he spoke to the press outside the Capitol at the time.
A former administration communications official described Hunter Biden’s team and the White House team as “totally separate.”
“The press office was as separate as it could be, in practice,” the source said.
Asked if it was frustrating for press secretaries to have no say in what Hunter Biden did, the source added: “It is like that, because it is as well as the president and his team operate – with appropriate firewalls. »
The White House did not respond to questions about coordination with Hunter Biden’s team and assertions about its views on the press workshop.
The Judiciary and Oversight committees issued subpoenas for Biden in November, and the House formally voted to authorize the impeachment inquiry against the president in December. This followed months of investigations into the Biden family’s foreign business dealings and how the Justice Department conducted a tax crimes probe against Hunter Biden.
This week, Democrats were quick to note that Comer, the oversight chairman, had already publicly offered Biden the chance to testify in any way he wanted.
“You, Mr. Comer, went on national television and said he could come in public or he could come in private, but he had to come. Well, he chose to make it public, and now you’re giving up,” Connolly said. “That’s your problem, not his.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another member of the Oversight Committee, agreed.
“I actually thought that was a very wise thing to do, because it just proves the point: he’s here, he’s showing up, he’s willing to comply with the subpoena, (but ) he wants to do it through public testimony,” she said.
But other Democrats were less sure about the power of Biden’s strategy, with some questioning his decision to appear at the Capitol just a day before he was due in court in Los Angeles to face criminal charges.
“I will tell you this: This is not a strategy to avoid indictment. That’s a whole different issue,” said a Democrat on the committee, who spoke anonymously to discuss a sensitive issue. “If I was charged…I would worry about going to jail.” »
The younger Biden has been more public in recent weeks, as House Republicans have ramped up the impeachment inquiry against his father.
While Hunter Biden was seen at his father’s side throughout the administration — traveling on Air Force One, shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts, or at a state dinner — he was rarely heard alone until last month. Around the same time he spoke to the press at the Capitol, he spoke openly about the Republican attacks against him and his father in a podcast hosted by his friend, the musician Moby.
His family is also fighting back. On Thursday, first lady Jill Biden said the barrage of allegations against her son from Republicans had been were “cruel” and Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi accused Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) of lie during the hearing which he attended.
The fact that the Bidens are speaking out, while the White House is not, aligns with the lack of coordination on the issues surrounding Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden’s low opinion of the communications team around his father has been documented. He hit those who worked for his father texts him which were made public in 2020.
“Well Dad, I guess you were right… that it would all disappear like that genius Kate and the others said it would,” he said, which was taken as a sarcastic reference to the former vice principal campaigner and White House communications director. Kate Bedingfield.
And when the White House is asked about Hunter Biden, spokespeople say they don’t speak on his behalf.
“He’s a simple citizen,” Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “He is not a member of the White House. He doesn’t work here.
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