House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told Hunter Biden he still plans to hold an impeachment inquiry hearing next week after the first son declined an invitation to appear as a witness.
Comer also asked Biden, according to a letter published Friday, to reconsider his decision not to attend after Biden this week reneged on his offer to testify in a public setting.
Biden had initially said he only wanted to testify publicly amid pressure from House lawmakers to appear for a closed-door deposition, but the first son eventually relented and appeared for a deposition last month.
Comer chided Biden for his decision, saying the “only conclusion that one can reach is that Mr. Biden knows his public testimony would not withstand scrutiny.”
The chairman also invited three of Biden’s former business associates, Jason Galanis, Devon Archer, and Tony Bobulinski, to appear as witnesses at the hearing, which is scheduled for March 20, though it is unclear whether they will all attend. Comer told Biden the hearing would move forward “with or without” him.
“Nonetheless, the Committee will proceed forward—with or without Mr. Biden—because it is important to show publicly how the Biden brand was sold for so many years in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania, and China, and to explain Joe Biden’s involvement in these lucrative transactions,” Comer wrote.
Comer’s plans to press forward with the hearing come as the prospect of holding a vote to impeach Joe Biden becomes increasingly bleaker for House Republicans. Their majority has dwindled to a two-vote margin and only a portion of the conference is signaling enthusiasm about the idea of impeaching the president. Comer has maintained, however, that the inquiry has always been an investigative process launched to examine the extent of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s business dealings and it could lead merely to legislative reforms or other outcomes, such as criminal referrals.
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Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell had accused Comer of holding next week’s hearing as a “Hail Mary.”
“Your blatant planned-for-media event is not a proper proceeding but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended,” Lowell said.
