FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden’s "scheme" to defy his subpoena for deposition earlier this month — conduct, they say, "could constitute an impeachable offense."
The House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Ways & Means Committee are investigating "whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House." The House formalized the inquiry earlier this month.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday penned a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, notifying him of the additional area of their investigation.
"In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress," Comer and Jordan wrote to Siskel.
The subpoenas were both for Hunter Biden's deposition — one from Comer and one from Jordan. The two chairmen planned to hold the deposition in the same room, at the same time.
The president’s son was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this month. Hunter Biden defied that subpoena, and instead, appeared on Capitol Hill and delivered a public statement before the press.
"On December 13, Mr. Biden did not appear for the deposition as required by the Committees’ subpoenas. Instead, Mr. Biden appeared on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol with his attorney and Representative Eric Swalwell," they wrote. "Mr. Biden gave a lengthy public statement to an assembly of reporters in which he made several statements that are relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry, including representations about his business activities, assertions about President Biden’s awareness and ‘financial’ involvement in these activities, and attacks on the Committees’ inquiry."
Hunter Biden "indicated that he would only testify in a public forum, a demand for special treatment that the Committees had previously rejected."
"Although Mr. Biden professed an interest in answering questions about his actions, he departed the Capitol grounds without taking any questions. The committees subsequently recorded Mr. Biden’s non-appearance at his deposition," they wrote.
But later that day, Comer and Jordan pointed to a statement made by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She was asked whether the president had watched his son’s public statement.
"White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden was ‘certainly familiar with what his son was going to say,’" they wrote. "Ms. Jean-Pierre declined, however, to provide any further details about the President’s actions on whether the president approved of his son defying congressional subpoenas."
They added, though, that Jean-Pierre’s statement "suggests the President had some amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two congressional subpoenas."
The chairmen pointed to the criminal code, citing the section which it states that it is unlawful to "corruptly…endeavor to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any investigation or inquiry is being had by…any committee of either House or any joint committee of Congress."
"Likewise, any person who ‘aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures’ the commission of a crime is punishable as a principal of the crime," they wrote.
"In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas," they wrote. "The Committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly included his father, and the President has made false claims about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes."
Comer and Jordan also said that just days before Hunter Biden was scheduled to appear for his deposition, the president "claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business partners."
"This is false," they wrote. "The President has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced from his son’s foreign business partners."
Comer and Jordan said that in light of the evidence they have collected, "the fact that the President had advanced awareness" that his son would defy the subpoenas "raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committee’s proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committee’s subpoenas."
"Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense," they wrote.
The chairmen demanded all documents and communications sent or received by the White House regarding Hunter Biden’s deposition, including communications with Hunter Biden, law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin Morris.
They also demanded all documents and communications sent or received by employees of the White House Executive Office regarding the president’s statement about his family’s business associates on Dec. 6, 2023.
Comer and Jordan gave Siskel until Jan. 10, 2024 to produce the information.