Hunter Biden is willing to testify in a public hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The move comes as Biden was issued a subpoena to appear before the committee.
The subpoena called for a closed-door deposition, but Biden agreed to a public hearing.
As The Messenger reported, Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a letter to Chairman James Comer (R-KY), “Mr. Chairman, we take you up on your offer. Accordingly, our client will get right to it by agreeing to answer any pertinent and relevant question you or your colleagues might have, but—rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process—he will appear at a public Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.”
“We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public. We therefore propose opening the door,” Lowell wrote.
Comer released a statement responding to the letter.
“Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else. That won’t stand with House Republicans,” he said.
“Our lawfully issued subpoena to Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13. We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition but also agree that Hunter Biden should have the opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date.”
The GOP House has been investigating the business practices of the Biden family, tracing numerous money trails to foreign countries and individuals.
In July, the legal advocacy group, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), claiming the department failed to enforce the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) with regard to Hunter Biden during his father’s vice presidency.
The AFL alleged that AG Garland “failed to require proper registration or otherwise follow legal procedures concerning a FARA waiver for Hunter.”
The lawsuit stemmed from a discovery that Hunter Biden “directly represented Burisma in its dealings with the Obama White House” during his tenure as a board member of the company, which is considered a “foreign principal” under 22 U.S.C. § 611(b).
According to AFL, Hunter Biden was “arguably Burisma’s agent and subject to FARA registration” due to his status as an officer of the company and his role in representing the company’s interests to the Office of the Vice President.
Although President Joe Biden has claimed he was not involved with his son’s business practices, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability revealed direct financial connections between President Joe Biden and his family’s business dealings.
Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced that the committee had “obtained bank records revealing a $200,000 direct payment from James and Sara Biden to Joe Biden in the form of a personal check.”
Chairman Comer detailed the money trail, noting that “In 2018, James Biden received $600,000 in loans from Americore—a financially distressed and failing rural hospital operator.”
He further elaborated that these loans were allegedly received by James Biden “based upon representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”
