Hunter Biden testified Wednesday, unequivocally stating that he did not involve his father, President Biden, in any of his business dealings during the GOP's impeachment inquiry.
"I am here today to provide the committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business. Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never," declared Biden during his opening statement, The Hill reported.
Appearing behind closed doors before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, Hunter Biden criticized the GOP's investigation into the president, accusing Republicans of attempting, but failing, to prove "baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies" about his father.
"For more than a year, your committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad. You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism — all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face," he said. "You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn't any,'' The Guardian reported him as saying.
Hunter Biden's deposition comes months into the GOP's multi-pronged impeachment inquiry, examining the younger Biden's business activities and personal life, particularly allegations of "influence peddling" during his father's vice-presidential term.
Despite an exhaustive investigation, GOP lawmakers have yet to provide concrete evidence supporting an impeachable offense by the president. The spotlight is now on Hunter Biden, considered their most crucial witness, as he faces questioning on Wednesday.
"We're deposing Hunter Biden because he's a key witness in our investigation of President Joe Biden," stated House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) ahead of the deposition.
Hunter Biden's deposition follows a series of setbacks for the Republican-led investigation, raising doubts about the legitimacy of their case against the president. The Justice Department recently indicted an FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, whose information was central to the GOP's key allegation against the president. Authorities revealed that Smirnov fabricated his claims and confessed to learning the information from "officials associated with Russian intelligence."
In his opening statement, Hunter Biden accused Republicans of building their "entire partisan house of cards on lies" told by witnesses like Smirnov, whom he labeled as part of a Russian disinformation campaign against his father.
"Rather than follow the facts as they have been laid out before you in bank records, financial statements, correspondence, and other witness testimony, you continue your frantic search to prove the lies you, and those you rely on, keep peddling. Yes, they are lies," Biden added.
The deposition comes after a contentious battle between Republicans and Hunter Biden's legal team over the terms of his appearance. Republicans sought a closed-door deposition, but Biden's team insisted on a public hearing, expressing concerns about selective leaks or misconstrued remarks. In November, Biden defied a subpoena, leading to contempt of Congress proceedings, which were later averted when he agreed to a closed-door deposition following a reissued subpoena by Republicans.
