Answering questions will be 'very dangerous' for Hunter Biden: Sol Wisenberg
Former Whitewater deputy independent counsel Sol Wisenberg joins 'Fox & Friends' to break down what can be expected from Hunter Biden's closed-door deposition.
Hunter Biden testified Wednesday that he "did not involve" his father in his businesses, while blasting House Republicans for having "hunted" him in their "partisan political pursuit" and impeachment inquiry into his father.
Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for his closed-door, deposition at the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. Hunter Biden said Republicans have no evidence against his father "because there isn't any," according to an opening statement obtained by Fox News.
"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," Hunter Biden testified Wednesday morning. "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."
"You read this fact in the many letters that have been sent to you over the last year as part of your so-called impeachment investigation. You heard this fact when I said it weeks ago, standing outside of this building. You heard this fact from a parade of other witnesses — former colleagues and business partners of mine, including my uncle — who have testified before you in similar proceedings. And now, today, you hear this fact directly from me," he continued in his opening statement.
Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, speaks to members of the media outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2023. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The first son said that for more than a year, the 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. "
"You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn’t any," he testified.
The first son said House Republicans "have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies told by" past witnesses. Hunter Biden blasted his ex-business associates Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, who also testified as part of the impeachment inquiry, and the since-indicted former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov.
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"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," he said.
Hunter Biden, reflecting on "mistakes" he has made in his life, said he has "squandered opportunities and privileges that were afforded to me. I know that. I am responsible for that. And I am making amends for that."
"But my mistakes and shortcomings are my own and not my father’s, who has done nothing but devote his entire life to public service and trying to make this country a better place to live," he said.
Reflecting on his "battle with addiction," Hunter Biden said his father was there for him.
"He helped save my life. His love and support made it possible for me to get sober, stay sober and rebuild my life as a father, husband, son, and brother," he testified. "What he got in return for being a loving and supportive parent is a barrage of hate-filled conspiracy theories that hatched this sham impeachment inquiry and continue to fuel unrelenting personal attacks against him and me."
Hunter Biden talks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Hunter Biden went on to point to records of his text messages, emails and other communications that the committees have obtained.
"Republicans have taken my communications out of context, relied on documents that have been altered, and cherry-picked snippets of financial or other records to misrepresent what really happened," he said. "Examples of this include a few references to my family in emails or texts that I sent when I was in the darkest days of my addiction."
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He added: "If you try to do that again today, my answers will reveal your tactics and demonstrate the truth that my father was never involved in any of my businesses."
The first son said he hopes his testimony will "put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade."
"You have wasted valuable time and resources attacking me and my family for your own political gain when you should be fixing the real problems in this country that desperately need your attention," he testified.
Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said "there is nothing left to ask, answer, say, or do," after his client's testimony.
"Republicans ended the day the same way they started it -- with no evidence to support their sham inquiry because it’s based on lies peddled by people convicted or charged with lying or fraud," Lowell said, adding: "Now that Hunter has put this partisan conspiracy to the lie that it is -- on the record and under oath -- this political charade should finally come to an end."
Hunter Biden's testimony comes after his uncle, President Biden's younger brother James Biden, testified last week as part of the impeachment inquiry. James Biden testified that President Biden "has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest" in his business ventures.
House Republicans have heard testimony from a number of the first son's former business associates, like Bobulinski, who testified before the committees earlier this month that Joe Biden was involved in the family's business ventures. He also testified that he personally met with him.
Days before Bobulinski's testimony, another former business associate, Rob Walker, testified that Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese energy firm CEFC that his brother and son did business with.
Presiden Bident and son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
After Walker's testimony, the House Oversight Committee said it was able to "now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son."
House Democrats and the White House have criticized the inquiry as baseless, but Republicans insist they have just scratched the surface of the investigation into Biden family businesses.
"The House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees have unearthed a record of evidence revealing Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ his family sold to enrich the Bidens," House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky, said in a statement Tuesday. "Joe Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from these schemes. Joe Biden attended dinners, spoke on speakerphone, showed up to meetings, and had coffee with his son’s foreign business associates.
"In fact, we’ve documented how Joe Biden has met with nearly all of his son’s foreign business associates as they were collectively funneling millions to the Bidens. Our committees have the opportunity to depose Hunter Biden, a key witness in our impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, about this record of evidence. This deposition is not the conclusion of the impeachment inquiry. There are more subpoenas and witness interviews to come."
Comer added that the committee will continue to investigate to "determine whether articles of impeachment are warranted."
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