Hunter Biden Gets New House Subpoena—But It’s Still Unclear If He’ll Testify

Topline The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees issued a new subpoena to Hunter Biden Sunday to testify before Congress as part of its impeachment probe into President Joe Biden—and said the deposition must be held behind closed doors, again rejecting his request to testify in private. Hunter Biden addresses the media after leaving a House Oversight Committee hearing on January 10, ...

[+] 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Key Facts The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees issued the subpoena after Biden’s lawyers suggested in a letter last week the previous subpoena was invalid, citing a Trump era Justice Department opinion that determined an impeachment inquiry has no legal merit without a formal vote before Congress, multiple outlets reported.

The committees previously issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden for a closed door testimony prior to the House voting to open a formal impeachment probe into President Joe Biden as part of their investigation into whether he used his influence to aid his son’s or other family members’ business dealings.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers again reiterated last week he would testify in a public setting “with similar rules” to a “closed door deposition,” including alternate rounds of questioning between Republicans and Democrats and his legal team playing an active role in the questioning. Many observers assumed the new subpoenas might comply with Biden’s request.

But the Oversight and Judiciary Committees rejected the request for a “hybrid process” in their letter Sunday notifying his attorneys of the new subpoena and defended their previous subpoenas as “lawful” and “legally enforceable,” calling the issuance of a new subpoena “an accommodation.” What To Watch For Republicans are expected to vote as soon as this week whether to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress over his previous refusal to testify.

The Oversight and Judiciary Committees voted last week to advance the resolutions to a floor for a formal vote. Key Background Hunter Biden’s legal team has exercised an increasingly aggressive strategy to combat Republican attacks against him as part of their years long probe into his business dealings.

He previously refused to testify before the committee in a closed door setting and instead held a press conference outside of the Capitol where he gave an emotional defense of his father and blasted Republicans for their attacks against him. Last week, he made an impromptu appearance at a House Oversight Committee hearing, essentially daring Republicans to allow him to testify in public.

Tangent Separate from the Republican led investigations, Hunter Biden faces his own legal woes. He pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles federal court on Thursday to nine counts accusing him of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2021. He also pleaded not guilty in federal court in Delaware last year to purchasing a gun while using drugs.

The charges stem from the Justice Department’s long running investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings that expanded to encompass his taxes. He was formally charged by the agency last year after a plea deal his legal team negotiated with the Justice Department unraveled over a disagreement about future immunity..