Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer (R-Ky.), has taken a strong stance regarding the first family, as indicated in a bold statement made on Friday.
Together with House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Comer has issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden, compelling him to appear for a closed-door deposition scheduled for December 13. Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, is pushing for an open-session hearing, but the Republicans, Comer and Jordan, have firmly asserted that this request is not acceptable to them.
“Hunter Biden has received special treatment his entire life,” Comer told the Just the News, No Noise TV Friday night. “Every government agency that should have caught the crimes the Bidens have been committed for years were told to stand down. And they think they can bully the Oversight Committee and set the rules. And that’s not going to happen.
“We’re going to treat this investigation like every congressional investigation in recent memory has been treated: you come in for a deposition, then you do the public hearing. All of our depositions are transparent. We released the transcripts,” Comer added. “….He is the key witness to all of the Biden crimes. So the subpoena called for him to show up in this office on Dec. 13 for a deposition. I expect to see Hunter Biden in this office for a deposition.”
When questioned about his readiness to take the matter to federal court to enforce the congressional subpoena and require Hunter to testify in a closed-door setting, as is customary, Comer responded with a resounding “Absolutely.”
Comer further disclosed that he had a meeting with House leadership on Friday, where he obtained assurances that the GOP conference would vote to formally support the impeachment inquiry. This development is anticipated to strengthen his committee’s position, empowering him to pursue legal measures to ensure compliance with the subpoenas issued to Hunter Biden and other individuals, as reported by Just the News.
“I suspect that the House of Representatives will formally vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry. This is the exact same process that (former Speaker Nancy) Pelosi took during her impeachment,” Comer explained. “And they’re not going to be able to have a leg to stand on in court if they try to defy our subpoenas.”
Last week, in a letter addressed to Lowell, Comer unequivocally declined the proposal to have Hunter exclusively participate in an open hearing.
“Mr. Biden’s attempt to avoid sitting for a deposition pursuant to the terms of the subpoenas – by offering instead to testify at a public hearing – amounts to a demand that he receive special treatment from the Committees,” Comer wrote in a letter that was co-signed by Jordan.
“Mr. Biden will not succeed in attempting to dictate to the Committees how they conduct their investigation. The subpoenas Mr. Biden has received compel him to appear before the Committees for a deposition; they are not mere suggestions open to Mr. Biden’s interpretation or preference,” the letter added.
Just The News reported:
The letter noted that transcribed interviews and depositions are the normal first step in congressional investigations and that other witnesses in President Joe Biden’s impeachment inquiry have complied, including former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer. The Comer-Jordan letter also included a blistering retort to a volley of recent insults and allegations Hunter Biden’s team has lobbed at congressional investigators and their key witnesses, including IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler who revealed how prosecutors declined to pursue certain serious charges against the first son.
The two chairmen also accused Biden’s attorney of a “coordinated campaign to discredit the allegations against Mr. Biden, distort the truth, and attack the integrity of witnesses.”
“Your attempts to now bully and intimidate the Committees will not stand,” the letter added.
Comer added: “We have tens of thousands of pages of bank statements, we have thousands of pages of emails, we have hundreds of specific questions about specific transactions and specific meetings that the Bidens had with our enemies around the world where they received millions of dollars.”
“The banks did what they were supposed to do,” Comer said. “And that’s why the banks have cooperated with it. Yeah, we’ve been obstructed at every turn. We’ve been obstructed by the government agencies. We’ve been obstructed by the Biden legal team.
“One group that hasn’t obstructed us is the banks,” he said. “Because the banks want us to have it. The banks are frustrated that this family’s been treated differently.”
