House investigators are looking into whether President Biden encouraged his son Hunter Biden not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry and defy a congressional subpoena to testify.
House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter Wednesday to White House Counsel Edward Siskel requesting documents that could shed light on the issue.
The chairman said they wanted to know “whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas.”
“Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense,” said Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan, who are leading the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden‘s involvement in his family’s business deals and alleged influence peddling.
Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan said they want the White House to hand over “all documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden, including but not limited to communications with Hunter Biden, Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin Morris.”
Hunter Biden earlier this month flouted a House subpoena to appear at a Dec. 6 closed-door deposition. Hunter Biden told the committee that he was only willing to testify in public.
On the day of the scheduled closed-door interview, Hunter Biden instead made a statement to the press in front of the Capitol, defending himself and his father from accusations of wrongdoing.
“There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” Hunter Biden said.
In the letter, the Republican chairmen also requested all communications regarding Hunter Biden‘s statement about his family’s business associates at the Dec. 6 press conference.
They set a Jan. 10 deadline for receiving all the documents.
Mr. Comer of Kentucky and Mr. Jordan of Ohio noted in the letter that White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president was “certainly familiar with what his son was going to say” in front of the Capitol that day.
Her comment raised suspicion about Mr. Biden choreographing his son’s interactions with the impeachment inquiry, they said.
“Ms. Jean-Pierre declined, however, to provide any further details about the President’s actions or whether the President approved of his son defying congressional subpoenas,” the lawmakers wrote. “Nonetheless, Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement suggests that the President had some amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two congressional subpoenas.”
They said they are compelled to investigate these questions because Mr. Biden‘s story about how deeply involved he was in his son’s hugely profitable business dealings has shifted over time.
“In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,” they say.