House Republicans to move forward on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

The Republican-led House Judiciary and Oversight committees will prepare a resolution next week to hold President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, in contempt of Congress for defying their subpoenas to appear for a closed-door deposition.

The Oversight Committee announced Friday that on Jan. 10 it will ready a contempt resolution for a vote in the full House, which would take place at a later date.

Both committees said they would also release a report outlining their decision-making process.

In a dramatic moment last month, on the day Republicans had subpoenaed him to give a deposition behind closed doors, Hunter Biden stood outside on the Capitol grounds and declared he would testify at a public hearing, but not in a closed setting.

"What are they afraid of? I'm here, I'm ready," he said outside the Capitol in December.

Hunter Biden insisted there is "no fairness or decency" in their probe. "They've lied over and over again."

The committee chairmen -- Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio -- said they believe Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings were the result of influence peddling based on his father's political status.

Republicans have yet to present any hard evidence that the president personally benefited from his son's businesses.

The impeachment inquiry, now underway for a few months, was formally approved along partisan lines by the House last month just before Congress left for the holiday recess.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, responded in a statement to the news that House Republicans plan to move forward.

Raskin pointed to Biden's offer to testify publicly and says Comer and his investigation are filled with "curated distortions" and "blatant lies."

"There is no precedent for the U.S. House of Representatives holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public, under oath, and on a day of the Committee's choosing. Chairman Comer repeatedly urged Hunter Biden to appear at a Committee hearing, and Hunter Biden agreed," he said.

"Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee's questions in front of the American people and the world," Raskin said.