Hunter Biden’s team weighs House subpoena as James Biden cooperates with GOP panel

WASHINGTON – The legal team advising President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is weighing how to respond to a subpoena issued by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee.

Hunter Biden received the subpoena in early November and was summoned for a closed-door transcribed interview on December 13. According to two sources familiar with the committee’s work, Hunter Biden’s legal team has not yet responded to the subpoena beyond confirming receipt of it. .

The silence from Hunter Biden’s team comes as legal representatives for the president’s brother, James, have been in communication with the committee, the same two sources said. The committee asked James Biden to appear for an interview with the panel on December 6.

It is common for congressional witness legal teams to negotiate the parameters of an appearance with committee staff. Biden could choose to plead the Fifth if he appeared, ask that the hearing be held in a public forum or challenge the request in court.

At this time, Hunter Biden’s legal team has not offered any insight into how it plans to respond. In addition to their obligation to respond to a congressional subpoena, Hunter Biden and his legal team must consider their legal exposure. He is currently under indictment on weapons charges filed by special prosecutor David Weiss and has pleaded not guilty. Additional tax charges could also be levied, and anything Hunter Biden testified about in a congressional hearing would be admissible in a criminal trial.

Abbe Lowell, the lead attorney representing Hunter Biden, declined to comment on the status of the committee’s subpoena. Representatives for James Biden declined to comment.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued the subpoenas, which focus on the Biden family’s businesses, after requesting thousands of bank records related to Hunter and James Biden, other members of their family and several Business partners.

One of the sources said the committee is working quickly to solidify both statements and that Comer expects full compliance with the legal subpoenas and looks forward to his testimony in December.

In addition to subpoenas for Hunter and James Biden, the Oversight Committee has sent subpoenas and interview requests to a long list of members of the Biden family and his business associates as part of its sweeping impeachment investigation into the president. Among the associates called to testify is Rob Walker. According to a committee source, Walker’s attorney is in communication with the committee to schedule a date for his appearance. Comer has called Walker a “key witness” in the investigation into him.

Walker has already met with the FBI and testified during an interview in December 2020 that Joe Biden “was never… a part of anything we were doing.”

The White House has questioned the legitimacy of the committee’s subpoena requests. White House counsel Richard Sauber sent a letter to Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, calling the subpoena requests an attempt by the House GOP to improperly convert the powers of Congress in a weapon.

Joe Costello, a spokesman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, echoed that point, saying in a statement that Comer “continues to abuse the Committee’s authority.”

“At every turn, the evidence, including thousands of pages of records and dozens of hours of interviews and witness testimony, has completely debunked Republicans’ false claims and shown that President Biden has committed no crimes, and a lot less an impeachable crime,” he said. .

In a statement to NBC News, Comer made it clear that his committee would enforce its subpoena requests.

“We are now going to question members of the Biden family and their associates about this record of evidence,” Comer said. “We look forward to full compliance with our lawfully issued subpoenas to provide the transparency and accountability the American people deserve.”