Contempt effort on hold as Hunter Biden negotiates with House on future appearance

House Republican efforts to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress are on hold as the first son negotiates with congressional panels on possibly providing testimony related to the impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden. 

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday removed from its agenda a hearing on resolutions seeking to hold the 53-year-old in contempt for flouting subpoenas demanding his testimony amid the “ongoing” talks between the first son and the House Judiciary and Oversight committees. 

“Following an exchange of letters between the parties on January 12 and January 14, staff for the committees and lawyers for Hunter Biden are working to schedule Hunter Biden’s appearance,” a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said in a statement.

“Negotiations are ongoing this afternoon, and in conjunction with the disruption to member travel and canceling votes, the House Rules Committee isn’t considering the contempt resolution today to give the attorneys additional time to reach an agreement.”

Last week, the first son’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, asked the committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry into the 81-year-old president to issue new subpoenas against his client, arguing that the initial ones were “legally invalid” because they were issued before the full House vote to formalize the inquiry. 

“If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition,” Lowell wrote in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “We will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden’s behalf.” 

Comer and Jordan responded to Lowell on Sunday and indicated that they would be issuing new subpoenas “as an accommodation to Mr. Biden and at your request.”

“The Committees welcome Mr. Biden’s newfound willingness to testify in a deposition setting under subpoena,” Comer and Jordan wrote in the missive, while maintaining that their original subpoenas were legal. 

“To be clear, the issuance of these subpoenas does not in any way suggest or imply that the committees believe the assertions in your January 12 letter to have any merit,” the lawmakers wrote. 

Despite the new negotiations, House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) wouldn’t rule out moving forward with a contempt vote if the discussions don’t lead to testimony from Hunter Biden. 

“Should those conversations not prove successful, the Rules Committee may reconvene this week to consider those reports,” Cole said Tuesday, according to the Hill.

The House Judiciary and Oversight committees voted separately last week to hold Hunter in contempt after the first son defied a scheduled Dec. 13 deposition, and instead delivered remarks on the Capitol grounds where he claimed his father was not “financially involved” in his overseas business dealings.

Contempt of Congress is punishable by a minimum of 30 days in jail.