Republicans advance Hunter Biden contempt resolution: Live coverage

Two House panels on Wednesday separately voted to advance a contempt of Congress resolution against Hunter Biden, teeing up a full House vote and the potential for criminal charges for the president’s son.

The votes by the Oversight and Judiciary committees came hours after Biden made a surprise appearance in the Oversight markup, teeing up a string of criticism from GOP lawmakers and fiery exchanges between members.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

The House Oversight Committee voted to approve a resolution holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after he failed to show for a deposition following a subpoena.

The resolution passed with a 25-21 vote.

It will now go the the full House for consideration.

—Rebecca Beitsch

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said he would “guarantee” that Hunter Biden could publicly appear before the panel after he is deposed.

“Hunter Biden is more than welcome to come for a hearing – after the deposition,” Comer said.

Amid a push from Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) to guarantee that, Comer agreed.

“After the deposition I guarantee it,” Comer said.

— Rebecca Beitsch

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced the resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.

The vote included 23 members in favor of the resolution and 14 against it after a more than six-hour hearing.

This tees up a full House floor vote on the matter along with the potential for further criminal charges for the president’s son.

Miranda Nazzaro

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said Hunter Biden “thinks he’s an American prince,” when it comes to appearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

“The left wants us to treat him [Hunter Biden] with kid gloves and this man in 50 years old,” Hunt said, adding later, “He should not be given a sweatshirt because he thinks he’s an American prince and I don’t mean ‘Purple Rain,'” a reference to singer and songwriter Prince.

“A witness does not get to decide his preferred method of appearing before the committee, the committee that subpoenaed the witness does, that’s how this place works,” Hunt added.

Hunt compared the circumstances to the argument by many Democrats that former President Trump, who faces four criminal indictments, is not “above the law.”

“I guess what they mean is that no one’s above the law, except for when it comes to President Biden’s son Hunter,” he said. “And Hunter Biden should not be given special treatment.”

Miranda Nazzaro

House Republicans on Wednesday opened a series of hearings dedicated to impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, embarking down the road of removing a Cabinet secretary for the second time in history.

In many ways the hearing was like any other the House Homeland Security Committee has held over the past year, focusing on the “havoc” immigration has created in the heartland, a nod to a popular Republican refrain that every state is now a border state.

But in a shift, the witnesses were asked to be experts on impeachment, with members squaring off over whether Republicans had found any evidence to back the constitutional standard of removal from office for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) gave a more than 20-minute opening statement, a lengthy departure from the usual five-minute allotment, walking through what he said is the evidence that supports “pursu[ing] the possibility of impeachment.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Rebecca Beitsch

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) called out Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) over the Democrat’s opposition to holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.

“We all have to obey the rule of law or should be and so my colleague, my colleague, Congressman Swalwell. He’s a member of Congress, that matters. We have a responsibility and he flouts and tours that he went around with Hunter Biden who openly, defiantly, literally disobeyed the rule of law,” Van Drew said.

“But he [Hunter Biden] thought once again, as he has over and over and over again, the way he’s made his money, the way he’s been treated in his criminal charges. He thought,’I’m gonna do it again. I’m gonna say I’m a special guy. The rules don’t apply to me. They apply to every other American but dammit, I can do what I want.’ And Eric Swalwell supports that,” he continued.

“I can’t believe that. Ladies and gentlemen, this is raw politics, it’s abusive politics, it’s harmful politics,” he continued.

Swalwell throughout the hours-long contempt was a fierce critic of the contempt resolution and took aim at Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for his focus on the president’s son.

Miranda Nazzaro

A band of House conservatives tanked a procedural vote on Wednesday in a rebellion against the spending deal Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struck with Democrats, which members of the right flank have sharply criticized.

Thirteen Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against the rule for a trio of bills, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures, which are unrelated to spending.

READ MORE HERE.

Mychael Schnell

Rep. Rebecca Balint (D-Vt.) on Wednesday claimed witnesses who have appeared before the Judiciary committee have faced threats following their testimony.

“Not only are the chairmen’s investigations a cynical waste of time, but they have put the lives of regular people in danger,” Balint said Wednesday. “Witnesses that have appeared before this committee have testified that House Republicans have spread dangerous conspiracy theories about them. And it has led to threats against their families and against them.”

Balint said one witness, who was nine months pregnant at the time, was forced to get a restraining order against a man who repeatedly doxxed her family after Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) posted an edited video of her on X, formerly Twitter.

“Witnesses who are members of law enforcement have testified that they’ve been doxxed, that they have gotten threatened not just at work, but at their homes as well,” Balint said.

Miranda Nazzaro

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) got heated during the Judiciary hearing about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots after earlier conversations in the hearing referenced the insurrection.

Acknowledging the Jan. 6 attack was not the subject of the Judiciary’s hearing on Hunter Biden, Spartz noted, “We need to stop…accusing people who disagree with the government.”

“They’ve been very corrupt and oppressive, to actually come here and express peacefully that dissatisfaction and there are always some bad players and who knows who they are, but they don’t call people insurrectionists. This is just un-American to do it and I’m sick and tired of the other side costly doing it because I knew a lot of people that were there in the crowd,” she said.

Miranda Nazzaro

The White House wouldn’t say if the president was informed that the younger Biden would be making his surprise visit to Capitol Hill.

When he made remarks outside the Capitol in December, President Biden was “familiar” with what his son planned to say.

Jean-Pierre also said she wouldn’t respond to Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) comments that Hunter Biden should be arrested.

Alex Gangitano

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) criticized Republican colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee for making comments that “slander” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they embark on a series of hearings to mull his impeachment.

“You’re certainly welcome to disagree with how he executes his job. You’re welcome to criticize him. You’re welcome to make the case to the American people as to why Secretary Mayorkas in executing President Joe Biden’s immigration policy should be removed from office at the ballot box. But to come in here over and over and over again, and to personally attack and slander without any evidence a cabinet secretary who has committed so much of his life to this country … you should be ashamed of yourself,” he said.

“It’s enough.”

Rebecca Beitsch

House Democratic leaders are going after Republicans this week for their focus on contempt and impeachment, accusing GOP leaders of taking up issues “that no one cares about” because they can’t unite their party behind anything else.

“The only common denominator among the House Republican conference are censures, impeachments, Merrick Garland, General [Lloyd] Austin, [Alejandro] Mayorkas,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Wednesday during a press briefing in the Capitol. “These are the things that bind the Republican conference together. It’s the only thing that they have 218 votes for, so that’s why they continue to go down this rabbit hole.”

Democrats say the combination of disciplinary measures is designed to distract voters from strong economic indicators, including record low unemployment and a record high stock market, which affect people far more directly.

“Instead of focusing on helping the American people, they’re focusing on issues that no one cares about,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

“I can guarantee you, no American family during the holidays was sitting there thinking, ‘Hey, that Hunter Biden, he agreed to testify publicly in front of Congress, but he really should be doing a closed-door deposition. That’s why we need to hold him in contempt.’ No American family was thinking about that at all.”

Mike Lillis

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, circled back to Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) remarks at the beginning of the markup and criticized her for saying that Hunter Biden showing up at the Capitol represented “white privilege.”

“I just want to run it back though to the very beginning because this is something that I just can’t get over. I just can’t get over the gentlelady from South Carolina talking about white privilege. It was a spit in the face, at least of mine as a Black woman, for you to talk about what white privilege looks like, especially from that side of the aisle,” she said.

Crockett went on to paraphrase former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from last month when he reflected on the makeup of Congress during the 2019 State of the Union address, when he said Democrats “look like America” and Republicans “look like the most restrictive country club in America.”

“Ya’ll don’t know what white privilege looks like,” Crockett said.

Mace defended herself, noting that she was formerly the ranking member of the Civil Rights Subcommittee and saying “I take great pride as a white female Republican to address the inadequacies in our country.”

She then yielded to Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who said, “Let’s be very clear, this isn’t about Hunter Biden’s white privilege, it’s about Hunter Biden’s Democrat privilege.”

— Mychael Schnell

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) took a swipe at the House GOP’s request for Hunter Biden to testify behind closed doors, suggesting House Republicans may have something to hide from the American people.

“They’re [House Republicans] doing these stupid proceedings, and it’s particularly stupid because Hunter Biden showed up today to testify publicly under oath,” Lieu said. “Why are the Republicans scared to let him testify publicly? What are Republicans hiding from American people? What don’t they want Hunter Biden to say publicly?”

Lieu argued Hunter Biden’s offer to publicly testify shows “substantial compliance” with the House’s subpoena.

— Miranda Nazzaro

Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) objected to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) attempt to enter information into the record, citing Greene showing explicit photos of Hunter Biden during a hearing last year.

Raskin said Democrats had not had the opportunity to see the records Greene was trying to enter.

“In the past she’s displayed pornography. Are pornographic photos allowed to be displayed in this committee room?” Raskin said.

“It’s not pornography,” Greene said.

Raskin responded, “OK, you’re the expert,” to which Greene said, “I’m not an expert.”

Greene said she was trying to enter bank records, and she and others on the committee continued to spar over the evidence and Greene’s time to speak.

“Someone on this committee accused me of revenge porn, and I have a right to respond to that, and I’d like to enter … This is this is important evidence for the record. It pertains to our investigation into Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, and this comes from,” Greene said before being cut off again.

Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) halted the back-and-forth and said committee staff would review the records.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who previously ruled out a short-term spending stopgap, is noncommittal on whether he might pursue one if Congress cannot pass their appropriations bills by the Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 deadlines.

“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done,” Johnson said when asked if he is ruling out a continuing resolution. “I’m very optimistic.”   

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has expressed support for a short stopgap.

— Emily Brooks

Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson (Ga.) dug into the “MAGA Republicans” of the House, arguing their pursuit of Hunter Biden is another tactic to make President Biden a “one-term president.”

“This hearing is not about Hunter Biden, a man who is a private citizen, never before worked for the federal government, much less the executive branch. This hearing, ladies and gentlemen, is about Joe Biden,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Joe Biden is president, and MAGA Republicans on this committee could not bring themselves to accept the truth that Trump lost the election, so they’ve made it their single-minded mission to do everything they can to get Donald Trump reelected.”

Johnson argued Republicans aren’t starting the new year by passing legislation, but rather turning their attention to the president’s son, whom he notes offered to speak publicly before the Judiciary Committee.

“In fact, last year, MAGA Republicans passed fewer bills than any other Congress since the Great Depression. It’s embarrassing, and it’s shameful,” Johnson said.

—Miranda Nazzaro

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he is “not concerned” about a potential motion to vacate amid Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) saying that he is not taking the move off the table.

“Chip Roy is one of my closest friends. We agree on almost everything in principle. What I’ve talked with him about is the reality of being in what is soon to be the smallest majority in the history of the Congress, except for one exception,” he said.

“Look, leadership is tough. You take a lot of criticism. But remember, I am a hardline conservative. That’s what they used to call me.”

Roy and other conservatives are outraged about a spending deal Johnson struck with Democrats.

Emily Brooks

In a series of fiery remarks Wednesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) urged her colleagues to reject the resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, calling it a “pure political distraction.”

“The American people should make no mistake that this hearing is pure political distraction,” Jayapal said.

She took aim at the record of House GOP members, along with former President Trump’s ongoing legal troubles, suggesting these are the issues the lower chamber should be discussing instead of the president’s son.

“Maybe we should talk about the fact that the president, the former president was impeached twice,” Jayapal said. “Maybe we should talk about the fact that the former president was convicted on 91 felony counts. Maybe we should talk about the fact that the former president was charged with interfering with our elections.”

— Miranda Nazzaro

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell went after the Republicans leading the contempt charge against his client.

“Hunter Biden was and is a private citizen. Despite this, Republicans have sought to use him as a surrogate to attack his father,” Lowell said after he and Hunter Biden exited the hearing room.

“The Republican chairs today then are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions,” he later added. “The question there is, what are they afraid of?”

— Mychael Schnell

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee is warning that there’s no chance Congress can agree on 2024 spending bills by the Jan. 19 deadline, setting the stage for a short-term patch, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to prevent a partial shutdown.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) welcomed the arrival of the bipartisan agreement on top-line numbers governing the spending bills, which was announced Sunday, but said the deal came too late for appropriators to hammer out all the details of the spending bills before Jan. 19.

“We can’t do it by the 19th, so we will need a short-term CR to move forward,” DeLauro said.

Under the existing continuing resolution, some agencies are funded through Jan. 19 and others are secure through Feb. 2. DeLauro declined to specify the amount of additional time appropriators will need to finalize the first tranche of bills, but said they will need weeks, not merely days, to get them done.

“It takes a while to do this,” she said. “If you moved everything to Feb. 2, it gives us a little bit more time. It could go a little bit later in February — I’m not putting a fine point on the date — I think we just need to garner some more time to get it done.”

In passing the last CR in November, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he would not support another short-term stopgap measure moving forward. And on Tuesday, he suggested House appropriators are on track to meet their dual deadlines.

“The pedal’s to the metal,” he said. “We have the top-line agreement. This allows us to fight for our policy priorities, for our policy riders now. And our appropriators are resolute on doing that. The members are excited about getting that done, and we’re going to do our job here.”

— Mike Lillis

Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) dug into Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) failure to appear for a subpoena before the House Jan. 6 select committee.

“This is a committee that now cares about subpoena compliance?” Swalwell said Wednesday. “And we’re gonna hold somebody in contempt for subpoena compliance. That’s really interesting. Because, to me, it seems like you believe we all had our memories wiped 608 days ago, when you failed to honor your own subpoena.”

“You didn’t show up, and you want us to take this proceeding seriously where you have an issue with somebody else’s compliance with a subpoena, somebody who is willing to come forward publicly?” Swalwell continued. “Something you are not willing to do.”

Swalwell rhetorically asked if the hearing is a joke and argued the “whole Congress” has been a joke so “it would be in line.”

“But I have to ask how dumb do you think the American people are? That you would seek to hold someone in contempt when you are 608 days, 15 hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds out of compliance of your own subpoena?” Swalwell asked, with a laptop showing a time tracker of “Jim Jordan’s subpoena evasion” beside him.

“Today, Jim Jordan says we must respond because ‘he didn’t show up to testify,'” Schiff added. “And I say, bravo. Jim Jordan is finally ready to take action against Jim Jordan.”

— Miranda Nazzaro

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) railed against the Judiciary Committee’s pursuit to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress and later suggested the committee adjourn and take Biden’s testimony publicly.

“Mr. Chairman, is this a joke? No seriously, is this hearing a joke? This is a committee that now cares about subpoena compliance?” Swalwell said during Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee markup meeting.

Swalwell then took aim at committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), whom he argued failed to “honor” his own subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee in 2022.

Swalwell pointed to Hunter Biden’s offer to testify publicly and referenced his surprise appearance down the hall at the House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting.

“He’s ready to testify publicly it appears. So let me just challenge you one more time. If you’re so eager to take his testimony publicly. I move that we adjourn right now and take his public testimony and bring him in here right now,” Swalwell said.

A motion to adjourn was introduced but failed to pass.

— Miranda Nazzaro

Hunter Biden has left the Oversight Committee hearing room.

He walked out as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) started to speak.

His attorney gave a statement to reporters in the hallway, but Biden did not speak.

Fireworks went off at the start of the Oversight Committee markup when lawmakers recognized that Hunter Biden was in the hearing room.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) asked “who bribed Hunter Biden to be here” and went after him for defying a subpoena.

“You are the epitome of white privilege. Coming in to the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of? You have no balls to come up here,” she said.

“I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail,” she added.

Several lawmakers, including Mace, sparred as Mace sought to keep speaking.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) then suggested that the panel hold a vote on hearing from Biden today, asking for a show of hands from the room.

— Mychael Schnell

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) kicked off the committee markup of a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, arguing the House “has no choice” but to hold the president’s son in contempt of Congress.

“We all know we have no choice but to hold Mr. Biden in contempt, and I would encourage a yes vote,” Jordan said Wednesday.

“Hunter Biden is a critical witness in the House’s official impeachment inquiry and uniquely possesses knowledge about what role the president may have played in leveraging policymaking decisions to enrich the Biden family,” he continued.

Jordan emphasized the committee “fully intends” to have Hunter Biden testify before the public but are looking for him to sit for a deposition before just the committee ahead of time. Hunter Biden has demanded a public hearing and defied a congressional subpoena last month to appear privately.

— Miranda Nazzaro

President Biden’s son Hunter Biden has unexpectedly arrived at the Capitol to attend a hearing regarding a contempt of Congress resolution against him.

House Republicans want to hold the younger Biden in contempt after he defied a subpoena last month.

You can watch the hearing here.

The House Homeland Security Committee has kicked off its first impeachment hearing on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, titled “Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States.”

You can watch the hearing here.

And catch up on the conflict over the border here.

House Republicans are meeting for the first time this year, and are hearing from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about the topline funding deal announced over the weekend that has enraged hardline conservatives.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) walked out of the meeting early, showing his frustration with the deal.

“Before we could even get together, he announced the terms of the surrender,” Davidson said.

Asked if Speaker Johnson should be fired, Davidson said: “He should have never been hired.”

— Emily Brooks