Hunter Biden Contempt Resolution Set for Full House Vote Next Week: Comer

Votes to support holding president’s son in contempt of Congress have already been secured, lawmaker says

Hunter Biden attends a House Oversight Committee meeting in Washington, on Jan. 10, 2024. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

The full House is set to hold a floor vote on the criminal contempt resolution against Hunter Biden as early as next week, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky).

Mr. Comer told The New York Sun, in an interview published on Jan. 11, that the resolution will go to the House floor for a vote by the whole chamber next week, provided the Republican majority has enough members in town to cast their votes.

The Kentucky lawmaker added that the votes to support holding President Joe Biden’s son in contempt of Congress have already been secured.

“It all depends,” he said. “There are a couple of members out sick today … We have the votes” to hold the younger Biden in contempt, he told the publication.

The lawmaker also said he and his colleagues have not yet decided what their plan of action is, should U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves decide not to prosecute the 53-year-old Mr. Biden.

Attorney Graves has prosecuted two cases against two of former President Donald Trump’s top advisors, political strategist Steve Bannon and former White House aide Peter Navarro, following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, however, he declined to prosecute former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I mean he’s taken up two similar cases, so I would assume he’s going to do this,” Rep. Comer said of Mr. Graves. “We’ll assume he’ll do his job.”

Biden Fails to Appear at Deposition

Rep. Comer’s comments come after the Republican-led House Oversight and Judiciary Committees advanced resolutions on Wednesday recommending Mr. Biden be held in criminal contempt of Congress for not testifying in their impeachment inquiry into his father.

House Republicans allege they have evidence that President Biden improperly participated in and benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings while he was vice president. Both Hunter Biden and the White House have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

However, as part of their inquiry into the allegations, Republicans issued a subpoena for Hunter Biden to appear in a closed-door deposition on Dec. 13.

The younger Biden declined to attend, insisting that he would only answer questions in public. However, on the day the deposition was scheduled to take place, he appeared outside the Capitol where he spoke to reporters and denied his father’s involvement in his business dealings.

“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business. Not as a practicing lawyer. Not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist,” he said at the time.

Hunter Biden (2nd R), son of President Joe Biden, and his lawyer Abbe Lowell attend a House Oversight Committee meeting in Washington on Jan. 10, 2024. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Offers to Work With House Committees ‘Were Ignored’

The two panels on Wednesday voted to approve reports and resolutions stating that the President’s son violated federal law by refusing to appear for the closed-door deposition.

The votes during Wednesday’s hearing were along party lines, with all Republicans either voting yes or abstaining from voting and all Democrats voting no.

Hunter Biden also made a surprise appearance at that hearing—this time indoors—entering quietly without speaking to reporters, and sitting briefly with his attorney in the gallery before departing.

Following the vote, the younger Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell made a brief statement to reporters.

“We have offered to work with the House committees to see what and how relevant information to any legitimate inquiry could be provided,” Ms. Lowell said. “Our first five offers were ignored. And then in November, they issued a subpoena for a behind-closed-doors deposition, a tactic that the Republicans have repeatedly misused in their political crusade to selectively leak and mischaracterize.”

The vote on the criminal contempt resolution comes as the younger Biden is facing a string of legal battles. On Thursday, he appeared in federal court in California where he pleaded not guilty to nine tax charges after failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes he owed from 2016 through 2019.

The President’s son has also been charged in Delaware with lying on a federal firearm purchase form during a time when he was using illegal drugs.

Reuters contributed to this report.