Hunter Biden agrees to testify at panel hearing, but not closed-door deposition

An attorney for Hunter Biden told a House panel Tuesday that the president’s son is willing to testify at a public hearing, setting up a clash with Republicans who demand he also sit for a closed-door deposition.

House Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden earlier this month and instructed him to appear for a deposition on Dec. 13 as part of an investigation into GOP allegations that the younger Biden was involved in a web tying the Biden family to foreign money.

In a letter, Hunter’s attorney Abbe David Lowell argued that House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James R. Comer, R-Ky., has used closed-door sessions “to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.”

“Our client will get right to it by agreeing to answer any pertinent and relevant question you or your colleagues might have, but — rather than subscribing to your cloaked, one-sided process — he will appear at a public Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing,” Lowell wrote in the letter.

Lowell wrote that such a public proceeding would “prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.”

“Your empty investigation has gone on too long wasting too many better-used resources. It should come to an end,” Lowell said.

Comer quickly hit back at the letter Tuesday morning, saying the younger Biden was trying to play by his own rules, “instead of following the rules required of everyone else.” He noted that the subpoena issued to the younger Biden commanded him to appear for a deposition on Dec. 13.

“We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition but also agree that Hunter Biden should have the opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date,” Comer added in the statement, which was posted on social media.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is spearheading the probe into President Joe Biden with Comer and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., also responded that the deposition was required.

“We are glad that Hunter Biden has decided to cooperate and we look forward to hearing from him in a deposition on December 13 and subsequently at a public hearing,” Jordan posted on social media.

Jordan was among Republican lawmakers who did not comply with a subpoena from the now-disbanded House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.