White House spokeswoman admitted president knew of son’s scheme
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers a reporter’s question about the lawsuit alleging social media collusion with the Biden administration (Video screenshot)
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chief of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, has confirmed the investigation into evidence to impeach Joe Biden is being expanded after his White House spokeswoman apparently confessed that he knew son Hunter Biden was planning a crime.
That crime would be refusing to comply with a House subpoena, which is in fact illegal but for which Hunter Biden has not yet been charged by his father’s Department of Justice.
An announcement from Comer this week confirmed, “Official White House statement suggests President Biden had advanced knowledge about Hunter Biden’s plan to defy congressional subpoenas.”
Under investigation by Comer’s committee, as well as the Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is whether Joe Biden sought to influence or obstruct the committees’ proceedings by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son, Hunter Biden, from complying with the committees’ subpoenas for a deposition.
Comer reported a letter has been sent to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, in which he and Jordan are calling for the release of “all documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive Office of the President regarding Hunter Biden’s deposition.”
“In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the president engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,” Comer and Jordan explained. “Under the relevant section of the criminal code, it is unlawful to ‘corruptly . . . endeavor[] to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any investigation or inquiry is being had by . . . any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress[.]’ Likewise, any person who ‘aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures’ the commission of a crime is punishable as a principal of the crime.”
While the committees had subpoenaed Hunter Biden to appear on December 13, he instead staged a news conference to brag about how he would not comply, an offense for which others have been punished.
Then later that day, when asked whether Joe Biden had watched Hunter Biden’s statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated Joe Biden was “certainly familiar with what his son was going to say,” and that Joe Biden had advanced knowledge that his won would defy the subpoenas.
“The committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly included his father, and the president has made false claims about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes. In fact, just days before Mr. Biden was scheduled to appear for his deposition, the president claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business partners. This is false. The president has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced from his son’s foreign business partners. In light of this evidence, the fact that the president had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the president corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the committees’ subpoenas. Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense,” Comer and Jordan explained.
A report at PJMedia noted Jean-Pierre actually said, “Look, as you know, Hunter Biden is a private citizen. And so, I certainly would refer you to his representatives. Look, you know, the president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say. And I think what you saw was from the heart from his son.”
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley called her out for that “breathtaking mistake.”
“If this latest allegation is true, the president was speaking with his son about committing a potentially criminal act of contempt. Hunter was refusing to give testimony focused not on his own role but on his father’s potential role in the alleged influence peddling. The House can pursue evidence on that conversation and how the president may have supported his son’s effort,” Turley explained.
