House committees formally recommend to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
The House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee passed resolutions to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, setting up a full vote on the House floor in the coming days that would recommend the first son for prosecution.
The vote at the House Judiciary Committee was 23-14.
The House Oversight Committee vote was 25-21.
The House Judiciary Committee's resolution and the House Oversight Committee's resolution will go to the House Rules Committee.
It is unclear, at this point, whether each committee's resolution will be considered on the floor for a full vote, or if the House Rules Committee will combine both resolutions into one for consideration for a contempt of Congress vote.
A source familiar tells Fox News Digital a full House floor vote could come as early as next week.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jaime Raskin, D-Md., blasted the move, saying the committee took "unprecedented action to hold in contempt a private citizen who stands ready to provide the Committee with all the information it seeks."
HUNTER BIDEN MAKES SHOCKING APPEARANCE AT HIS OWN CONTEMPT HEARING
Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at the House Oversight Committee markup with his attorneys Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris.
Hunter Biden, ahead of his subpoenaed deposition on Dec. 13, had offered to testify publicly. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan rejected his request, stressing that the first son would not have special treatment and pointed to the dozens of other witnesses that have appeared, as compelled, for their interviews and depositions. Comer and Jordan vowed to release the transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition.
The first son, though, defied the subpoena, ignored the offer and delivered a public statement outside the Capitol. At the time, he said his "father was not financially involved in my business."
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Wednesday that Hunter Biden "blantantly defied two lawful subpoenas."
Comer said "Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the committees’ subpoenas is a criminal act" that "constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law."
HOUSE GOP SAYS HUNTER BIDEN ‘VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW' BY DEFYING SUBPOENA, PREPARE CONTEMPT RESOLUTION
"We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name," Comer said. "All Americans must be treated equally under the law. And that includes the Bidens."
During the meeting Wednesday, lawmakers acknowledged Biden was in the audience, with Democratic lawmakers asking to have Biden take questions during the session — a request Republicans rejected.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said if the committee wants to hear from Biden, the panel should vote and "hear from Hunter right now."
"Who wants to hear from Hunter right now, today? Anyone? Come on," Moskowitz said. "Who wants to hear from Hunter? Yeah, no one. So I'm a visual learner, and the visual is clear. Nobody over there wants to hear from the witness."
Biden and his attorneys ultimately left the markup session before the vote on the resolution.
"Hunter chose a hearing where Republicans could not distort manipulate, or misuse that testimony," his attorney Abbe Lowell said, calling the move to consider a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress "unprecedented" in light of his offer to "publicly answer all their proper questions."
"The question there is, what are they afraid of?" Lowell asked, before departing the Capitol.
Meanwhile, the White House refused to answer questions on whether it was told in advance that Hunter Biden would attend the House Oversight's mark-up session on Wednesday.
"So here's what I'll say. And I've said this many times before: Hunter, as you all know, as a private citizen, he's not a member of this White House," Jean-Pierre said. "He makes his own decisions like he did today about how to respond to Congress."
She went on to refer "any further questions, any additional questions about this process" to Hunter Biden’s attorneys.
When pressed again on whether the White House was informed in advance, Jean-Pierre said: "I don’t have anything — we don’t have anything else to share beyond that."
Last month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, expanded their investigation to probe whether President Biden was involved in his son's "scheme" to defy his subpoena for deposition earlier this month, which, they say, "could constitute an impeachable offense."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.