Hunter Biden 'PR stunt' criticized by Democratic attorney: 'Not how the system works'
During a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance as lawmakers weighed holding the president's son in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena. On "The Brian Kilmeade Show," Democratic attorney Julian Epstein, a former colleague of Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell, ripped the "PR stunt" and argued the Biden family would be "better off" answering questions about the family business dealings.
HUNTER BIDEN MAKES SHOCKING APPEARANCE AT HIS OWN CONTEMPT HEARING
JULIAN EPSTEIN: Abbe is a friend of mine. We worked together during the Clinton impeachment in '98. Good friend, very good attorney. Not the tactic I would have used. You don't get as a witness, particularly as the son of the President of United States, the right to tell a congressional committee how to conduct an investigation and how you're going to comply with a subpoena. If a congressional committee says we want to do a deposition before a public hearing, that's what you do. You don't get to say, no…I will comply with subpoena only if you do it my way. You don't get to choose that. When Congress issues you a subpoena, you can't say, I'm not going to comply with subpoena because I think you're motivated by … partisan intent. It's just not how the system works. It breaks down.
Right now, the attorney general of the United States is prosecuting Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress and failing to comply with subpoenas. And I just don't know how the President of the United States or the attorney general answers the question about the president's own son now defying a subpoena. … There's plenty of evidence, plenty of precedent of Democrats using depositions before a public hearing. ... Democrats have used this process in high-profile investigations of presidents before. I just think it's a PR stunt. Abbe's very good at PR, but…it is certainly not an argument that they can win from a legal point of view and from a PR point of view, I think the president and the Biden family would be better off answering the questions about what happened to the money, the money trail, what these clients overseas, in China and elsewhere believe that they got in exchange for these payments, particularly when he was vice president.
Hunter Biden unexpectedly appeared with his attorneys at the House Oversight Committee's meeting Wednesday to consider the resolution that, if passed, would set up a full House vote on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
The committee met for a markup to consider the resolution that recommends contempt proceedings against the first son after he refused to comply with a subpoena compelling him to appear for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees.
Biden and his attorneys Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris came to Capitol Hill to sit in the audience as lawmakers on the panel considered whether to pass the resolution out of committee. Biden and his attorneys ultimately left before the vote on the resolution.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.