Comer rejects Hunter Biden's testimony demands, accuses legal team of bullying, intimidation

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer on Friday formally accused Hunter Biden's team of of trying to "bully and intimidate" impeachment investigators as he formally rejected the presidential son's demands to skip a transcribed interview with Congress and move straight to public testimony.

In a letter joined by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Comer told Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell that the first son must show up as required by his subpoena for a transcribed interview on Dec. 13 or face legal consequences.  

"Mr. Biden’s attempt to avoid sitting for a deposition pursuant to the terms of the subpoenas – by offering instead to testify at a public hearing – amounts to a demand that he receive special treatment from the Committees," the two lawmakers wrote Lowell.

"Mr. Biden will not succeed in attempting to dictate to the Committees how they conduct their investigation. The subpoenas Mr. Biden has received compel him to appear before the Committees for a deposition; they are not mere suggestions open to Mr. Biden’s interpretation or preference."

The letter noted that transcribed interviews and depositions are the normal first step in congressional investigations and that other witnesses in President Joe Biden's impeachment inquiry have complied, including former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer.

"Mr. Biden seems to believe that he should be treated differently than other witnesses before the Committees," the letter noted.

You can read the full correspondence here.

The two chairman assured Lowell that Hunter Biden's interview will be videotaped and released to the public for transparency.

The Comer-led letter also aggressively struck back at Lowell's recent public attacks on Comer, the impeachment inquiry and two IRS whistleblowers, directly disputing the Hunter Biden legal's team's claim there is no evidence Joe Biden was involved in his son's foreign business dealings.

"You also suggest that there is no evidence to support a finding that Mr. Biden’s business dealings implicate the official actions of his father," the letter stated.

"This is contrary to the facts already established through the investigation. ...Witnesses have testified not only that Mr. Biden sold the Biden 'brand,' but also to how Mr. Biden placed his father on speaker phone twenty times with business associates, and how he introduced his father in-person during business meetings with foreign business partners.

"Furthermore, records from an FBI confidential human source detailed a bribery scheme in which President Biden allegedly participated with his son. Despite your bluster, the evidence remains undisputed."

The two chairman also signaled they will be far more aggressive in defending witnesses and congressional investigators, accusing Lowell of a "coordinated campaign to discredit the allegations against Mr. Biden, distort the truth, and attack the integrity of witnesses."

"Your attempts to now bully and intimidate the Committees will not stand," the letter also states.