Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Hunter Biden has offered to testify in public to the US Congress about his business affairs, but has rejected a subpoena from the House to do so in private, hours before the Republican-led chamber planned to vote to formalise an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
The US president’s son on Wednesday told reporters gathered outside the US Capitol that Republicans did not want their “tactics” exposed, as he insisted his father had not been involved in his business dealings.
“I’m here today to make sure that the House committees’ illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies,” said Hunter Biden.
“For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine, shouting ‘Where’s Hunter’. Well, here’s my answer: I am here.”
The House plans to vote Wednesday on formalising impeachment proceedings into the president, after Republicans alleged he had improperly benefited from his son’s business dealings. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by the president.
While three congressional panels have already probed Hunter Biden’s work, Republicans said a vote by the full House would strengthen their legal standing as they seek information from the White House.
Hunter Biden is also facing a probe by special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed by attorney-general Merrick Garland.
Last week, the US Department of Justice charged Hunter Biden with nine federal tax offences, including tax evasion, alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4mn of federal taxes for the years between 2016 and 2019.
The justice department has also charged him with illegal gun possession, after a plea deal with federal prosecutors related to both the gun and tax probes collapsed earlier this year. He has moved to dismiss the firearms charge.
Hunter Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that he had made “mistakes” and “wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded”. But he rejected the Republican portrayal of him and his father’s involvement in his affairs.
“Let me state as clearly as I can: my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practising lawyer, not as a board member of [Ukrainian energy company] Burisma, not my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad — and certainly not as an artist. There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing.”
The new US House Speaker Mike Johnson has claimed that Joe Biden repeatedly “lied” about his son’s business activities and had talked with Hunter’s foreign business associates.
“The Constitution requires the House to follow the truth where it leads,” said Johnson. “We have a duty to do this.”
But Democrats view the probe into the president’s son as a political move to help Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election.
“Joe Biden is a man of decency and integrity, who respects the law,” said Jim McGovern, a representative from Massachusetts, this week. “This impeachment charade is an extreme political stunt designed to help Donald Trump win.”
Read the full article here
