It gets worse for Hunter Biden: House committees preparing to hold him in contempt of Congress

House Republicans are taking the first step to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.

Last month, Hunter Biden defied congressional subpoenas requiring him to appear for a deposition before lawmakers to testify about allegations of Biden family corruption. Instead, the first son met with reporters outside the Capitol, where he raised more eyebrows with a statement defending himself. At the time, Republican lawmakers vowed to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear.

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees will take the first step in the contempt process next week.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R) announced Friday that his committee will hold a meeting on Jan. 10 to draft a contempt resolution against Hunter Biden.

"Hunter Biden's willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution," said Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R).

"We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name," they promised.

If the committees find Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, the matter will then be referred to the full House for a vote. If the House approves the contempt resolutions, then Speaker Mike Johnson (R) will refer Hunter Biden to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution. The Justice Department, then, gets the final say whether to pursue criminal charges.

In a statement, Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, accused Republicans of playing political games.

Lowell said:

It's clear the Republican Chairmen aren't interested in getting the facts or they would allow Hunter to testify publicly. Instead, House Republicans continue to play politics by seeking an unprecedented contempt motion against someone who has from the first request offered to answer all their proper questions. What are they afraid of?

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, released a statement making similar claims.

"There is no precedent for the U.S. House of Representatives holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public, under oath, and on a day of the Committee’s choosing," Raskin sad. "Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world."

The statements, however, are all bark and no bite.

The truth is that Hunter Biden attempted to dictate the terms of his deposition by asserting he would testify only before a public hearing.

But none of the witnesses in the investigation have been publicly deposed. Allowing the first son the privilege he demanded would, in the eyes of Republicans, essentially have granted him special treatment. Rarely — if ever — has Congress allowed the witnesses of investigations to dictate the terms of subpoenas.

Whether the Justice Department will prosecute Hunter Biden is a different matter.

The DOJ, indeed, prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, two allies of Donald Trump, for defying the Jan. 6 Committee. Prosecutors, on the other hand, declined to charge Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino for not cooperating with Congress.

The possible contempt of Congress charge comes as Hunter Biden faces two separate criminal prosecutions, one for alleged firearms crimes and another for alleged tax crimes. He will be arraigned in court on the tax charges next week.

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