Turley explains how Biden may have made a 'breathtaking mistake,' providing Republicans with more impeachment ammunition

The White House may have accidentally given House Republicans another avenue of investigation in the formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena, opening himself up to additional criminal prosecution. When asked about the first son's decision, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that President Biden "was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say." The comment suggests that Biden knew his son would defy Congress because they had discussed it beforehand.

If that is true, it is "a breathtaking mistake," according to legal scholar Jonathan Turley, because it implies that Biden obstructed Congress' investigation.

"One of the four most obvious potential articles of impeachment that I laid out in my prior testimony was obstruction," Turley explained in a new essay.

"There already are questions over special treatment potentially being given to Hunter in the form of alleged felonies being allowed to expire, warnings about planned federal raids, and sweetheart deals," he continued. "In addition, President Biden has enlisted White House staff to actively push challenged accounts of his conduct and attack the House Republicans' investigative process.

"If this latest allegation is true, the president was speaking with his son about committing a potentially criminal act of contempt," Turley explained. "The House can pursue evidence on that conversation and how the president may have supported his son’s effort."

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy gave Jean-Pierre an opportunity to clarify what "familiar" means, asking if President Biden attempted to convince Hunter not to defy Congress. But Jean-Pierre declined the chance.

"I don’t have anything else to add," she said. "The president was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today."

Multiple sources who spoke with Politico confirmed that Biden knew about Hunter's planned speech on Capitol Hill and, therefore, his plan to defy a congressional subpoena.

This series of events raises two important questions.

First, will the Justice Department prosecute Hunter Biden for contempt of Congress? The Merrick Garland-controlled DOJ, after all, had zero issues quickly prosecuting Steve Bannon when he defied a subpoena for the Jan. 6 committee two years ago. Moreover, President Biden stated at the time that any individual who defied Congress should be criminally prosecuted.

Second, will House investigators probe Biden's role in Hunter's defiance of a congressional investigation, which the White House seemingly admitted to?

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