Hunter Biden, son of the President of the United States, criticized a House of Representatives impeachment inquiry conducted by Republicans against his father, Joe Biden, referring to the process as a “baseless” partisan persecution against his family.
“For more than a year, your committee hunted me down in its partisan political persecution of my father,” Hunter said, according to testimony released before the closed-door hearing.
“You have no evidence to support the baseless conspiracy theories motivated by [movimento] MAGA about my father, because there is none”, he pointed out, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan of his father’s likely opponent in the November election, Donald Trump.
Asked about the hearing as he left the building, Hunter Biden responded: “Great.”
Republicans, who control the House by a slim margin, are moving forward with an impeachment investigation even after the person who provided the central allegations in the case was indicted for lying to the FBI, the US national investigative agency.
The hearing, which lasted nearly seven hours, took place just before the deadline for a US government shutdown if Congress does not guarantee funding by the end of the week.
Investigators questioned Hunter Biden, 54, about his business activities, including his role at Chinese company CEFC and on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and about his personal life.
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, stated, “The Republican members wanted to spend more time talking about my client's addiction than asking any questions that had anything to do with what they call the impeachment inquiry.”
The president's son has publicly discussed his struggles with cocaine addiction in the past.
House Republicans are investigating Biden family business dealings and using as their basis allegations made by a former FBI informant, allegations about which he is now accused of lying, with prosecutors warning that he had contact with Russian intelligence agencies.
Lawmakers said there would be a public hearing with Hunter Biden, although they did not provide details.
“I think this was a great testimony for us,” said James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, one of the panels at the center of the investigation, adding later: “So this impeachment inquiry will now move to the next phase, which is a public hearing.”
Republicans allege that Biden, a Democrat, and his family improperly profited from political decisions the president participated in as vice president during then-President Barack Obama's administration between 2009 and 2017. So far, they have not presented evidence to support support the allegations.
The White House has denied any wrongdoing and said the inquiry is politically motivated.
Source: CNN Brasil
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