House Republicans grilled President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, about his foreign business dealings during his closed-door deposition on Wednesday.
However, he turned the question back on his interrogators as he defended his father and attacked the impeachment inquiry.
Hunter Biden Raises Questions About Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's Son-in-Law
Citing Democrats participating in the closed-door deposition, The Hill reported that Hunter Biden raised the double standard of Republican lawmakers probing his business deals overseas by asking them about the foreign investments secured by Jared Kushner shortly after leaving the White House.
Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, reportedly secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia six months after he left public service, which raised plenty of eyebrows.
The Saudi investment drew particular attention when The New York Times reported that an advisory panel for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had advised against investing in Kushner's private equity firm due to the management's "inexperience."
However, the recommendation was overruled by a bigger board headed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a prominent ally of the Trump administration.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said the atmosphere during the questioning in the morning has been largely cordial, but Hunter became "assertive" when tackling the Kushner matter.
"He may be a little bit frustrated by some of the double standards relating to Jared Kushner and money that's just been openly pocketed by Donald Trump in office," Raskin noted, as The Hill reported.
"And Jared Kushner of course brought back $2 billion from Saudi Arabia. And all of that has been a part of the conversation, and he was assertive about that," the lawmaker added.
House Democrats previously opened a probe into Kushner's deal with Saudi Arabia. However, it was dismissed when GOP took control of the House with a slim majority in the 2022 midterm elections, and Republican Rep. James Comer took charge of the Oversight and Accountability Committee that now leads the impeachment investigation into Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden Defends His Father Joe Biden
House Republicans have been focusing on Hunter Biden's business deals to prove that his father was involved and benefited from his family's business dealings, which is the center of the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
But in his opening statement, Hunter refuted the allegations and made clear that his father was not involved in his business dealings.
"I am here today to provide the committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business," Hunter said.
"Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never," he added.
Hunter then took a swipe at GOP lawmakers who have accused him and his father of corruption, saying they pursue a "baseless and destructive political charade," and that the impeachment probe was built on an "entire partisan house of cards on lies," CNN reported.
The president's son also said the Republicans had hunted him in their "partisan political pursuit of my dad."
"You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism - all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face," Hunter noted. "You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn't any."
After the seven-hour deposition ended, Hunter's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said that Republicans had not produced any "evidence" to support allegations that the president benefited from his son's business dealings.
"Hunter spent nearly seven hours today answering questions from members and staff truthfully and completely... He could not have been clearer that there was no time that he involved his father in any of his businesses. And, the Republicans provided not one shred of evidence to the contrary because none exists," Lowell said in a statement later Wednesday.
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