Hunter Biden denounced a GOP-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden as “baseless and MAGA-led conspiracy theories’ about his father, and accused House Republicans of having “built your entire partisan house of cards on lies.”
Biden released a copy of his opening statement to the media before he appeared Wednesday to give a closed-door deposition.
Biden’s entire opening statement can be found at Punchbowl News. He began by flatly denying allegations that his father had been involved in his career in any way.
“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,” he said, according to a copy of the statement obtained by The Washington Post. “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.”
Biden said the committee had heard from a parade of witnesses—former colleagues and business partners—as “part of your so-called impeachment investigation,” who all testified that the president was not involved in his business practices.
“For more than a year, your Committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad. You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism — all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence taring you in the face. You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn’t any.”
And he added: “You have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies.”
Biden acknowledged that he has made “mistakes in my life” and has “squandered opportunities and privileges that were afforded to me.”
He added:
“I know that, I am responsible for that. And I am making amends for that. But my mistakes and shortcomings are my own and not my father’s, who has done nothing but devote his entire life to public service and trying to make this country a better place to live.”
Biden added that during his battle with addiction, his father was there for him and “helped save my life,” making it possible for him to get sober and “rebuild my life as a father, husband and son.”
“What he got in return for being a loving and supportive parent is a barrage of hate-filled conspiracy theories that hatched this sham impeachment inquiry and continue to fuel unrelenting personal attacks against him and me.”
He then accused Republicans of taking his “communications out of context” and relying on documents that “have been altered, and cherry-picked snippets of financial or other records to misrepresent what really happened.”
Biden concluded by stating:
“My testimony today should put an end to this baseless and destructive political charaged. You have wasted valuable time and resources attacking me and my family for your own political gain when you should be fixing the real problems in this country that desperately need attention.”
During breaks in the deposition, House Democrats taking part in the impeachment inquiry gave progress reports to reporters.
Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York said, “That first hour of this much-anticipated testimony was the nail in the coffin to what is a bogus and sham impeachment inquiry.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said, “What we saw was a rather embarrassing spectacle where the Republicans continue to belabor completely trivial points. They seem to be obsessively focused on … the use of speakerphones. I did not know that that was the Devil’s technology but apparently it is. And I believe, based on this first hour, that this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative time and resources.”
And Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz actually let slip one important detail: Hunter Biden was “responsive to questions” and didn’t plead the Fifth Amendment:
Reminder: During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump said that invoking one’s Fifth Amendment rights was virtually an admission of wrongdoing. “You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” he said at an Iowa rally, mocking aides to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Hunter Biden apparently has not invoked the Fifth Amendment, but we know who has.