Hunter Biden dodges Matt Gaetz showdown at Biden impeachment
4 Min Read
Gaetz bombards Hunter Biden with questions about his drug use and foreign business dealings, which the latter continuously denied of having anything to do with his father.
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Hunter Biden with attorney Abbe Lowell, left, leaves after a closed-door deposition in the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP)
A heated exchange between US Representative Matt Gaetz, and President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, has been revealed, after they occurred during a behind-closed doors-deposition for the impeachment inquiry into the president yesterday.
Gaetz asked Hunter, "Were you on drugs when you were on the Burisma board?", referring to the board on which Hunter was a director for a Ukrainian energy company. Hunter's responded with, "Mr. Gaetz, look me in the eye. You really think that's appropriate to ask me?"
Gaetz insisted it was appropriate to which Hunter repeated his question, "Of all the people sitting around this table, do you think that's appropriate to ask me?"
"What does that have to do with whether or not you're going to go forward with an impeachment of my father other than to simply try to embarrass me?" he added.
Even though Hunter has been open about his drug use, Gaetz was accused of crimes earlier. In 2021, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Gaetz for possibly having engaged in sex trafficking and drug use but Gaetz has constantly denied the claims.
Gaetz continued to drag in Hunter's business dealings, which have previously stirred controversy and divide in the nation's politics.
"Were you a high-functioning addict while you were on the Burisma board?" Gaetz asked, to which Biden said that he was at some points but it wasn't the case "the entire time."
'Drunk, high, and lacking evidence'
The younger Biden continued to tell Gaetz that he was "drunk and probably high" during a mention of his father in a WhatsApp message sent to a Chinese associate.
"My father was not sitting next to me. My father had no awareness," "My father had no awareness of the business that I was doing. My father never benefited from any of the business that I was doing," he said.
In the seven-hour-long deposition, he said his father "never received a cent from anybody or never benefited in any way."
Hunter claimed that the impeachment inquiry investigation lacked evidence, telling the House Oversight Committee, "You do not have evidence... For more than a year, your committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad."
When the deposition came to a close, Gaetz scurried to reporters per CNN, saying, "we're asking questions about these corrupt business practices... I'm not really framing that through the lens of next steps. I'm just trying to get the facts."
Read next: FBI informant charged with false Biden bribery allegations
Afterward, Republican-led House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer relayed to reporters that there were "some contradictory statements that I think need further review."
However, before the testimony, Comer said: "We're deposing Hunter Biden because he's a key witness in our investigation of Joe Biden."
The House Committee is choosing to focus on Hunter Biden, yet they have disregarded Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who oversaw Middle East policies during the Trump administration, and who was found to have received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia just six months after his term in office ended. This was reportedly for an arms deal.
The Rundown
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted to open a formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden based on his son Hunter's controversial international dealings, a move Biden himself slammed as a "baseless" stunt.
Republicans have yet to provide evidence of corruption by the president, and the Democratic-led Senate would be unlikely to convict Biden even if the inquiry did lead to an actual impeachment trial.
Conservatives accuse Biden's troubled son Hunter of influence-peddling. The allegations refer to incidents that took place before his father became president, and the White House has stressed there has been no wrongdoing.
"There is zero evidence that President Biden has engaged in any wrongdoing," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
The Republicans, however, say that by triggering the full inquiry they will gain new legal powers, allowing them to find the evidence they need.
The US Constitution provides that Congress may remove a president for "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
