Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena on Wednesday, an action his father has previously said should be prosecuted.
President Joe Biden said in October 2021 that individuals who defy subpoenas from the January 6 House Select Committee should be prosecuted, and the Justice Department indicted Steve Bannon for doing so in November 2021.
Legal experts said the president’s son could be, but for various reasons may not be, likewise prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department for his choice to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill instead of sitting his deposition before the House Oversight Committee.
Criminal defense attorney and legal analyst Philip Holloway told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the law “must be applied equally or it has no meaning.”
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“Hunter Biden needs to be held to the same standard as other recent people who have thumbed their noses at congressional subpoenas,” Holloway said. “In this case, however, Hunter went so far as to show up on Capitol grounds and hold a press conference, thereby figuratively giving the middle finger to the House of Representatives. It is imperative that he be cited for contempt and that he be prosecuted by the U.S. attorney just as was the case recently with Bannon.”
Holloway called dodging a valid subpoena “just stupid,” noting Hunter could have “invoked the 5th Amendment” at his deposition.
“I scratch my head wondering why Hunter’s lawyer — who stood with him at the presser — would subject his client to additional criminal charges,” he said. “I would never have advised someone to dodge a subpoena.”
George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley made a similar point Thursday, writing that Republicans initiating contempt of Congress proceedings could “force the hand of Attorney General Merrick Garland” and calling Hunter’s refusal to appear an “unenforced error.”
Garland said in 2021 that the prosecution of Bannon was in pursuit of “equal justice under the law.”
“Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement at the time. “Today’s charges reflect the department’s steadfast commitment to these principles.”
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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement Wednesday that they intend to initiate contempt of congress proceedings.
Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy wrote Wednesday that the younger Biden knows he won’t be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
“Similarly, Hunter Biden knows that, while the House could hold him in contempt, the Biden Justice Department is not going to prosecute him for criminal contempt for [sic] three reasons,” he wrote. “(1) he’s the president’s son; (2) there’s already tension with the White House because prosecutors botched the sweetheart plea deal and have now indicted Hunter twice (putting the president in the politically compromising position of having to pardon him at some point); and (3) the Justice Department is part of an administration whose story is that the impeachment inquiry is an illegitimate political hit job forced by MAGA Republicans so they can orchestrate proceedings hyped as ‘Biden impeachment’ in parallel with the criminal proceedings Trump faces in court, which Democrats are hyping.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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