House Republicans to consider holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

Republicans on the US House oversight committee will on Wednesday consider a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena for testimony.

The personal struggles and legal travails of Joe Biden’s surviving son are well-known. Republicans are targeting him as part of attempts to portray his father as corrupt and therefore secure his impeachment, as an expected election rematch with Donald Trump looms.

In early December, Hunter Biden, 53, defied a subpoena for testimony to be delivered in private, instead appearing in public on Capitol Hill.

Related: Hunter Biden defies Republican subpoena to give closed-door testimony

“Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say,” Biden told reporters. “What are they afraid of? I am here.”

On Monday, James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican oversight chair, and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chair of the House judiciary committee, released their contempt resolution and an attendant report.

They said: “Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States attorney’s office for prosecution.”

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanour criminal offence. As described by the Congressional Research Service, “a witness suffers no direct legal consequence from House or Senate approval of a contempt citation, though a variety of political consequences may [follow].

“If the individual is prosecuted and convicted, violations … are punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment ‘for not less than one month nor more than 12 months’.”

Hunter Biden is already in extensive legal jeopardy. In September, he was indicted in Delaware on three federal charges related to his purchase and ownership of a handgun while experiencing (and lying about) addiction. Facing a sentence of up to 25 years, he pleaded not guilty.

In December, he was indicted in California on nine tax charges carrying a maximum sentence of 17 years. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Accusing prosecutors of “bowing to Republican pressure”, Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said: “If Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware and now California would not have been brought.”

On Monday, Comer and Jordan said they would not “provide [Biden] with special treatment because of his last name”.

Critics – including Democrats – have asked why Republicans seemed less concerned about the activities of members of the Trump family while their patriarch held power.

Writing on Substack this week, the historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, said Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, “spent years self-dealing as a Trump administration ‘presidential adviser’”.

Ben-Ghiat also pointed to a report from the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or Crew, that said Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, “made up to $640m in outside income during Trump’s presidency”. Also at issue is Kushner’s acceptance, six months after leaving the White House, of a $2bn investment from the government of Saudi Arabia.

Democrats in the minority on the House oversight committee have attempted to make news of their own, last week releasing a report detailing at least $7.8m in payments from 20 countries to Trump business concerns during his four years in power.

Comer called that report “beyond parody” and said: “Former President Trump has legitimate businesses but the Bidens do not.”

In his press conference on 13 December, Hunter Biden said: “There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.”

He also referred to his experiences with addiction and his legal battles.

“I’m here today to acknowledge I have made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded,” Biden said. “For that, I am responsible. For that, I am accountable. And for that, I am making amends.”