{"id":3084,"date":"2024-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/hunter-biden-impeachment-joe-biden-transcript-congress-50acadad1afc1efc1426828edb1b3ad9\/"},"modified":"2024-03-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T00:00:00","slug":"hunter-biden-impeachment-joe-biden-transcript-congress-50acadad1afc1efc1426828edb1b3ad9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/hunter-biden-impeachment-joe-biden-transcript-congress-50acadad1afc1efc1426828edb1b3ad9\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from Hunter Biden's combative deposition with Republican lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The transcript of the congressional deposition of Hunter Biden<\/a> was released late Thursday, providing a full view of the contentious testimony that took place behind closed doors Wednesday as Republicans aggressively questioned the central figure in their impeachment inquiry.<\/p>\n

The nearly 230 pages of questioning laid bare the deep-seated hostility between President Joe Biden\u2019s son and the GOP lawmakers who have been investigating his family for the past several years. Arguments were frequent and tempers short, providing a preview of what is sure to come when Republicans hold a public hearing with Hunter Biden in the next several weeks. <\/p>\n

He was defiant through the deposition as Republicans flooded him with questions about his former business affairs and his life, his answers veering from heated to emotional as he talked of his long battle with addiction and turmoil in his personal life.<\/p>\n

Throughout the nearly seven-hour deposition, Hunter Biden remained adamant on one point, vehemently and repeatedly denying under oath that his father ever financially benefited or participated in any of his business work.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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Takeaways from the transcript:<\/p>\n

\u2018You always pick up the phone\u2019<\/h2>\n

The 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family has centered on Hunter Biden and his overseas work for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long questioned whether those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Biden, particularly in the years when he was vice president.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Republican investigators zeroed in on a series of dinners and meetings that took place after Joe Biden left the vice presidency in which the younger Biden put his father on speakerphone while in the company of business partners. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why would you place your dad on speakerphone?\u201d an unidentified Republican staffer asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprised my dad hasn\u2019t called me right now, and if he did, I would put him on speakerphone to say hi to you and to Congressman Raskin and everybody else in the room,\u201d Hunter Biden replied. \u201cIt is nothing nefarious literally.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that after the tragedies his family has suffered \u2014 including the death of his mother and two siblings \u2014 calls in his family are always answered, no matter what. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou always pick up the phone. It\u2019s something that we always do. And you can ask anybody that I know,\u201d Hunter Biden added.<\/p>\n

Hunter Biden\u2019s \u2018darkest days\u2019<\/h2>\n

Large portions of the testimony Wednesday diverged into Hunter Biden\u2019s well-documented battle with drug and alcohol addiction. <\/p>\n

In one particularly harsh exchange, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, questioned whether the president\u2019s son\u2019s business dealings, particularly with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, were legitimate. Gaetz asked, \u201cWere you on drugs when you were on the Burisma board?\u201d <\/p>\n

Hunter responded: \u201cMr. Gaetz, look me in the eye. You really think that\u2019s appropriate to ask me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s attorney, Abbe Lowell, intervened, telling his client he didn\u2019t need to respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will answer it this way: I have been absolutely transparent about my drug use,\u201d Hunter Biden said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry; I\u2019m an addict. I was an addict.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the panel he has been in recovery for more than four years and works \u201creally, really hard at it\u201d under what he called an enormous amount of pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas I an addict? Yes, I was an addict,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat does that have to do with whether or not you\u2019re going to go forward with an impeachment of my father other than to simply try to embarrass me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaetz tried to interrupt, but Hunter Biden kept talking: \u201cWhy? Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the \u2018Biden brand\u2019?<\/h2>\n

Another point of interest for House Republicans\u2019 investigation is what they describe as Hunter Biden and associates selling the Biden \u201cbrand\u201d to clients overseas.<\/p>\n

One of their purported key witnesses, Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified to the House Oversight Committee last year that the president\u2019s family sold \u201cthe illusion of access\u201d to the corridors of power in Washington. Republicans questioned whether Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm, wanted Hunter Biden on its board in 2014<\/a> \u201cbecause your dad was the Vice President?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think that it\u2019s fair,\u201d Hunter Biden responded. <\/p>\n

When asked about what value he brought to Burisma, Hunter Biden talked about the breadth of his resume and defended his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrimarily, the name \u2018Biden\u2019 is my dad\u2019s legacy. And he passed it down to me and, when my brother was alive, my brother, my sister, now to my children. It\u2019s our responsibility to not screw that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cIf other people saw the brand as something that they could market, it\u2019s not — it was not with my — without going through me first. And if they did so, they didn\u2019t go through me first.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rather than probe the Bidens, Democrats turn to the Trumps<\/h2>\n

Democrats at one point tried to turn the deposition back toward Donald Trump, contrasting the Bidens\u2019 business dealings with the former Republican president\u2019s family and its business operations.<\/p>\n

Rep. Eric Swalwell, the Democrat from California, led one particularly pointed exchange intended to draw out the differences between President Biden and Trump, the Republican front-runner to challenge him for the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid your father ever employ in the Oval Office any direct family member to also work in the Oval Office?\u201d Swalwell asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father has never employed any direct family members, to my knowledge,\u201d Hunter Biden testified.<\/p>\n

Swalwell went on to ask questions referring to the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., Trump\u2019s legal case in New York City, his daughter-in-law\u2019s recent bid to lead the Republican National Committee and his son-in-law Jared Kushner\u2019s business dealings with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs President and the leader of the party, has your father ever tried to install as the chairperson of the party a daughter-in-law or anyone else in the family?\u201d Swalwell probed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. And I don\u2019t think that anyone in my family would be crazy enough to want to be the chairperson of the DNC\u201d \u2014 the Democratic National Committee.<\/p>\n

Had his father ever been fined $355 million? \u201cNo, he has not, thank God,\u201d Hunter Biden testified.<\/p>\n

Emails, text messages and the laptop<\/h2>\n

The impeachment inquiry has focused on several pieces of evidence as Republicans try to build their case, including emails, text messages and a now-in-dispute laptop.<\/p>\n

One email from a Hunter Biden business associate proposes a 10% equity stake in their firm to be held for \u201cthe big\u201d guy, who Republicans say is Joe Biden. It\u2019s a message that has become central to the GOP claims of influence peddling, but one that another business associate Rob Walker has testified was all \u201cbull-\u2014-.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hunter Biden testified that he does not recall ever responding to the email. \u201cI\u2019m not even sure whether I ever fully read this.\u201d <\/p>\n

Further emails exhibited to the committee showed that any equity split would be made equally among the five partners, including Hunter Biden and his longtime business partner Jim Biden, who is the president\u2019s brother and his uncle. The business deal with a Chinese energy company never happened, and no one was paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no secret big guy anywhere in this email?\u201d asked a Democratic questioner.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, there\u2019s not,\u201d Hunter Biden replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe Biden is not anywhere in this agreement?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop that was allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and the source for many allegations against the Biden family, he testified that he does not recall bringing it in.<\/p>\n

If his computer needed repairs, Hunter Biden testified, \u201cI would have gone to the Apple store.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/h2>\n

This story has been corrected to reflect that an email from a Hunter Biden business associate proposed a 10% equity stake in their firm, not a $10 million equity stake<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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