JUST IN: Republicans Take Major Step Toward Punishing Hunter Biden After Chaotic Hearing

Following a chaotic hearing Wednesday that saw Hunter Biden and his attorneys storm out in protest, two congressional committees advanced resolutions to hold the embattled son of President Joe Biden in contempt for defying a subpoena to testify about his family’s business dealings.

The Western Journal reported that the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees quickly voted along partisan lines to advance contempt recommendations to the full House for a floor vote, setting the stage for what could quickly become another distraction for the Biden administration. Hunter Biden made his opinion known during an Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday when he abruptly stood up from the front row and exited the hearing room just as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was prepared to question him.

“Resolved, That Robert Hunter Biden shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena,” read the recommendation from the Oversight Committee.

“Resolved, That pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §§ 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, detailing the refusal of Robert Hunter Biden to appear for a deposition before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as directed by subpoena, to an appropriate United States attorney, to the end that Mr. Biden be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law,” it continued.

“Resolved, That the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.”

As noted by CNN, while Congress may refer a call for criminal contempt charges to the U.S. Attorney’s office for prosecution, it has no way of forcing a federal prosecutor to do so. U.S. Attorneys respond to the U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland, a top advisor to President Biden.

A joint report into Hunter Biden’s business dealings concluded that it was likely his father was aware, if not sanctioning, lobbying efforts on behalf of overseas companies that have ensnared Hunter in tax fraud charges and left open the possibility that he could yet be charged with failing to register as a foreign agent.

“The Committees have accumulated significant evidence suggesting that President Biden knew of, participated in, and profited from foreign business interests engaged in by his son, about which the Committees intended to question Mr. Biden during his deposition,” the report states.

“However, Mr. Biden brazenly defied the Committees’ subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for a deposition as required by the subpoenas. Mr. Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the Committees’ subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has promised to ramp up the chamber’s impeachment inquiry into President Biden, relying in part on Hunter’s business activities which resulted in at least on $40,000 payment to the president personally. The activities took place in the years during and following Biden’s time as vice president, a period when Republicans say Hunter and business associates like Devon Archer used their connections to entice foreign businesses like Burisma into executing contracts worth millions of dollars.