Jim Jordan Celebrates New Development in Hunter Biden Probe

Hunter Biden has "decided to cooperate" in the House Oversight Committee's investigation into his foreign business deals, Representative Jim Jordan said Tuesday morning.

The committee launched investigations into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, this year about whether the elder Biden committed an impeachable offense by aiding in the deal. The committee subpoenaed the younger Biden and James Biden, the president's brother, this month.

Hunter Biden agreed to testify before the committee as long as his testimony was public. But the committee denied his request for an open hearing on December 13, when he is slated to appear for a closed-door deposition.

"We are glad that Hunter Biden has decided to cooperate and we look forward to hearing from him in a deposition on December 13 and subsequently at a public hearing," Jordan, an Ohio Republican, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday morning.

Newsweek reached out to Jordan's office by phone for comment.

Hunter Biden's lawyers issued a letter to the committee on Tuesday saying that the younger Biden agreed to testify only if the meeting was public.

"We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public," a letter from Biden's lawyers read, according to CNN. "We therefore propose opening the door. If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about, then let the light shine on these proceedings."

Newsweek reached out to Abbe Lowell, one of Biden's lawyers, by email for comment.

But House Republicans remained firm in their plan for the closed-door deposition. Rather than agreeing to Biden's terms, the committee still plans to question him during the deposition and allow him the opportunity to publicly testify at a later date, according to Jordan's post.

Hunter Biden's lawyers aren't the only ones opposed to the closed-door deposition.

Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat on the committee, issued a scathing rebuke after Biden's request was denied.

"Let me get this straight. After wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full Committee and the eyes of the world and to answer any questions they pose?" Raskin said. "What an epic humiliation for our colleagues.

"After a miserable failure of their impeachment hearing in September, Chairman Comer has now apparently decided to avoid all Committee hearings where the public can actually see for itself the logical, rhetorical and factual contortions they have tied themselves up in. The evidence has shown time and again President Biden has committed no wrongdoing, much less an impeachable offense. Chairman Comer's insistence that Hunter Biden's interview should happen behind closed doors proves it once again. What the Republicans fear most is sunlight and truth."

Several comments on Jordan's post also criticized the committee's subpoena.

"Why do you need to speak with him privately first? This is gonna make a great episode on SNL," one user posted.

"We are ready to watch it be aired PUBLICLY and not behind closed doors, where MAGA Comer and you can try to manipulate Hunter Biden," another posted.

Other comments criticized Hunter Biden.

"Get him, Jim," one user posted.