Joe Biden Impeachment Escalates

House Republicans will reportedly seek to interview Hunter Biden associate Kevin Morris this week as their impeachment inquiry into President Biden intensifies.

On December 13, the House of Representatives voted to launch an impeachment inquiry into the president by 221 votes to 212, with members voting along party lines. Republicans allege that whilst serving as vice-president between 2009 and 2017 Biden used his influence to improperly support the business activities of his son, from which they suggest he gained financially. The president has said he had no involvement with Hunter Biden's business dealings and the White House has described the GOP's impeachment effort as "sad, pathetic, and a waste of everyone's time."

CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan had said the House GOP wants to speak with Kevin Morris, a Hollywood lawyer and writer who has worked as part of Hunter Biden's legal team. In May 2022, The New York Times reported Morris had loaned Hunter Biden "more than $2 million" which he spent on paying back taxes and supporting his family.

Grayer wrote: "Jim Jordan says House GOP scheduled to interview Hunter Biden lawyer Kevin Morris "late next week" as part of Joe Biden impeachment inquiry. GOP have raised concerns about Morris loaning Hunter the roughly $2 million that he needed to pay his tax bill."

On Tuesday, Republicans on the powerful House Oversight Committee questioned New York-based art dealer Georges Bergès about the sale of artwork produced by Hunter Biden.

Bergès said Morris had spent $875,000 on Hunter Biden's art during the first month of 2023, paying him only a 40 percent commission, according to a statement issued by the committee's chairman James Comer. Democratic Party donor Elizabeth Hirsch Naftali spent $42,000 on Hunter Biden's artwork in February 2021 and another $52,000 on it in December 2022, Bergès told the committee. In July 2022, President Biden appointed Naftali to the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.

Newsweek has contacted Morris, Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell, and the White House press office for comment by email.

The House Oversight Committee is expected to vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress on Wednesday after the president's son refused a congressional subpoena to be questioned at a closed-door deposition in December. Hunter Biden said he would only appear if the event was held in public, telling reporters outside the U.S. Capitol that "Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say."

Should the contempt resolution pass the committee, it would proceed to a full House vote, which in turn could lead to the Department of Justice deciding to launch a criminal case.

Hunter Biden is already facing two criminal cases, for alleged tax evasion and not declaring his drug addiction on a form related to firearm ownership. The president's son pled not guilty to the tax and firearms charges after a plea deal—which would have seen him admit guilt to two misdemeanors for failing to pay his federal taxes on time in 2017 and 2018—collapsed.

On Sunday, Jordan was asked about the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden. He replied: "The most damning evidence we got thus far is what we got from Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's business partner, because he says what they were selling was the brand."

However, when Archer testified before the House Oversight Committee in July 2023, he said he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing by President Biden. The ongoing impeachment inquiry could potentially lead to a full impeachment trial of President Biden.