Hunter Biden to Give Private Deposition in Impeachment Probe

(Bloomberg) -- Presidential son Hunter Biden is to give a closed-door deposition Feb. 28 on his overseas business activities, which are at the center of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

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The announcement by two House panels leading the probe follows a lengthy battle with the younger Biden, who had demanded that he answer investigators’ questions in public. Biden has agreed to give the deposition, said an ally who is familiar with his team’s discussions with the two committees.

Last week, the committees, Oversight and Judiciary, recommended Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas.

Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, argued the prior subpoenas weren’t legally valid because they were issued before the House voted to authorize the impeachment inquiry. Lowell conceded new subpoenas would be valid.

The Biden team’s negotiations with investigators included ways to address the younger Biden’s concerns that Republicans would leak misleading material from private testimony, said the person who asked not to be identified discussing private talks.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer said investigators would release a transcript of the deposition as soon as possible afterward. He added the panel could do a public hearing after the deposition.

House Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and those of other Biden family members, including looking for evidence of whether the president knew of, or profited from, the business activities of his son.

The House in December formally voted along party lines to authorize he impeachment inquiry into the president’s potential involvement, despite concerns among some in the GOP that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president.

--With assistance from Jonathan Tamari.

(Updates with Hunter Biden agreeing to deposition in second paragraph)

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