James Comer lashes out after Hunter Biden demands oversight testimony be public

Hunter Biden called Rep. James Comer's (R-KY) bluff — and it appears to have worked.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden's son said that he would testify to Comer's House Oversight and Reform Committee, but only if it was in public. Comer had requested that it be behind closed doors.

And Fox correspondent Chad Pergram reported that Comer is lashing out at the request for transparency.

"Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else," Pergram paraphrased Comer as saying. "That won’t stand with House Republicans. Our lawfully issued subpoena to Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13."

"We expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition but also agree that Hunter Biden should have [the] opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date," he continued.

He hasn't revealed why he doesn't want Biden's hearing to be public.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) pointed out that Republicans tend to distort what is said behind closed doors.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) agreed: "Refusing to hold a public hearing allows the party in power to construct their own version of the 'truth.' If House Republicans have the "smoking gun" they claim they have, why are they afraid to show it to the American people? What are they trying to hide?"

There have been two previous offers by the Biden team to cooperate with the Oversight Committee that Comer has turned down, Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell's letter to Congress says.

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Lowell's letter also points out that there is no legislative purpose for the hearing with the younger Biden. Republicans have said that they began an "impeachment inquiry," but they have not formally voted to open a legal impeachment investigation. Without such a vote, Republicans would need a legislative purpose for the hearing — and that's a legal discrepancy that may be headed to court.

Joseph Costello, press secretary for the Oversight Democrats, posted a video of Comer making it clear he was fine with a hearing and, further, that he would agree to testify alongside Biden.

"I will be happy — I will sit with Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, and we can go over our LLCs. [...] Let's do that. Let's do that. We'll be transparent," said Comer.

See the video of Comer's past promises below or at the link here.