Hunter Biden opens impeachment testimony: ‘I did not involve my father in my business’

Hunter Biden testified Wednesday that he “did not involve” his father, President Biden, in his business dealings, delivering the message at the beginning of his highly anticipated deposition as part of the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into the president.

“I am here today to provide the committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business. Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never,” Biden said during his opening statement.

“My testimony today should put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade,” he later added. “You have wasted valuable time and resources attacking me and my family for your own political gain when you should be fixing the real problems in this country that desperately need your attention.”

Hunter Biden — appearing behind closed doors before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees — slammed the GOP’s investigation into the president, accusing Republicans of trying, but failing, to prove “baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies” about his father.

“For more than a year, your committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad. You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism — all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face,” he said. “You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father, because there isn’t any.”

Hunter Biden’s deposition comes months into the GOP’s multi-pronged impeachment inquiry into the president that has looked into the younger Biden’s business activities and personal life, probing alleged “influence peddling” from when his father was vice president.

Republicans, however, have failed to provide any clear evidence that the president is guilty of an impeachable offense, despite poring over piles of financial evidence and interviewing a litany of witnesses.

GOP lawmakers will be under pressure Wednesday to find a smoking gun when Hunter Biden, their most crucial witness yet, appears for questioning.

“We’re deposing Hunter Biden because he’s a key witness in our investigation of President Joe Biden,” House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told reporters ahead of the deposition.

Hunter Biden’s deposition, however, comes after the Republican-led investigation faced a series of setbacks that call into question the legitimacy of the GOP’s case against the president.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department indicted an FBI informant that provided information that was at the heart of the GOP’s key allegation against the president. Authorities said the informant, Alexander Smirnov, fabricated his claims, and he told the Justice Department after his arrest that he learned the information from “officials associated with Russian intelligence.”

Hunter Biden in his opening statement said Republicans “have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies” told by their witnesses, including Smirnov, who he said “has made you dupes in carrying out a Russian disinformation campaign waged against my father.”

“Rather than follow the facts as they have been laid out before you in bank records, financial statements, correspondence, and other witness testimony, you continue your frantic search to prove the lies you, and those you rely on, keep peddling. Yes, they are lies,” Biden added.

The president’s son recognized that he has “made mistakes in my life” and “squandered opportunities and privileges that were afforded to me,” but he said those errors were the fault of his own, and not the president.

“I am responsible for that. And I am making amends for that. But my mistakes and shortcomings are my own and not my father’s, who has done nothing but devote his entire life to public service and trying to make this country a better place to live,” he said in his opening statement.

The younger Biden reflected on his relationship with his father.

“During my battle with addiction, my father was there for me. He helped save my life. His love and support made it possible for me to get sober, stay sober and rebuild my life as a father, husband, son, and brother,” Hunter Biden said. “What he got in return for being a loving and supportive parent is a barrage of hate-filled conspiracy theories that hatched this sham impeachment inquiry and continue to fuel unrelenting personal attacks against him and me.”

Hunter Biden’s deposition before the GOP-led committees comes after a bitter battle between Republicans on the panel and his legal team over the terms of his appearance.

Republicans insisted Biden sit for a closed-door deposition before speaking at a public hearing, but Hunter Biden’s team said he would only testify publicly, due to concern that GOP lawmakers would selectively leak or misconstrue his remarks.

Republicans issued Hunter Biden a subpoena in November that he defied, instead delivering a statement on the Capitol complex in which he declared, “My father was not financially involved in my business.”

Republicans launched contempt of Congress proceedings against Hunter Biden as a result of his defiance, advancing the resolution in January. Hunter Biden’s team, however, acquiesced before the full House voted on the measure, saying he would sit for a closed-door deposition if Republicans reissued their subpoena — which they did.

Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET