President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden defied an order by House Republicans to testify behind closed doors about his business dealings, ratcheting up tensions with lawmakers who plan to vote on Wednesday to formalize their impeachment probe of his father.
At a news conference outside the Capitol, Biden blasted the probe as baseless and indicated he would not cooperate with a subpoena by the House Oversight Committee to testify in private.
Republican representative Darrell Issa said he expects the panel will hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he does not show. "He's thumbing his nose at the American people," Issa said.
Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing ahead with a plan to vote on Wednesday to authorize the probe before leaving for a three-week holiday break on Thursday.
They allege that Biden and his family improperly profited from decisions the elder Biden participated in while serving as vice president from 2009-17. Their investigation focuses closely on the business dealings of the younger Biden.
They have so far failed to uncover evidence of wrongdoing by the president.
"There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen," Hunter Biden, 53, said.
The White House has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the probe as politically motivated ahead of the 2024 presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump, the only U.S. president to be impeached twice, is the leading contender to take on Biden. Trump was acquitted by the Senate both times.
Hunter Biden, who has described his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, has also been subject to a years-long criminal investigation. That has resulted in federal firearms and tax charges.
"In the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It's shameless," he said.
Democratic representative Jamie Raskin defended Hunter Biden's decision not to testify behind closed doors.
Referring to House Republicans, Raskin said, "they continued to cherry pick little pieces of evidence and distort and misrepresent what has taken place. ... This is a pattern that Hunter Biden and his lawyers clearly observed."
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, Rami Ayyub, and Makini Brice; writing by Andy Sullivan; editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, and Daniel Wallis)