Hunter Biden’s stunt appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday is part of a more aggressive, forward-leaning strategy that his legal team, led by lawyers Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, has adopted to confront his detractors in the last year.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers are aware that despite Congress holding a contempt vote against him as early as next week, they have few – if any – ways to enforce a punishment.
Congress has limited options to force Hunter Biden to answer questions before it or to successfully hold him in contempt if he is engaging with the committee, making Wednesday’s surprise appearance even more of a standoff.
His attorneys have made clear they believe him showing up on Capitol Hill and offering to testify publicly is enough to attempt to call the bluff of Republicans who say they want to question him extensively.
On Wednesday after his surprise appearance, Lowell called Republicans’ subpoena for closed-door testimony a political “tactic” and said by ignoring his willingness to appear publicly, the committees care “little for the truth.”
Biden’s ability to hold off congressional testimony has become even greater in recent weeks, because he now faces both criminal tax and gun charges, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
That means he would be more likely to want to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the source said.
During previous negotiations with the committee, Hunter Biden faced only gun charges in federal court in Delaware and was unlikely to cite the Fifth then while his team negotiated.
But the hefty tax charges brought by the special counsel’s office in federal court in California a month ago changed the legal calculus, the source said.
Hunter Biden is set to appear in the California court on Thursday to enter his initial…
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