Takeaways from Hunter Biden's combative deposition with Republican lawmakers

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Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, with attorney Abbe Lowell, left, leaves after a closed-door deposition in the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON ā€“ The transcript of the congressional deposition of Hunter Biden was released late Thursday, providing a full view of the contentious testimony that took place behind closed doors Wednesday as Republicans aggressively questioned the central figure in their impeachment inquiry.

The nearly 230 pages of questioning laid bare the deep-seated hostility between President Joe Biden's son and the GOP lawmakers who have been investigating his family for the past several years. Arguments were frequent and tempers short, providing a preview of what is sure to come when Republicans hold a public hearing with Hunter Biden in the next several weeks.

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He was defiant through the deposition as Republicans flooded him with questions about his former business affairs and his life, his answers veering from heated to emotional as he talked of his long battle with addiction and turmoil in his personal life.

Throughout the nearly seven-hour deposition, Hunter Biden remained adamant on one point, vehemently and repeatedly denying under oath that his father ever financially benefited or participated in any of his business work.

Takeaways from the transcript:

ā€˜You always pick up the phoneā€™

The 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family has centered on Hunter Biden and his overseas work for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long questioned whether those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Biden, particularly in the years when he was vice president.

Republican investigators zeroed in on a series of dinners and meetings that took place after Joe Biden left the vice presidency in which the younger Biden put his father on speakerphone while in the company of business partners.

ā€œAnd why would you place your dad on speakerphone?ā€ an unidentified Republican staffer asked.

ā€œIā€™m surprised my dad hasnā€™t called me right now, and if he did, I would put him on speakerphone to say hi to you and to Congressman Raskin and everybody else in the room,ā€ Hunter Biden replied. ā€œIt is nothing nefarious literally.ā€

He said that after the tragedies his family has suffered ā€” including the death of his mother and two siblings ā€” calls in his family are always answered, no matter what.

ā€œYou always pick up the phone. Itā€™s something that we always do. And you can ask anybody that I know,ā€ Hunter Biden added.

Hunter Biden's ā€˜darkest daysā€™

Large portions of the testimony Wednesday diverged into Hunter Biden's well-documented battle with drug and alcohol addiction.

In one particularly harsh exchange, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, questioned whether the presidentā€™s sonā€™s business dealings, particularly with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, were legitimate. Gaetz asked, ā€œWere you on drugs when you were on the Burisma board?ā€

Hunter responded: ā€œMr. Gaetz, look me in the eye. You really think thatā€™s appropriate to ask me?ā€

ā€œAbsolutely,ā€ Gaetz said.

Bidenā€™s attorney, Abbe Lowell, intervened, telling his client he didn't need to respond.

ā€œI will answer it this way: I have been absolutely transparent about my drug use,ā€ Hunter Biden said. ā€œIā€™m sorry; Iā€™m an addict. I was an addict.ā€

He told the panel he has been in recovery for more than four years and works ā€œreally, really hard at itā€ under what he called an enormous amount of pressure.

ā€œWas I an addict? Yes, I was an addict,ā€ he said. ā€œWhat does that have to do with whether or not youā€™re going to go forward with an impeachment of my father other than to simply try to embarrass me?ā€

Gaetz tried to interrupt, but Hunter Biden kept talking: ā€œWhy? Why?"

What was the ā€˜Biden brandā€™?

Another point of interest for House Republicans' investigation is what they describe as Hunter Biden and associates selling the Biden ā€œbrandā€ to clients overseas.

One of their purported key witnesses, Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified to the House Oversight Committee last year that the president's family sold ā€œthe illusion of accessā€ to the corridors of power in Washington. Republicans questioned whether Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm, wanted Hunter Biden on its board in 2014 "because your dad was the Vice President?ā€

ā€œNo, I donā€™t think that itā€™s fair,ā€ Hunter Biden responded.

When asked about what value he brought to Burisma, Hunter Biden talked about the breadth of his resume and defended his family.

ā€œPrimarily, the name ā€˜Bidenā€™ is my dadā€™s legacy. And he passed it down to me and, when my brother was alive, my brother, my sister, now to my children. Itā€™s our responsibility to not screw that up."

He added, "If other people saw the brand as something that they could market, itā€™s not -- it was not with my -- without going through me first. And if they did so, they didnā€™t go through me first."

Rather than probe the Bidens, Democrats turn to the Trumps

Democrats at one point tried to turn the deposition back toward Donald Trump, contrasting the Bidens' business dealings with the former Republican presidentā€™s family and its business operations.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, the Democrat from California, led one particularly pointed exchange intended to draw out the differences between President Biden and Trump, the Republican front-runner to challenge him for the White House.

ā€œDid your father ever employ in the Oval Office any direct family member to also work in the Oval Office?ā€ Swalwell asked.

ā€œMy father has never employed any direct family members, to my knowledge,ā€ Hunter Biden testified.

Swalwell went on to ask questions referring to the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., Trumpā€™s legal case in New York City, his daughter-in-lawā€™s recent bid to lead the Republican National Committee and his son-in-law Jared Kushnerā€™s business dealings with Saudi Arabia.

ā€œAs President and the leader of the party, has your father ever tried to install as the chairperson of the party a daughter-in-law or anyone else in the family?ā€ Swalwell probed.

ā€œNo. And I donā€™t think that anyone in my family would be crazy enough to want to be the chairperson of the DNCā€ ā€” the Democratic National Committee.

Had his father ever been fined $355 million? ā€œNo, he has not, thank God,ā€ Hunter Biden testified.

Emails, text messages and the laptop

The impeachment inquiry has focused on several pieces of evidence as Republicans try to build their case, including emails, text messages and a now-in-dispute laptop.

One email from a Hunter Biden business associate proposes a 10% equity stake in their firm to be held for ā€œthe bigā€ guy, who Republicans say is Joe Biden. It's a message that has become central to the GOP claims of influence peddling, but one that another business associate Rob Walker has testified was all ā€œbull-ā€”-.ā€

Hunter Biden testified that he does not recall ever responding to the email. ā€œIā€™m not even sure whether I ever fully read this.ā€

Further emails exhibited to the committee showed that any equity split would be made equally among the five partners, including Hunter Biden and his longtime business partner Jim Biden, who is the presidentā€™s brother and his uncle. The business deal with a Chinese energy company never happened, and no one was paid.

ā€œThereā€™s no secret big guy anywhere in this email?ā€ asked a Democratic questioner.

ā€œNo, thereā€™s not,ā€ Hunter Biden replied.

ā€œJoe Biden is not anywhere in this agreement?ā€ he asked.

ā€œNo, he is not.ā€

As for Hunter Bidenā€™s laptop that was allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and the source for many allegations against the Biden family, he testified that he does not recall bringing it in.

If his computer needed repairs, Hunter Biden testified, ā€œI would have gone to the Apple store.ā€

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that an email from a Hunter Biden business associate proposed a 10% equity stake in their firm, not a $10 million equity stake


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