Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance Wednesday on Capitol Hill, attending a House committee hearing centered on whether to hold him in contempt. Hunter, along with attorneys Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, appeared on Capitol Hill as the House Oversight Committee was weighing the resolution to hold him in contempt; however, he left shortly after the hearing began.

The House Judiciary Committee was also holding a hearing on whether Biden should be held in contempt for holding a press conference outside the Capitol on Dec. 13 instead of complying with a subpoena ordering him to testify privately as part of an impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden.

Biden’s appearance was met with outrage by Republicans, with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., stating that he “should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail … You [Biden] are the epitome of white privilege, coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a Congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of? You have no balls to come up in here.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-N.Y., sought a show of hands for the committee to vote on the spot to receive public testimony from Biden, but only Democrats participated. House Republicans said that Hunter Biden’s testimony is key to their impeachment investigation into his father for enriching himself during his years as vice president through his son’s alleged overseas influence peddling.

In a statement to reporters after leaving the hearing, Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell asserted that Hunter is “a private citizen” while accusing Republicans of attempting to “use him as a surrogate to attack his father .. The Republican chairs today, then, are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions. The question here is, what are they afraid of?”

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