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House Republicans seek documents from White House over Biden’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s refusal to comply with congressional subpoena
Washington — The Republican leaders of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Wednesday asked the White House to turn over information about President Biden’s alleged involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s decision not to comply with a congressional subpoena for a deposition, expanding its impeachment inquiry into the president.
In a letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel, Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan requested documents and communications between White House staff in the Executive Office of the President and Hunter Biden or his lawyers regarding his scheduled deposition, which was supposed to happen on Dec. 13.
But Hunter Biden defied the subpoena from the Oversight Committee for a closed-door interview with lawmakers, appearing briefly outside the U.S. Capitol to reiterate that he would answer questions only in a public setting.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters later that day that the president was “familiar with” what his son was going to say in his statement.
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“In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas,” Comer, who leads the Oversight Committee, and Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary panel, said in their letter to Siskel.
They argued that Jean-Pierre’s remark suggests that Mr. Biden “had some amount of advanced knowledge” that Hunter Biden would refuse to comply with the subpoena for testimony.
The Republicans set a Jan. 10 deadline for the White House to provide the records regarding Hunter Biden’s deposition. They are also seeking documents from staff in the Executive Office of the President related to a comment Mr. Biden made on Dec. 6 denying that he interacted with his son and brother’s foreign business associates.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Comer and Jordan said the president’s “advanced awareness” that his son would not answer questions from lawmakers behind closed doors “raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas.”
“Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense,” they wrote.
Beyond Jean-Pierre’s comment, it’s unclear how much Mr. Biden knew about his son’s plan not to appear for the deposition. Hunter Biden told reporters on Dec. 13 that he would answer at a public hearing “any legitimate questions” from Comer and Oversight Committee members, and accused the GOP leaders of the three committees conducting the impeachment inquiry of “distorting the facts.”
Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings for nearly a year and claim Mr. Biden was enriched by his son and brother’s overseas work and accepted bribes. They have produced no evidence of wrongdoing by the president or that he benefited financially from his family’s business ventures.
Still, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced in September that he would be launching a formal impeachment inquiry into the president, and the House’s GOP majority voted earlier this month to formalize the probe.
Comer and Jordan said they will pursue proceedings to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena from Republicans.
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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