Hunter Biden's Legal Team Just Put Him In 'Greater Peril,' Attorney Warns

Hunter Biden's legal team put him in "greater peril" when the president's son defied a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, attorney and legal analyst Jonathan Turley told Newsweek.

The subpoena was signed by chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, as part of the committee's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The inquiry relates to Biden's alleged involvement in his son's foreign business dealings. The White House has repeatedly denied that the president ever had any involvement in his son's dealings, with Joe Biden calling the inquiry a "baseless political stunt."

On Wednesday, Hunter Biden stood outside the U.S. Capitol and gave a press conference rather than going inside to give a private deposition.

"Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say," he said. "What are they afraid of? I am here."

Turley told Newsweek via email on Sunday that "the Biden team could not have put their client in greater peril with the stunt in front of the Capitol."

"They eradicated any plausible defense in this flagrant contempt of Congress. It is not an easy cat to walk backwards unless Congress gives Hunter another opportunity to testify. The most they can hope for is a type of legal mulligan. They would be wise to immediately offer to testify as specified by the House committees," Turley, a professor at George Washington University, added.

Newsweek reached out to Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, via email for comment.

After the president's son failed to appear for his subpoena, Comer threatened to hold him in contempt of Congress.

"Hunter Biden today defied lawful subpoenas and we will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings," Comer said in a joint statement Wednesday with Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican. "We will not provide special treatment because his last name is Biden."

In an article posted to Turley's website on Sunday, the lawyer said that Hunter Biden's legal team made an "unforced error" when he refused to go to his private deposition and argued that he should have just gone inside and taken the Fifth.

Pleading the Fifth Amendment allows someone to refuse to answer questions if they fear they might incriminate themselves.

"Hunter simply could have done what prior witnesses have done: Go in and take the Fifth," Turley wrote, calling it a "no-brainer."

"This one could prove as costly as pushing for an obscenely generous plea agreement and then telling prosecutors to 'rip it up' in July," Turley wrote of Hunter Biden failing to appear for his subpoena.

Turley was referring to Hunter Biden's failed plea deal in one of two indictments against him. The president's son was indicted in September for allegedly making false statements on a federal firearms form and possessing a handgun when he was addicted to drugs. He pleaded not guilty to the gun charges after his plea deal fell apart.

Under the initial plea deal, Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanors for failing to pay his federal taxes on time in 2017 and 2018, while avoiding being prosecuted for a felony gun charge—illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user.

He was indicted for a second time earlier this month with three felonies and six misdemeanors including failure to file and pay taxes, false tax return and evasion of assessment. Hunter Biden stands accused of not paying at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes between 2016 and 2019, and evading the assessment of taxes in 2018 when he filed false returns. He has yet to enter a plea in the case.

In a press statement earlier this month, Lowell responded to the new charges by saying that "if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."