According to a Tuesday letter addressed to committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), Biden agreed to testify before the committee on Dec. 13 — as long as the hearing was public. In the letter, Biden’s attorneys quoted Comer’s own demand, issued in November, that given Biden’s “willingness to address this investigation publicly up to this point, we would expect him to be willing to testify before Congress.”

The letter added that open-door proceedings “would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.”

Republicans would not have it. “Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else,” Comer wrote in a statement. “That won’t stand with House Republicans.”

  • ZeroCool@feddit.ch
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    263
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    The letter added that open-door proceedings “would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.”

    And that’s exactly why they aren’t going to allow him to testify publicly.

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      157
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      The best bit was at the end:

      “I welcome Hunter Biden finally agreeing to testify,” Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) wrote on Tuesday. “It’s long overdue for him to come clean in front of the American people.”

      Smith deleted the tweet shortly after he posted it.

    • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      36
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      From how it reads I think comer is saying that everyone is subjected to the selective leaks, doctored evidence ect. And if everyone regardless of party have to work through the unfair and unethical process, why should hunter get off easier by having transparency to prevent all the dirty and dishonest tools used by politicians. It’s insane logic to us because we’re seeing it from the outside and it shows how detached from the real worlds reality these politicians have become.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    115
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Republicans would not have it. “Hunter Biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else,” Comer wrote in a statement. “That won’t stand with House Republicans.”

    Are you fucking kidding me right now?

    • Butt Pirate@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      38
      ·
      1 year ago

      Republicans bitched and moaned for months about not getting a special council and when they finally got what and who they demanded they shrieked and raged that it was all a Biden conspiracy.

      Nothing surprises me out of these losers anymore.

    • El Barto@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      39
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Why are you so surprised by whatever Republicans have to say?

      Whenever Republicans open their mouths, all I hear is “blergh, blergh, blergh!”

    • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 year ago

      Overt hypocrisy is a display of power. They’re showing that they’re not only above the law, but above rationality itself, they can rule on a whim rather than be consistent.

      • prole@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        And this is why pointing out, or calling out, conservatives for their blatant hypocrisy is a waste of time and effort. They do not care. Many of them are even doing it on purpose to get people distracted from actual issues.

        They pivot to arguing about semantics and other meaningless bullshit, and it works. So they keep doing it.

    • TallonMetroid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      Conservatives don’t operate in good faith. They’ll say whatever will let them pretend the opposition are the ones breaking the rules, and if that contradicts something they said before that’s just a bonus.

  • Overzeetop@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    92
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you call for a dick measuring contest, you don’t let it be in public if you know you’re going to lose.

  • pottedmeat7910@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    58
    ·
    1 year ago

    I think Republicans have set that precedent that congressional supoenas are essentially optional, so Hunter can safely sit this one out if he feels like it.

  • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    53
    ·
    1 year ago

    I know this is all a joke to them and Hunter Biden is no more than a convenient political football for them to bat around regardless of the private human being underneath that who has never run for or held public office, but as an aside for those of us who know recovering addicts, the fact that MTG blew his nudes up and displayed them in open Congressional hearing to the squeals and opinions of the entire world press, and Hunter Biden is STILL maintaining his recovery and sobriety regardless – that is HUGELY impressive.

    Sobriety isn’t easy even when all your shit is private. Can you imagine your own improprieties blown up and displayed in the world media like his?

    If somebody blew my nudes up and they ended up in the national media, I think I’d implement a brand NEW drug regimen, not stay off the weaker one I used to have, lol.

    Massive, massive props to the man. That is insane – I literally can’t even imagine how “one day at a time” looks in Hunter Biden’s shoes. If he can do that, he’s got more grit than the whole right wing of Congress combined, and won’t have any trouble at all not crumpling if required to testify live.

    • prole@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      To be fair, you have no way of possibly knowing he’s stayed clean.

      Also, from what I understand, the guy is packing a massive dong, so I’m sure that helps too. Much less embarrassing than it could have been for him due to our societal norms or whatever.

      Edit: not sure why this comment would be controversial. As a “former” addict myself, I know first hand how well some people can hide their use. Anyone who has ever experienced addiction, and relapsed, would tell you that you really can’t know for sure. You just can’t.

      Unless you’re testing hair samples or some shit.

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        To be fair, you have no way of possibly knowing he’s stayed clean.

        Sure I do. He is the number one subject of interest to the entire right-wing media machine. The political paparazzi are all over everything he does. Yet he is able to meet with his attorneys and prosecutors and address questions about possibly testifying before Congress again. In all of these brief public appearances he appears clean and sober.

        And that doesn’t even include all the everyday clean living that no one is reporting on because it’s not news, but would be worldwide news INSTANTLY if there were any indication whatsoever that he is no longer clean and sober.

        If Hunter Biden falls off the wagon again, the entire world will know it and probably the same day.

      • RunningInRVA@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        The size of the guy’s dong is completely irrelevant and ignorant of the point that, big dong or small dong, Hunter Biden’s privacy and dignity was destroyed by a woman who wanted social media points.

  • Pratai@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    51
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    They’re so transparently corrupt it’s not even surprising anymore. They’ve become like cockroaches that are no longer afraid of the light.

    • Narrrz@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I actively try to avoid killing cockroaches - they’re useful to the ecosystem. Republicans, not so much.

      I doubt I’d extend them the same courtesy.

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yes, that is exactly right. That started sometime in the summer of 2016: they suddenly stopped apologizing, and haven’t apologized since. I remember that’s when it changed; some R had some new scandal (no surprise) but his response was basically, “So?” and that was kind of a shock. It’s like the fix was in, and of course now we know that it was.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Republicans told me he was guilty guilty guilty why don’t they want him testifying in a way that makes it IMPOSSIBLE for him to edit his testimony?

    • spaceghoti@lemmy.oneOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      33
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Most of them have seen what he has to force down their throats. Some of them are probably salivating at the thought.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I mean, dudes packing heat.

        I hate that I know that but still.

        • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          I think deep down you know there’s guaranteed hate from a select number of male politicians just straight based on dick envy (assuming I’m understanding the comments right). It sums up our government in better ways than most journalists could nowadays.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Marge seems positively obsessed with it. A few of the Karens I know IRL seem to bring up the nudes on the “laptop” at nearly every opportunity. I think I have an idea about just why they constantly talk about it. Most Americans DGAF about Hunter - who doesn’t even hold any office and has zero effect on their lives, but a certain kind of man and a certain kind of woman seem to be unable to stop talking (and thinking) about him and his nudes.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    1 year ago

    They want to attack someone and make sure the defendant has no way to defend themselves in order to preserve their narrative? How republican of them.

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think decency went out the window when Marge started showing Hunter’s dick pics to Congress.

        • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Does that count as a “pussy pass” or is it just GOP? (The “better” Republicans protect her because they can claim to be clean while she does the stuff they want done)

  • Zellith@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 year ago

    I get he is President Bidens son, but It often feels to me that the waters get muddied to obfuscate any information about WHY he is having legal problems and simply advertise he is HAVING legal problems. (I understand the article eventually gets to that point, but by then I think a lot of people would have tuned out). It just feels like team red use him as an attack vector to hit President Biden, which is kinda sad. The guy has some problems and I dont think being under the media spotlight all the time is good for his mental health.

    • spaceghoti@lemmy.oneOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      43
      ·
      1 year ago

      It just feels like team red use him as an attack vector to hit President Biden, which is kinda sad.

      That’s all it ever was. If a similar investigation were conducted into their family members, I’m pretty sure they’d catch a lot more like him. The difference is that Republicans are trying desperately to prove that Joe Biden was actively participating in his son’s schemes, and so far they’ve been unable to find anything. I doubt a similar inquiry into their own affairs would come back clean.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Maybe the only good thing to come of this is that it also publicized what a good dad Joe Biden is