The screenshot taken from CBS News' report about Hunter Biden (L), the son of U.S. President Joe Biden [File photo/Xinhua]
U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden said Tuesday that he would testify before Congress in December, in response to a Republican-led impeachment investigation into the president and his family.
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's attorney, told chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, that the president's son will answer "any pertinent and relevant questions" lawmakers might have, but said his questioning must take place at a public committee hearing.
"A public proceeding would prevent selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements," Lowell wrote in a letter to the chairman.
"Your empty investigation has gone on too long wasting too many better-used resources. It should come to an end," the letter continued.
Lowell said Hunter Biden will appear at such a public hearing "on the date you noticed, Dec. 13, or any date in December that we can arrange."
The letter came weeks after Comer subpoenaed the president's son and called for closed-door depositions, as he conducts an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic president. His uncle James Biden, the president's brother, was subpoenaed the same day.
So far, Republicans have failed to reveal evidence directly implicating President Biden in any wrongdoing, but they insist the evidence is troubling.
The Republican leaders of the oversight and judiciary committees, who are leading the impeachment inquiry, claimed Hunter Biden was "actively involved in the web connecting the Biden family to foreign money," and said he has "personal knowledge" of whether the president has been involved in his family members' business dealings.
Besides the impeachment investigation, Hunter Biden was indicted on gun and tax-related charges, becoming the first child of a sitting president to be criminally indicted.
Since the start of this year, the country has witnessed the historic 15-ballot floor fight in the election of a House speaker, former President Donald Trump facing multiple criminal charges, the criminal charges against Hunter Biden, and the ouster of a sitting House speaker, all of which are unprecedented and offers a window into the depth of the division and chaos in Congress.