EXCLUSIVE: A GOP lawmaker on the House Oversight Committee is calling for Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., to be punished by Congress for helping Hunter Biden on Wednesday morning.
Swalwell had reserved a spot outside the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol where Hunter Biden later made a brief statement to the press before skipping a planned deposition by the House Oversight Committee.
“Nobody gets to do that,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital of Hunter Biden’s deliberate absence. “He was sent subpoenas. He was told to appear.”
“We’re going to vote to hold him in contempt. We probably need to vote Eric Swalwell in contempt, because the rumor is that Mr. Swalwell aided and abetted him by setting up his facilities so he could have his [press] conference across the way.”
Swalwell admitted to Politico on Wednesday that he had reserved the spot for Hunter Biden, telling the outlet, “There is absolutely zero evidence Hunter or his father acted corruptly. . . . So I’m not going to sit quietly and let MAGA Republicans do Trump’s bidding in Congress.”
Fox News Digital reached out to his office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
House Republicans are seeking to hear from Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James Biden as part of their probe into whether President Biden committed any impeachable offenses. They suspect that he used his position as vice president in the Obama administration to enrich himself and his family.
Lawmakers wanted to hear from Hunter Biden in detail about his involvement with foreign businesses in China and Ukraine. He is also currently under federal investigation over tax and firearms charges.
If the House holds Hunter Biden in contempt over skipping his deposition, which Biggs called for, the conservative Republican argued that precedent should compel Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge him.
“He went after Steve Bannon and several others. He should go after Mr. Biden as well,” Biggs said, citing Bannon’s contempt charge for failing to cooperate with the now-defunct January 6 select committee’s investigation.
“We were all sitting there. We had a court reporter there, Democrats were there. Republicans were there. We were ready . . . Mr. Biden chose not to come.”
A defiant Hunter Biden told reporters on Wednesday morning, “For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine, shouting, ‘Where’s Hunter?’ Well, here’s my answer: I am here,”
“I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committees’ legitimate questions. 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.