The offer, made in a letter to the chairs of the House Oversight
Committee and House Judiciary Committee, comes two days after
the panels moved ahead with historic efforts to hold Hunter
Biden, 53, in contempt and he made a surprise appearance at one
of the hearings.
House Republicans had sought, via a subpoena, a closed-door
deposition with the younger Biden as part of their impeachment
inquiry into the president. They say the Biden family improperly
profited from policy decisions the president participated in as
vice president in 2009-17. The White House and Hunter Biden deny
wrongdoing.
Hunter Biden had refused to participate in a closed-door
interview, offering instead to answer questions in a public
hearing.
The subpoena was invalid because it was issued before the House
held a full vote authorizing its impeachment inquiry, Hunter
Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell argued in the letter.
"If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly
authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a
hearing or deposition," Lowell wrote.
James Comer and Jim Jordan, the chairs of the committees, said
the House would continue to move forward with the contempt
resolutions until the younger Biden confirmed a date to appear
for a deposition.
"While we will work to schedule a deposition date, we will not
tolerate any additional stunts or delay from Hunter Biden," they
said in a joint statement.
They did not state if they would issue a new subpoena.
The House is scheduled to move ahead with the contempt
resolution next week.
Hunter Biden is embroiled in several legal disputes aside from
the congressional probes. On Thursday he pleaded not guilty in a
California federal court to tax charges. He has also pleaded not
guilty in a separate case in Delaware over lying about his
illegal drug use when he bought a gun.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Scott Malone, Rosalba
O'Brien and Cynthia Osterman)
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