(NewsNation) — A House vote to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden stems from Republican allegations Biden illegally benefited from his son Hunter’s business dealings while he was vice president.
Republicans were hoping to get answers directly from Hunter Biden behind closed doors, but the president’s son defied a subpoena and said Wednesday he would only testify if he could do so publicly.
Legal analyst Jesse Weber believes Hunter Biden “played it so well” legally when he defied the subpoena and publicly criticized Republicans’ investigation.
“Now, they’re going to have a protracted legal fight to see if they can force the subpoena on him,” Weber said Wednesday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
“Even if they get him to testify privately, he can plead the Fifth. It just worked to such his advantage this whole way of saying that he had nothing to hide, but look what happened: He’s criminally charged, ‘they didn’t want to hear me testify publicly,’ ‘I’m making myself a martyr here.’ I think he played this very well.”
Republicans have threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, much like what Democrats did when Steve Bannon refused Democrats’ demands to testify about the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Weber sees it as unlikely that a contempt case against Biden would go far.
“I would be very surprised if it rises to the level of a criminal case actually brought by the U.S. attorney,” Weber said.