Biden ‘familiar’ with Hunter’s plan to disregard congressional subpoena over foreign dealings: White House

WASHINGTON — President Biden knew ahead of time that his son Hunter would make a plea to the media Wednesday morning instead of complying with a congressional subpoena for his testimony, the White House confirmed.

“The president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say and I think what you saw was from the heart, from his son,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her regular briefing.

Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the 81-year-old president, who was a senator for 36 years, approved of his 53-year-old son’s plans to flout the legally binding demand that he sit for questions about his foreign business dealings.

“Look, I don’t have anything else to add,” Jean-Pierre added in response to follow-up questions. “The president was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today. And he’s proud of his son.”

Hunter’s refusal to comply came ahead of a Wednesday evening vote by the full House of Representatives to authorize an impeachment inquiry into the president for his alleged role in Hunter’s and first brother James Biden’s foreign dealings during his eight-year vice presidency.

The first son said in his five-minute speech that “my father was not financially involved in my business” — despite evidence of Joe Biden meeting with Hunter’s Chinese, Kazakhstani, Mexican, Russian and Ukrainian associates while vice president.

Republicans argued that formalizing the inquiry, which began Sept. 12, would strengthen congressional power to compel testimony from Hunter and others, including James Biden, who also did not appear for a scheduled deposition last week.

Jean-Pierre also reaffirmed Wednesday that Biden does not plan to pardon Hunter, who faces federal gun charges in Delaware and tax fraud charges in Los Angeles after walking away from a probation-only plea deal — after demanding courtroom assurances of immunity for other conduct, such as possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which would implicate his father.

“The president is not going to pardon his son,” the press secretary said