Politics

Hunter Biden makes a dramatic public appearance after defying subpoena

Published

11 months ago

December 14, 2023

Hunter Biden arrived Wednesday morning in a black Chevy Suburban outside the U.S. Capitol, walking steely-faced toward a microphone set up not far from the Senate steps that his father had ascended countless times.

“For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine, shouting, ‘Where’s Hunter?’” he said, with an unmistakable tone of defiance. “Well, here’s my answer: I am here.”

It marked the most dramatic public appearance of a presidential son who for years has been the focus of attacks from Republicans using his business dealings as a basis for an impeachment inquiry into his father, and for federal investigators who have charged Hunter Biden with tax and gun crimes.

And it was the clearest sign that Hunter Biden, who has largely left it to his lawyers and allies to respond to his attackers, is now attempting to wrest control of his own narrative.

“I am here today to acknowledge that I have made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded,” he said. “For that, I am responsible. For that, I am accountable. And for that, I am making amends.”

The appearance, which was kept under wraps until shortly beforehand and came as Hunter Biden defied a House subpoena, was by turns emotional, plaintive and contentious. It appeared to have two main aims: humanizing him after years of vilification, and emphasizing that his father had nothing to do with his business affairs despite the impeachment inquiry.

People close to Hunter say he views the current chapter of his life as one in which he attempts to make amends and answer for the wrongs that he committed in the throes of addiction. He tried to draw a clear line during his remarks, admitting that he did things he regrets but not those he is being accused of.

“I am also here today to correct how the MAGA right has portrayed me for their political purposes,” he said.

Several times he referenced his battles with drug and alcohol addiction, saying that it may have clouded his judgment at times but that those struggles should not be used against him, and certainly not against his father.

“They have ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they have belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me — all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his life to public service,” he said.

Hunter’s portrait of his father as a loving, supportive parent contrasted sharply with Republicans’ charges that the “Biden crime family” has improperly mixed business and government, accusations for which they have provided no substantive evidence. His parents “literally saved my life,” Hunter said, stating in the clearest and most public way to date that his father had nothing financially to do with his business.

Not when he worked as a lawyer, he said, nor when he was on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company. His father was not involved in Hunter’s partnership with a Chinese businessman, he said, and had no part in his foreign or domestic investments. He also had no role in his latest efforts to make a career as an artist.

“In the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances,” Hunter Biden said. “But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd — it is shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen.”

Hunter’s decision to appear in front of the Capitol came a year after he shook up his legal team and began taking a more combative path in the legal, political and media arenas. He wrote a memoir in 2021 — accompanied by a round of television interviews — and traveled with his father to Ireland earlier this year. More recently, he sat for a lengthy podcast interview with the musician Moby and wrote a piece for USA Today accusing Republicans of weaponizing his addiction.

But his appearance Wednesday put him in direct combat with his Republican antagonists. Many on his team have been upset that he has few defenders — he is viewed in some quarters as a political third rail, and rarely are Democrats on television willing to speak up for him. On Wednesday, he decided to do it himself.

The setting was significant: He spoke in the same place where he came often as a child when his dad was an up-and-coming senator. It was near the spot where his father received a phone call almost exactly 51 years ago, on Dec. 18, 1972, telling him that his wife and daughter had been killed and that his two sons — Beau and Hunter — were in the hospital.

It was not far from Union Station, where his father went every night after Senate business to take the train home to Wilmington, Del. And it was within a few miles of locations where, as he recounts in his memoir, he would buy drugs.

In speaking outside the Capitol instead of inside it, the president’s son was defying a summons from House Republicans that he appear at a closed-door deposition. Hunter Biden’s team argued that a private session would let GOP lawmakers selectively leak his comments, and they offered to have him testify publicly instead — an idea rejected by Republican leaders.

“He does not get to dictate the terms of the subpoena,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, told reporters outside an empty hearing room where Hunter Biden had been scheduled to appear. Republicans now say they may seek a contempt-of-Congress charge against him.

Hunter has testified before Congress at least once, when he was appointed to the Amtrak board in 2006. This time he was being called for a far different reason, to answer questions about his foreign business deals, his tax problems and — at least on the part of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — his alleged payments to prostitutes.

Hunter Biden is not the only president’s son to be summoned for congressional testimony in recent years. Donald Trump Jr. spoke to the Senate Intelligence Committee during his father’s presidency about allegations of Russian influence on the 2016 election.

White House officials said that Hunter Biden made his father aware of what he was going to say, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not say what advice the president gave his son and if he had urged him to comply with a congressional subpoena.

“The president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say,” she said. “And I think what you saw was from the heart. … When it comes to the president, the first lady, they are proud of him continuing to rebuild his life. They are proud of their son.”

Asked whether the president would remove some of the legal threats looming over his son, she responded: “I’ve been very clear. The president’s not going to pardon his son.”

One offshoot of his struggles, and the legal and political scrutiny he faces, is that he is held at arm’s length by many of President Biden’s advisers. While father and son speak on a near-daily basis, he has not been the kind of high-profile political adviser that he was during much of Joe Biden’s career.

In recent months, he has stepped up his public role, showcasing a willingness to get into the arena and personally battle his Republican opponents. The event Wednesday morning was executed with a bit of showmanship and surprise in an attempt to upstage and outmaneuver House Republicans.

Reporters were told to gather outside the Senate side of the Capitol around 9:30 a.m. Several dozen journalists were there, going through security in one sign that Hunter Biden, who has Secret Service protection, would be arriving. Some networks scrambled to leave the House hearing — where Hunter would clearly not be appearing — and get to the Capitol steps instead.

The president’s son said House Republicans continue to focus on “a nonexistent bribe.” He noted that Greene displayed naked photos of him during committee hearings. “They have taken the light of my dad’s love for me and presented it as darkness,” Hunter Biden said. “They have no shame.”

Hunter Biden reiterated that he was willing to answer questions anytime as long as it is in a public session — although he ignored the questions reporters shouted at him after he gave his statement.

“I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committees’ legitimate questions,” he said. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of? I’m here. I’m ready.”

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Politics

‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Politics

Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Politics

Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

Published

2 days ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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