Fox News’ Bill Hemmer was shocked Wednesday by Hunter Biden’s “smart” strategy to hold his press conference on the Senate side of the Capitol.
Hunter defied Republicans’ subpoena for closed-door testimony Wednesday, saying he would testify only publicly. House Republicans have threatened to hold Hunter in contempt of Congress for his refusal. Hunter also spoke to reporters Wednesday outside the Capitol building alongside his lawyer Abbe Lowell, where Hunter said he is the target of the “unrelenting Trump attack machine.”
But the location of Hunter’s presser left Hemmer stunned.
Fox News’ senior congressional correspondent, Chad Pergram, said originally it was believed that Hunter and his attorney would appear on the House side of the Capitol before it was switched to the Senate side. (RELATED: ‘What Are They Afraid Of?’: Hunter Biden Says Joe ‘Saved My Life,’ Refuses To Appear For House GOP Deposition)
“Why does that happen? You might have heard a question at the very end of that James Comer press conference where somebody said, ‘will you ask the sergeant-at-arms to enforce the subpoena against Hunter Biden?’ Well there is a little less weight behind that if you don’t have an impeachment inquiry, but more significantly right now Hunter Biden is out of compliance with that subpoena for a closed door deposition. And if he showed up on the House side of Capitol Hill and had that press conference he might be in a little more House or legal jeopardy there.”
“But by doing this on the Senate side and saying, ‘I’m on Capitol Hill’ and kind of thumbing your nose at House investigators and being somewhere where the House Sergeant-at-Arms does not have authority that was some pretty good stage craft by Abbe Lowell to do it on Capitol Hill but not do this on the House side of Capitol Hill and inoculate his client from that subpoena by doing this on the Senate side of the Capitol–”
“Wow,” Hemmer cut in, audibly stunned.
“… By doing this on the Senate side this helped them and the House had no authority on the Senate side,” Pergram continued.
“To nerds like us who follow this and you know the ins and outs of how everything works, and you are right, that was smart of Abbe Lowell to do that particular staging, wow,” Hemmer said.
Hunter also told reporters that his father, President Joe Biden, was “not financially involved” in his business, “not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma,” not in his “partnership with the Chinese private businessman,” not in his “investments home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist.”