Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley said Tuesday that Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell could get thrown off more committees for his alleged involvement in Hunter Biden’s decision to defy a congressional subpoena.
Hunter defied a congressional subpoena Wednesday for closed-door testimony, saying he would only testify if it was public.
“The California Democrat appeared to be acting as a sherpa of sorts when Hunter Biden was on the hill. Apparently, he used his credentials to reserve the spot across the street from us, where Hunter Biden gave that public statement. Could Swalwell potentially be in trouble here, for, if nothing else, aiding and abetting?” Fox’s John Roberts asked.
“Yeah, I don’t think that this would constitute a crime but it certainly raises serious questions under the House rules. I’ve never seen anything quite like that. You know, there are plenty of members that associate with unpopular causes,” Turley said. (RELATED: ‘Already Collided’: Andy McCarthy Says Hunter’s Legal Issues Could Smash Biden’s 2024 Ambitions)
“What’s different here is that Swalwell reserved congressional space, that is congressional space through his office, presumably using his staff, to defy the subpoena, a valid subpoena of the House. This is a former impeachment manager for the House. So the question is what does the House do about that? They have a lot of options. From censure, to looking at whether he should be allowed to continue on committees. He’s already been thrown off one committee or barred from being a member of the intelligence committee. But the key here is really that we need to know to what extent did he not only facilitate but encourage what could be a federal crime? And in my view, it was federal criminal contempt what Hunter did on that day.”
Swalwell confirmed to Politico he reserved the area outside the Senate side of the Capitol building for Hunter to hold his press briefing.
The California Democrat argues Republicans are trying to “weaponize” Hunter’s past drug addiction to go after President Joe Biden.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president himself was “familiar” with what Hunter was going to say at the press conference.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan said the committee would’ve asked Hunter who “the big guy” was, a reference to a confidential human source who said Biden was the “big guy” on a 1023 form. The second question Jordan wants Hunter to answer is “What was on that call that you made from Dubai at the request of Burisma to get help from D.C. when you called your father? What did you ask him to do?”
