Thursday, December 14, 2023

What Was Eric Swalwell Doing Standing With Hunter Biden As He Defied Subpoena?


As we reported earlier Hunter Biden was supposed to appear in response to a subpoena and give a deposition behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee. But he defied the subpoena and didn't show up. 

BREAKING: Hunter Biden Skips Deposition After Self-Serving Speech, Invites Contempt Charge

Instead, he appeared outside the Capitol and gave a speech in which he tried to play the victim, saying that they wanted to question him to go after his father, Joe Biden, and attacking "MAGA Republicans." 

Hunter Biden Gives Surprise Presser in Front of Capitol Building, Desperately Moves the Goalposts

Seems Hunter Biden didn't want to testify under oath and have to tell the truth -- or face the consequences. Instead he's trying to spin -- not under oath -- playing propaganda theater outside on the steps. 

But by not showing up in Congress to the deposition, and in fact, showing he was very capable of showing up, he's now invited the Committee to pursue him for a contempt of Congress charge and the Republicans said they would be initiating the process. The smart money would have been to show up and take the Fifth, but he didn't make the smart move here.

House Republicans to Begin Contempt of Congress Proceedings for Hunter Biden for Ditching Deposition

But one of the things that had people talking was that he showed up at the Capitol in the company of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). 



Turns out that wasn't all -- Swalwell organized the event at the Capitol steps, according to this report. 


Here's why he showed up on the Senate side of Capitol Hill to thumb their noses at the Congressional investigators. 


Now Swalwell has confirmed to Politico, that yes, he indeed did reserve the space-- perhaps appropriately named the "Senate Swamp" area -- for Hunter to give his speech, which was a big finger to Congress and the subpoena. 

Here's what Swalwell said about helping Hunter and why he was there.

Describing the president’s son as “a recovering addict who has admitted his mistakes and has been clean for many years,” Swalwell said the former president “has directed MAGA Republicans to weaponize Hunter’s past addiction to attack President Biden, someone Trump and House Republicans won’t acknowledge won the 2020 election.”

“There is absolutely zero evidence Hunter or his father acted corruptly,” Swalwell added. “So I’m not going to sit quietly and let MAGA Republicans do Trump’s bidding in Congress.”

In other words, he helped Hunter to join in the big middle finger he was giving Congress. Notice how he repeats the Hunter talking points about this being about his addiction and "MAGA Republicans," not the alleged corruption of Joe and Hunter Biden. That's something Hunter has pitched before, most recently in a wild interview with Moby. But bottom line: Hunter showed by his appearance on the Capitol steps that he was perfectly able to show up for the deposition, but willfully failed to do so. 

Hunter Biden's Interview With Moby Is Wild: Republicans Trying to 'Kill Me' to End Biden Presidency

So Swalwell seems to have been standing with him as he defied Congress. That sounds like it might be raising some big questions. Who is Swalwell serving here and why is he standing by him looking like his attorney? Will Swalwell face any consequences from Congress for his actions? What's his relationship and does this impinge now upon his ability to fairly judge a potential impeachment before the Judiciary Committee, the Committee he still serves on? He's already impugning his ability to make that determination with these remarks. 

A reminder that this was the guy who got booted off the House Intelligence Committee because of a relationship with an alleged Chinese operative. Now he's helping someone under investigation for payments from China? But remember -- they're the poor victims here, that's what Swalwell wants you to believe.