Hunter Biden was supposed to be testifying today to the House Oversight Committee. Instead, because he insisted on testifying in front of the cameras instead of behind closed doors, Hunter gave a “woe is me, MAGA is out to get me” speech to the press.

This little presser is Hunter Biden and his legal team (who is paying Abbe Lowell’s bills?) basically saying “I double-dog dare you” to Representative James Comer and the House Oversight Committee. Hunter is attempting to set the narrative of “poor me, I messed up but now the big meanie Republicans are targeting me because they hate my dad so much,” and the media is going to swallow it hook, line, and sinker. Just listen to Hunter spin his tale of sorrow and familial love (snort).

You have to appreciate how Hunter Biden begins his little spiel by describing who he is – he says “I am first and foremost a son, a father, a brother, and a husband from a loving and supportive family.” Let’s pick that apart a bit, shall we?

A son – the one who makes sure “Pop” gets his bills paid, as he told his daughter?

A father – to all his kids except the one that he denied until he got dragged into court for DNA testing, and then fought tooth and nail to keep her from the Biden name and reduced his child support to his cheap-ass paintings?

A brother – because banging your late brother’s wife (while cheating on your own wife) is TOTALLY an act of “brotherly love,” right?

A husband – to which wife, the first one you cheated on, or the current one?

A loving and supportive family – yes, a family of enablers, who watched you self-destruct in multiple ways, treat women like disposable toys, use drugs until your teeth rotted out of your head and then made sure you got the dental repairs so you don’t LOOK like a junkie, and the family who set you up to collect their money and spread it around to all the shell companies.

Hunter tries to then paint a picture of his repentance, saying that he has “made mistakes” and is trying to “make amends.” OH REALLY, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT PLEA DEAL THAT BLEW UP IN YOUR FACE, PLEASE. Or perhaps you can explain the new felony tax charges in California?

Hunter then carefully couches his language about Joe’s involvment in his business life. “My father was not financially involved in my business.” You have to love the new framing. After all, Joe swore up and down and sideways that he never even DISCUSSED business with Hunter. That, of course, has been proved to be a gigantic lie, especially considering the White House’s framing that “the president was never in business with his son” that they have stated. But “financially involved” is a whole different spin. It’s clear that Joe had a hand in giving Hunter “the illusion of access” by showing up to those Cafe Milano confabs and pressing some flesh. We also know that Joe bragged about getting Viktor Shokin fired. Joe was involved. Hunter is now shifting the goalposts to “financially involved” – which probably means Joe didn’t invest money specifically in any of Hunter’s business ventures, he just showed up, smiled, shook hands, or answered the phone to talk about the weather when Hunter called him. What Joe invested was time, and he was compensated for that – perhaps directly, or perhaps in the knowledge that he was giving his unstable crack addict womanizing son the ability to finance his flagrantly destructive lifestyle while maintaining a façade of respectability as a “businessman.”

But this little speech amounts to Hunter and his legal team waving a red flag in front of Congress. This might have been the ultimate “do you know who my daddy is?” move ever. And it may backfire stupendously.

…Hunter could have appeared and invoked his right to remain silent. Instead, he just pulled a Steve Bannon and it will now pressure AG Merrick Garland to show the same speed in pursuing a prosecution. https://t.co/1e69Gw8KFp

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 13, 2023

…For a court, Abbe Lowell just staged the worst possible optics. He held a presser just steps away from a committee waiting to hear from him. I cannot imagine the legal rationale for such a stunt. It is virtual legal self-immolation.

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 13, 2023

Representative Comer, for his part, was not impressed with Hunter’s stunt.

.@RepJamesComer: "We have specific questions for the president's son. He does not get to dictate the terms of this subpoena." pic.twitter.com/fEIZIIhqJb

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 13, 2023

And now, the House Oversight Committee is going to be pursuing contempt charges.
https://twitter.com/GOPoversight/status/1734979363261608303
Remember how Professor Turley referenced Steve Bannon in his tweets/posts? Bannon was indicted on contempt of Congress charges, found guilty, and sentenced to four months in jail and paid a fine. At the time, the charges were seen as politically motivated, especially considering nothing was ever done to Eric Holder when HE was found in contempt of Congress. But the gloves are off now. Hunter Biden is playing a legal game of chicken, and he could very well end up in jail over it. He is not the victim here. The “smartest man” Joe Biden knows, who has a high-powered ultra-expensive defense attorney (AGAIN, who is paying Abbe Lowell’s bill?), has to understand that this whiny man-child press conference stunt could blow up in his face, and the only way that “Pop” could save him would be to interfere or to issue a pardon.

The end game, of course, is Hunter being pardoned by Joe. It is the ultimate ace in the hole. If that happens, it will be the red alert that Joe will be dropping out of the race, because while that will save Hunter’s ass from jail, it will cost Joe his political career. The question now is, does Joe have enough cognitive power to set his political future (what is left of it) on fire to keep Hunter out of trouble?

UPDATE 12:20 PM PST
It seems to be an open question on if that contempt vote is going to happen today, or at all, but Karine Jean-Pierre just did her usual job of throwing gasoline on the fire.

.@DailyMail's @RobCrilly: "You were asked what the President — what his stance was on people who defy congressional subponeas. In 2021, he was that…and he said he believes the Justice Dept should prosecute them. Is that still his position?"

KJP: "I don't have anything to add" pic.twitter.com/n6MZbocrxm

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 13, 2023

If the GOP does not pull their heads out of their asses and go after Hunter Biden for contempt, then not only will the Stupid Party live up to its name, then what is the point of having a contempt law in the first place???

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click