GOP-led committees vote to recommend that House hold Hunter Biden in contempt

WASHINGTON —Two congressional committees voted Wednesday to formally recommend that the full House hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena in the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father.

In separate votes, both GOP-led panels voted along party lines in favor of advancing the resolution.The Judiciary Committee went first and voted 23 to 14, followed by the House Oversight Committee’s 25-21 vote.

They votedhours after Biden, the president's son,made a surprise visit to attend the committee meetings in person. He was accompaniedby his attorneys Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris.

Biden isat odds with GOP lawmakers over their demand that he be deposed behind closed doors.

Biden, facing two separate indictments, has said he would testify publicly, an offer Republicans have refused, continuing to insist that the interview be held privately.

During the Oversight Committee's markup Wednesday morning, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., called for Biden's arrest on the spot for defying the congressional subpoena.

"Hunter Biden, you are too afraid for a deposition, and I still think you are today," she said.

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes," she added.

Biden and his legal team left shortly before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., delivered remarks at the Oversight hearing in which she called Biden a "coward."

Outside the chamber, Lowell said committee Republicans were motivated by "improper partisan motives." He said that he and his client had offered to work with Republicans on the committees on a half-dozen occasions since February, including Wednesday, to see "how relevant information to any legitimate inquiry could be provided," but that their offers were ignored. He called a GOP subpoena in November for