Former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) accused the Democrats of pulling a fast one on the House Oversight and Reform Committee Republicans Wednesday when Hunter Biden appeared unexpectedly at a meeting discussing charging him with contempt of Congress.
"A remarkable day on Capitol Hill," he told MSNBC after the incident unfolded.
Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) intends to hold Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to an a subpoena asking him to a behind-closed-doors meeting. The president's son said that he wants his testimony to be public.
But, as Republicans prepared to attack Biden for not being brave enough to appear, he sat in the front row of the House.
Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL) attacked the GOP members, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who accused him of not having "the balls" to appear. Moskowitz cut in, saying that Biden was there. He was prepared to answer questions from the members.
The committee devolved into chaos as members shouted at each other for a full 20 minutes, and then Hunter Biden walked out.
"I will share with you a real congressional insight here. I know one dynamic that happened in that room that no one was expecting is we learned that House Democrats have been coordinating very tightly with Hunter Biden." Jolly said. "This wouldn't have happened if Jamie Raskin and others had not coordinated this moment, and that is a reveal to House Republicans."
With "anger" and "hatred between the sides," Jolly described, "House Republicans learned this morning that, wait a minute, Dems have been setting us up along, and that just fuels that anger."
"The approach by Hunter Biden is clear, if you cannot win the process, win the story," Jolly continued. "And Hunter Biden knows, his legal team knows, he won't win the process. They don't have the votes. Republicans control the House. They want to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, and they want to impeach his father. What can he do? He can show the American people, Hunter Biden can, that he is present and available to answer questions, and in that way hopefully win the story."
Republicans have refused to allow public hearings with Biden.
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"It also can't be lost that Hunter Biden has two lawyers on his team. One is Abbe Lowell, a renowned defense attorney who represents some of the most notable names in politics from Jared Kushner to Bob Menendez to Hunter Biden and others," Jolly explained.
"But the second attorney is Kevin Morris, who is a Hollywood lawyer who represents A-list celebrities, actors, and actresses. He has been part of the architect for this now very public response to House Republicans."
He went on to say that a lingering question remains about the contempt resolution.
"Does the House refer to DOJ? Let's presume the votes are there, but does DOJ prosecute? I don't know," said Jolly. "This case gets fairly complicated. DOJ is not really quick to prosecute congressional contempt cases, you know, in normal circumstances. In this circumstance, Abbe Lowell has a good case to say we have tried to cooperate."
He noted he's never seen anything like it happen in Congress.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Mace appeared to pre-plan an idea that they'd accuse Hunter Biden of being afraid of appearing before the women in Congress. Greene was saying as much to reporters outside the hearing.
"They were reaching for that moment that they wanted to lay that line on because the other thing that struck me is for House Republicans, who for three years between Fox News and Republicans, they've tried to make Hunter Biden this dark villain of politics and culture," continued Jolly.
"I think they were shocked by seeing somebody they consider the boogeyman. They didn't know that he was real. Democrats have had reason to see him in the past, but House Republicans, this was a moment where they had to stand up to him."
While it likely didn't change the vote, he said, it makes it more difficult for Republicans.
See the discussion in the video below or at the link here.
Ex-GOP official thinks Democrats plotted Hunter Biden stand-down with Republicans www.youtube.com
