Donalds Rips Hunter Biden's No-Show for Deposition, Calls Statement 'A Joke'

Hunter Biden refused to appear for his closed-door deposition for House Republicans' impeachment inquiry, instead giving a brief speech in front of the Capitol and leaving. Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) appeared on Fox Business's Kudlow before the formal impeachment inquiry vote, where he did not mince words when he said Biden's actions "demonstrate how arrogant he is about the seriousness of what is going on" and called his statement "a joke."

In his speech, Hunter Biden lashed out against House Republicans, claiming they "distorted the facts by cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts I sent, [and] editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners and misstating personal information that was stolen."

Rep. Donalds suggested the speech was written by defense attorney Abbe Lowell and noted Hunter spoke near the Senate wing of the Capitol "because he knew House Republicans were in the Oversight hearing room ready to do this deposition. He had no intentions of complying with a Congressional subpoena."

"His statement was a joke, and for him to show up on Capitol Hill, give a presser, not even a presser [but] read a statement, took no questions from the press, got back in the car, and left demonstrates how arrogant he is about the seriousness of what is going on," Rep. Donalds continued.

Additionally, Donalds blasted House Democrats' defense of the Bidens on the floor, which he dismissed as "fearmongering, trying to blame this all on Donald Trump, [and] ignoring the corruption, the pay-for-play scheme, the violations of [the Foreign Agents Registration Act], tax evasion, [and] money laundering," saying it would not dissuade Republicans from voting in favor of the inquiry he expected to pass.

Moreover, he pointed out the double standard by which the Bidens and Democrats are operating, as Donald Trump Jr. complied with five Congressional subpoenas to appear for closed-door testimonies.

"What the House Democrats found out at the time is that all they were doing was just fishing and there was nothing there. We have the goods on Hunter Biden. He needs to come in and answer questions," Donalds concluded.

Such a demand may now have more bite, as the House has voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry 221-212 along party lines.