A transcript of Hunter Biden's testimony to Congress was released late Thursday, providing a full view of the controversial testimony that took place behind closed doors on Wednesday as Republicans aggressively questioned the central figure in the impeachment inquiry targeting his father.
Nearly 230 pages of questioning revealed deep animosity between President Biden's son and Republican lawmakers who were investigating his family. The arguments were repetitive and short-tempered, providing a preview of what will surely happen when Republicans hold a public hearing with Hunter Biden in the next few weeks.
He was defiant during the briefing as Republicans peppered him with questions about his past business affairs and life, and his answers turned from heated to emotional as he talked about his long battle with addiction and other turmoil in his personal life.
Throughout the nearly seven-hour deposition, Biden remained adamant on one point, vehemently and repeatedly denying under oath that his father benefited financially or was involved in any of his businesses.
Takeaways from the text:
“You always pick up the phone”
The 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family focused on Hunter Biden and his work abroad for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long suggested — without evidence so far — that those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Biden, especially in the years he was vice president.
Republican investigators have focused on a series of dinners and meetings that took place after Joe Biden left the vice presidency, during which the younger Biden put his father on speakerphone while in the company of business partners.
“Why would you put your father on speakerphone?” asked an anonymous Republican staffer.
“I'm surprised my father hasn't called me right now, and if he does, I'll put him on speaker phone to say hello to you and Congressman Raskin and everyone else in the room,” Hunter Biden responded. “It's nothing hideous, literally.”
He said that after the tragedies his family endured, including the deaths of his mother and two of his siblings, his family's calls are always answered no matter the circumstances.
“You always pick up the phone. It's something we always do. You can ask anyone I know,” he added.
“Do you really think this is appropriate?”
Large portions of Wednesday's testimony in Hunter Biden's well-documented battle with drug and alcohol addiction were mixed.
In one particularly tough exchange, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) asked whether the president's son's business dealings, particularly with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, were legitimate. Gaetz asked: “Were you using drugs when you were on the board of Burisma?”
Hunter replied: “Mr. Gates, look me in the eye. Do you really think it's appropriate to ask me?”
“Absolutely,” Gaetz said.
Biden's lawyer, Abe Lowell, intervened and told his client that he did not need to respond.
“I'll answer this way: I've been completely transparent about my drug use,” Biden said. “I'm sorry; I'm an addict. I was an addict.”
He told the committee he had been in recovery for more than four years and had been working “very hard at it” under what he described as an enormous amount of pressure.
“Were you an addict? He said, 'Yes, I was an addict.' “What does that have to do with whether or not you're going to go ahead with removing my father instead of just trying to embarrass me?”
Gaetz tried to interrupt, but Hunter Biden continued: “Why? Why?”
Biden's “brand.”
Another point of interest to House Republicans' investigations is what they describe as Hunter Biden and his associates selling the Biden “brand” to clients abroad.
One of the alleged key witnesses, Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, testified before the House Oversight Committee last year that the president's family sold an “illusion of access” to the corridors of power in Washington. Republicans questioned whether Burisma wanted Hunter Biden on its board in 2014 “because your father was vice president.”
“No, I don’t think that’s fair,” Hunter Biden responded.
When asked about the value he brought to Burisma, Biden spoke of the breadth of his resume and defended his family.
“First and foremost, the name ‘Biden’ is my father’s legacy. He passed it on to me, and when my brother was alive, my brother and sister, and now to my children. “It's our responsibility not to screw that up.”
He added: “If other people saw the brand as something they could market, they wouldn't have gone through it – and it didn't with me – without going through me first. And if they did, they didn't go through me first.”
Democrats are weighing in
At one point, Democrats tried to shift the testimony toward the issue of Donald Trump, comparing the Biden family's business dealings with the former Republican president's family's dealings and business operations.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) led a particularly pointed dialogue aimed at highlighting the differences between President Biden and Trump, the Republican front-runner to challenge him for the White House.
“Did your father employ any immediate family members in the Oval Office to also work in the Oval Office?” Swalwell asked.
“My father never employed any immediate family member, to my knowledge,” Hunter Biden testified.
Swalwell went on to ask questions referring to Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C., Trump's legal case in New York City, his daughter-in-law's recent bid to lead the Republican National Committee, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner's business dealings with Saudi Arabia.
“As president and leader of the party, has your father ever tried to appoint his daughter-in-law or anyone else in the family as party president?” Swalwell asked.
“No. I don't think anyone in my family would be crazy enough to want to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee,” Biden said.
Was his father fined $355 million? “No, it didn’t happen, thank God,” Biden testified.
Email, texting and the infamous laptop
The impeachment inquiry has focused on several items that Republicans point to as evidence as they try to build their case, including emails, text messages and the now-disputed laptop.
One email from one of Hunter Biden's business associates allegedly suggests a $10 million stake in their company to be held for the “big man,” who Republicans say is President Biden. It's a message that has become central to GOP influence-peddling allegations, but one that another business partner, Rob Walker, testified was all “bullshit.”
Hunter Biden testified that he did not remember ever responding to the email. “I'm not even sure if you've read this all the way.”
Additional emails shown to the committee showed that any stock split would be done equally among the five partners, including Hunter Biden and his longtime business partner, James Biden — his uncle and brother of the president. The business deal with a Chinese energy company never happened, and no one was paid.
“Isn't there a secret big man anywhere in this email?” one Democratic questioner asked.
“No, there isn’t,” Hunter Biden replied.
“Joe Biden is nowhere in this agreement?” Asked.
“no he's not.”
As for Hunter Biden's laptop, which was allegedly delivered to a repair shop in Delaware and the source of many of the allegations against the Biden family, he testified that he did not remember bringing it.
If his computer needed repairs, “I would go to the Apple Store,” he testified.
