Letter To WH Counsel

December 27, 2023
Mr. Edward Siskel

Assistant to the President and White House Counsel
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. Siskel:
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (Oversight Committee) and the
House Committee on the Judiciary (Judiciary Committee, and with the Oversight Committee, the
Committees) are investigating whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment
against President Biden for consideration by the full House. 1 Along with House Ways and
Means Chairman Jason Smith, we set forth in a September 27, 2023 memorandum the evidence
justifying the inquiry and the scope of this impeachment investigation. 2 On December 13, 2023,
the House of Representatives directed the Committees to continue this investigation. 3 In light of
an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his
son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to
examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to
obstruct a proceeding of Congress.
The Committees issued subpoenas to Hunter Biden for a deposition to be conducted on

December 13, 2023. 4 In correspondence with Mr. Biden’s attorney prior to the scheduled date of
the depositions, the Committees addressed and rejected Mr. Biden’s justifications for not
complying with the terms of the subpoenas, as well as Mr. Biden’s demand for special treatment
from the Committees. 5 The Committees specifically notified Mr. Biden, via his attorney, that his
failure to appear for the deposition as required by the subpoenas would lead to the Committees
initiating contempt of Congress proceedings. 6
1
See H.R. Res. 918, 118th Cong. (2023); Memorandum from Hon. James Comer, Chairman, H. Comm. on
Oversight & Accountability, Hon. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, & Hon. Jason Smith,
Chairman, H. Comm. on Ways & Means, to H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability, H. Comm. on the Judiciary,
& H. Comm. on Ways & Means. Re: Impeachment Inquiry (Sept. 27, 2023) [Impeachment Inquiry Memorandum].
2
Impeachment Inquiry Memorandum, supra note 1.
3
See H.R. Res. 918, supra note 1.
4
Letter from Hon. James Comer, Chairman, H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability and Hon. Jim Jordan,
Chairman, H. Comm. on the Jud., to Abbe D. Lowell (Nov. 8, 2023).
5
Chairman, H. Comm. on the Jud., to Abbe D. Lowell (Dec. 1, 2023); Letter from Hon. James Comer, Chairman, H.
Comm. on Oversight & Accountability and Hon. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Jud., to Abbe D. Lowell
(Dec. 6, 2023).
6
Chairman, H. Comm. on the Jud., to Abbe D. Lowell (Dec. 6, 2023).
Mr. Edward Siskel
December 27, 2023
Page 2
On December 13, Mr. Biden did not appear for the deposition as required by the
Committees’ subpoenas. Instead, Mr. Biden appeared on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol with his
attorney and Representative Eric Swalwell. 7 Mr. Biden gave a lengthy public statement to an
assembly of reporters in which he made several statements that are relevant to the House’s
impeachment inquiry, including representations about his business activities, assertions about
President Biden’s awareness and “financial” involvement in these activities, and attacks on the
Committees’ inquiry. 8 Mr. Biden indicated that he would not appear for the deposition as
required by the subpoenas and that he would only testify in a public forum, a demand for special
treatment that the Committees had previously rejected. 9 Although Mr. Biden professed an
interest in answering questions about his actions, he departed the Capitol grounds without taking
any questions. 10 The Committees subsequently recorded Mr. Biden’s non-appearance at his
deposition.
Later on December 13, when asked whether President Biden had watched Mr. Biden’s
statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden was
“certainly familiar with what his son was going to say.” 11 Ms. Jean-Pierre declined, however, to
provide any further details about the President’s actions or whether the President approved of his
son defying congressional subpoenas. 12 Nonetheless, Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement suggests that
the President had some amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two
congressional subpoenas.
Under the relevant section of the criminal code, it is unlawful to “corruptly . . .

endeavor[] to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry
under which any investigation or inquiry is being had by . . . any committee of either House or
any joint committee of the Congress[.]” 13 Likewise, any person who “aids, abets, counsels,
commands, induces or procures” the commission of a crime is punishable as a principal of the
crime. 14
In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of

the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas. The Committees have
accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly
included his father, and the President has made false claims about his knowledge and
involvement in these schemes. In fact, just days before Mr. Biden was scheduled to appear for
7
According to media accounts, the location of Mr. Biden’s press conference was arranged and reserved by
Representative Swalwell. See Cami Mondeaux, How Democrats helped orchestrate surprise Hunter Biden
appearance to slight House GOP, WASH. EXAM. (Dec. 13, 2023).
8
See C-SPAN, Hunter Biden Statement on Subpoena and Investigation (Dec. 13, 2013), available at https://www.c-
span.org/video/?532415-1/hunter-biden-statement-subpoena-investigation.
9
Id.
10
Id.
11
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John
Kirby. White House Briefing Room (Dec. 13, 2023).
12
Id.
13
18 U.S.C. § 1505 (Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees).
14
18 U.S.C. § 2(a).
Mr. Edward Siskel
December 27, 2023
Page 3
his deposition, the President claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business
partners. 15 This is false. The President has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced
from his son’s foreign business partners. 16 In light of this evidence, the fact that the President
had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a
troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to
influence or obstruct the Committees’ proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his
son from complying with the Committees’ subpoenas. Such conduct could constitute an
impeachable offense.
Accordingly, and pursuant to the impeachment inquiry, please produce the following
information for period January 20, 2021, to the present:
1. All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive

Office of the President regarding the deposition of Hunter Biden, including but not
limited to communications with Hunter Biden, Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin
Morris; and
2. All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive

Office of the President regarding President Biden’s statement about his family’s
business associates on December 6, 2023.
Please produce this information as soon as possible but no later than January 10, 2024.
Thank you for your cooperation with the impeachment inquiry.
Sincerely,
__________________________ __________________________
James Comer Jim Jordan
Chairman Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Accountability Committee on the Judiciary
cc: The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member

Committee on Oversight and Accountability
The Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler, Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary
15
Alexander Hall, Biden called out for claiming he ‘did not’ interact with Hunter’s business partners: ‘Yet another
blatant lie,’ Fox News (Dec. 6, 2023).
16
See, e.g., Memorandum from Maj. Comm. staff to Comm. Members. Re: Fourth Bank Records Memorandum
from the Oversight Committee’s Investigation into the Biden Family’s Influence Peddling and Business Schemes
(Nov. 1, 2023).

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December 27, 2023

Mr. Edward Siskel

Dear Mr. Siskel:

The Committees issued subpoenas to Hunter Biden for a deposition to be conducted on

Under the relevant section of the criminal code, it is unlawful to “corruptly . . .

In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of

1. All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive

2. All documents and communications sent or received by employees of the Executive

Thank you for your cooperation with the impeachment inquiry.

cc: The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member

The Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler, Ranking Member

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