WASHINGTON, Jan 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Republicans recommended Wednesday that Hunter Biden be held in criminal contempt of the US Congress for snubbing a summons -- after scenes of chaos erupted on Capitol Hill when the president's son turned up in person to defend himself.

Two Republican-led House of Representatives committees -- oversight and judiciary -- had gathered separately to debate contempt resolutions after the younger Biden defied their subpoenas for closed-door testimony last month.

The party is racing to inflict damage on President Joe Biden ahead of November's election, where its nominee is likely to be the Democrat's scandal-plagued predecessor, Donald Trump.

They have launched an impeachment investigation into the Democrat over allegations -- for which they have provided no evidence -- that he benefited from Hunter's foreign business dealings.

There was high drama in the oversight committee when Hunter Biden -- who has been pushing to testify in public but has refused to appear for a private interview -- suddenly showed up and sat in the audience.

Fiery South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace called his appearance a "PR stunt" and said "I think Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail."

As the session unraveled, Mace claimed that Hunter Biden "wasn't afraid to trade access to Joe Biden" but was "afraid" to comply with the subpoena ordering him to testify to the committee.

Proceedings turned into a shouting match as Democrats responded scornfully.

"The only people afraid to hear from the witness, with the American people watching, are my friends on the other side of the aisle," said Florida's Jared Moskowitz, rattling off a list of Republican lawmakers who had defied subpoenas to testify about the 2021 assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

The panel's top Democrat, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, accused chairman James Comer of refusing "to take yes for an answer from Hunter Biden."
Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell told a scrum of reporters outside that the 53-year-old entrepreneur was the victim of a "political crusade."

Both oversight and judiciary approved the contempt measure along party lines after the drama fizzled.

If the full House approves the contempt resolution, the Justice Department would decide whether to bring charges.

A prosecution would compound the legal woes piling up on the president's son, who is set to appear in federal court in California on Thursday to answer tax evasion charges.

In her daily briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to questions saying "Hunter, as you all know, is a private citizen. He makes his own decisions, like he did today about how to respond to Congress."

The Justice Department has taken action in only two of the 10 criminal contempt cases referred from the House since 2008.

Former Trump officials Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon were convicted, although Bannon's jail term is on hold while he appeals.
 
- Impeachment -

Elsewhere in the Capitol, Republican lawmakers -- doubling down on endeavors to exploit the Biden administration's vulnerability on immigration -- launched efforts to oust Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Republican majority in the House accuses Mayorkas of being derelict in his duty to secure the border, where officials are struggling to control illegal migration.

A record 10,000 migrants were detained daily in December after crossing illegally from Mexico in what Republicans have termed a "humanitarian catastrophe."

To remove Mayorkas from office would require impeachment in the House, then conviction in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slight majority and will easily block the procedure.

However, the issue is increasingly fraught for the Biden administration, and the Mayorkas hearings will give Republicans a platform to launch their attacks.

"Secretary Mayorkas's refusal to follow the law is sufficient grounds for impeachment proceedings," congressional Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green said in his opening remarks.

The Republican accused the secretary of whipping up an "intentional" crisis through "gross incompetence" and a "years-long pattern of refusing to enforce the laws passed by Congress."

A House floor vote to remove the homeland security secretary is expected as soon as late January and appears to have a good chance of passing, before going to the Senate.
The administration has dismissed the Mayorkas impeachment as a "baseless and pointless" political stunt while pointing out that its request for Congress for an extra $14 billion in border security funding has been stalled for months.