Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at hearing as Republicans consider holding him in contempt

Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance Wednesday on Capitol Hill, walking into a House committee hearing centered on whether to hold him in contempt.

The House Oversight Committee will vote on a contempt resolution over Hunter Biden’s refusal to sit for a closed-door deposition with lawmakers in their ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

MORE | House Republicans to move forward on formalizing Biden impeachment

Hunter Biden has said he would testify only in a public forum, castigating the Republican-led probe as “illegitimate.”

The president’s son entered the hearing room amid opening statements. He took a seat in the front row, accompanied by his lawyer Abbe Lowell.

South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the first lawmakers to speak after Hunter Biden’s entrance, slammed the move.

“You’re the epitome of white privilege, coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of?” Mace said.

Mace was interrupted by another lawmaker, who said they could “hear from Hunter Biden right now” and called for a vote to have him speak.

Hunter Biden left shortly after. Lowell spoke to the press outside the hearing room.

Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the Oversight Committee on Monday released a 19-page report recommending he be held in contempt of Congress, as well as the text of the proposed resolution.

“Mr. Biden’s flagrant defiance of the Committees’ deposition subpoenas — while choosing to appear nearby on the Capitol grounds to read a prepared statement on the same matters — is contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions,” the report stated.

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News he has the votes to get the resolution out of committee.

A full vote on the House floor would be held at a later date. Comer said it could happen early next week.

Hunter Biden was subpoenaed to sit for the closed-door interview on Dec. 13 but instead held a defiant news conference just outside the U.S. Capitol.

MORE | Hunter Biden lashes out at ‘MAGA right’ in defiance of subpoena

“I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committees’ legitimate questions,” he said. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of? I am here.”

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, also criticized Comer for “denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world.”

“Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies, and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation,” Raskin said in a statement.

Committee Republicans have countered that they are open to public testimony at an unspecified “future date” but ” need not and will not accede to Mr. Biden’s demand for special treatment with respect to how he provides testimony.”

The Biden impeachment inquiry, launched unilaterally by ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then formalized months later by the House in a party-line vote, has yet to yield any concrete evidence to support GOP claims that Biden participated in and profited from his son and family’s foreign business dealings.

The House Oversight Committee report recommending a contempt charge stated Hunter Biden’s testimony is “necessary” to determine whether there are “sufficient grounds” for impeachment.

The committee has also subpoenaed President Biden’s brother, James Biden, and former Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker. It also requested transcribed interviews with other members of the Biden family and Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.