Elon Musk plans to open a new university in Austin
The Tesla CEO and Texas resident’s charitable foundation filed an application to create the new school “dedicated to education at the highest levels.”
Biden ignores reporter questions after son Hunter defies congressional subpoena
President Biden ignored reporter questions on Wednesday shortly after his son, Hunter, defied a congressional subpoena regarding the family’s business dealings. The president’s scheduled news conference before a meeting of his National Infrastructure Advisory Council was delayed for more than an hour Wednesday until Biden made an appearance, walking out to address members of the press gathered to hear the commander in chief speak from the White House. Earlier in the day, Hunter Biden had arrived on Capitol Hill — not to comply with his subpoena and be deposed at the House Oversight Committee — but instead to hold a press conference and again offer to testify publicly. He maintained that his father “was not financially involved” in his business, saying there is “no evidence because it did not happen.” At the White House, President Biden joked with the waiting press to “please say seated,” before staying on script about this administration’s infrastructure initiatives. “Last year I asked this council to ensure that resilience is built into all of our infrastructure projects, including critical sectors like energy, communications, transportation and health care. Together, you delivered, especially on these key challenges,” Biden said. “Today, I’m looking forward to hearing about new projects this council will pursue in the coming years as well. So thank you all for being here. I’m just going to ask the press to step out so we can begin our briefing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” HUNTER BIDEN WILL NOT SIT FOR DEPOSITION BY GOP, SAYS FATHER NOT ‘FINANCIALLY’ INVOLVED IN HIS BUSINESS Fox News’ Peter Doocy could be heard repeatedly shouting to Biden, “Mr. President, did you watch Hunter this morning?” Over the sound of clamoring press, another reporter was heard asking, “Mr. President, should your son have defied the subpoena?” Yet, Biden looked at the press and walked away from the podium. Biden at the top of his brief remarks championed how two years ago he “signed a law once in a generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and to fix our roads, railroads, bridges, ports, airports, remove every single lead pipe in the country and extend high-speed Internet, advance clean energy, and modernize the electric grid, energy grid.” JOHNSON DEFENDS VOTE TO FORMALIZE BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AMID WHITE HOUSE ‘IMPASSE’: ‘WE HAVE NO CHOICE’ “Already, we’ve announced over 40,000 projects in 4,500 communities all across our country. And when folks see these big projects in their hometowns, when they see the cranes up in the air, the shovels in the ground, I really think coming from an area that was shut down — up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the steel mill in Claymont, Delaware, I think it brings them hope,” Biden said. “Because it’s not just about building an infrastructure. It’s about building better infrastructure, stronger infrastructure, infrastructure to withstand 21st century challenges from climate change, cyberattacks to natural disasters to foreign threats, and so much more.” The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution to formalize the Biden impeachment inquiry, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leadership have accused the White House of “stonewalling” their investigations into the president’s alleged involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, Hunter Biden “MAGA” Republicans who have “invaded” his privacy, “attacked” his family, and “ridiculed my struggle with addiction.” House Republicans say the Justice Department has refused to allow two attorneys to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. They claim the White House sent House Oversight and Accountability Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a letter saying they have no intention of complying with GOP subpoenas and requests for interviews without a formal vote, and the National Archives has withheld thousands of pages of documents and emails. Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Support for Biden impeachment inquiry grows with a notable level of Democrat backing: poll
The support for a possible House impeachment inquiry against President Biden is growing among the American public, with nearly a quarter of Democrats saying they would back such a move, a new poll has found. According to the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday, 49% of U.S. adults say they would support the House of Representatives officially launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden amid allegations of corruption within his family, compared to 48% who would not. That number is up from the same survey in October that found 47% supported such a move, and 52% would be opposed. HUNTER BIDEN FACES BACKLASH AFTER DEFYING SUBPOENA WITH PRESS CONFERENCE ‘STUNT’: ‘HOLD HIM IN CONTEMPT!’ An impeachment inquiry is most notably supported by 24% of adults identifying as Democrats, although a majority (74%) would still be opposed. The poll found that Biden’s approval rating remains heavily underwater, with just 40% of adults approving of his job performance as president and 53% saying they did not approve. That number is weighed down heavily by those identifying as independents, with just 36% approving of his job performance and 59% disapproving. CALLS GROW FOR CONGRESS TO SUBPOENA JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S FLIGHT LOGS DESPITE DEMOCRAT ‘STONEWALLING’ Despite being a traditionally reliable Democrat voting bloc, younger voters’ views of Biden also appear to be dragging him down, as just 39% of Gen Z and Millennial voters approve of his job performance, and 50% disapprove. On favorability, Biden edges former President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, with 40% of adults saying they view Biden favorably compared to just 38% for Trump. Among registered voters, 49% said they would vote for Biden if the 2024 presidential election were held today and 48% said they would vote for Trump. WH SPURNS BIDEN FAMILY ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’ AHEAD OF LIKELY IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY VOTE, HUNTER BIDEN DEPOSITION Biden trails Trump among independent voters 45%-50%, but held a surprisingly slight edge among Gen Z and Millennial voters 52%-48%. The poll also asked about a number of hot-button policies, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, border security, abortion and gender. On funding for Ukraine amid its war with Russia and Israel for its war against Hamas, 36% said they oppose funding for either nation, and 32% said they support funding both. Sixteen percent said they support only funding Ukraine, and 15% only support funding for Israel. Half of Americans said they would not support allowing any Palestinian refugees from Gaza into the U.S. while 47% said they would support such a move. BIDEN FACES GRIM RE-ELECTION ODDS AS HE TRAILS LEADING GOP CANDIDATES IN TWO KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES: POLL A majority of 54% support building a physical wall at the southern border and 45% said they do not. On transgender issues, a majority of Americans (59%) said they believed whether a person is a man or woman is determined by the gender they were assigned at birth, while 38% said a person can be a man or woman even if it wasn’t the gender they were assigned at birth. When it came to abortion, most Americans (54%) said laws should be determined by individual states, rather than at the national level (43%). If a national law were in place, an overwhelming 84% said they would support exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, while 14% said they would support no exceptions. On limitations, 21% said abortion should never be allowed, 18% said it should only be allowed in the first six weeks of pregnancy, 21% only in the first 15 weeks, 13% in the first 24 weeks, and 25% said a woman should be able to get an abortion at any point during a pregnancy.
Pennsylvania poised to allow longer school days, shorter weeks
A bill that would give Pennsylvania school districts greater flexibility to have shorter school weeks or longer days, as long as students meet an annual minimum of instructional time, is headed to the governor’s desk for his approval. The legislation passed both chambers unanimously. It changes Pennsylvania law to allow for schools to complete the school year in either a minimum of 180 days or 900 hours at the elementary level and 990 at the secondary level. Currently, schools must do both. PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM SLAMMED BY CRITICS CALLING FOR BOOST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING A spokesperson said Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro plans to sign it. Sponsors said Pennsylvania has been one of fewer than 20 states with both minimum day and minimum hour requirements. They argued it has held schools to rigid schedules that do not allow for flexibility in addressing student needs. The bill would give schools the ability to make changes to accommodate weather conditions, professional development and community events, supporters said. It also can help accommodate student apprenticeships, internships, and career and technical education programs. It will also let schools track students who learn remotely through hours of instruction, rather than days.
Australia cricketer Khawaja will ‘fight’ to wear Palestine solidarity shoes
Australian cricket player Usman Khawaja has promised to “fight” a ruling by the sport’s governing body that he says has stopped him from displaying messages in support of “those who don’t have a voice”. In an emotional video posted on his social media, Khawaja clarified that his message was “not political” and that the “bigger problem” was people calling him up to berate him for his stance. The opening batter was seen wearing cricket boots with “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” written on them in the colours of the Palestinian flag during Australia’s training session prior to their Test series against Pakistan. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) rules do not allow players to display “non-compliant” wording or logos on clothing or equipment worn during international matches. It means that the batter will not be able to wear the boots during Australia’s first Test match against Pakistan, starting on Thursday, December 14. “I will respect their view and decision, but I will fight it and seek to gain approval,” Khawaja said. “I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.” The ICC has declined Al Jazeera’s request for a comment. All Lives are Equal. Freedom is a Human right. I’m raising my voice for human rights. For a humanitarian appeal. If you see it any other way. That’s on you… pic.twitter.com/8eaPnBfUEb — Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) December 13, 2023 ‘I imagine my two girls – what if it were them’ Khawaja said he was speaking up for the thousands of children that are being killed [in Gaza] “without any repercussions or remorse” and that his message was not “political” as seen by the ICC. At least 7,700 children have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October, according to government and health officials in the besieged strip. “This is close to my heart,” he said in the video with a quivering voice. “When I see thousands of children dying without any repercussions or remorse, I imagine my two girls – what if this was them?” Khawaja has two daughters, Aisha and Ayla, with his Australian-born wife Rachel whom he married in 2018. “No one chooses where they are born, and then I see the world turning their backs on them, my heart can’t take it,” he went on to say in the video. The 36-year-old, who was born in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad before moving to Australia as a child. He has often spoken of his experience and the problems he has faced moving through the Australian cricket circuit. “I already felt my life wasn’t equal to others when I was growing up,” he said. “But luckily for me, I have never lived in a world where the lack of inequality was life or death.” Usman Khawaja gives an on-field interview holding his daughter Aisha [File: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters] Khawaja questions backlash Khawaja, who has represented Australia in 115 international matches in a 12-year career, said he wanted to ask those people who got offended by his act of solidarity, “Is freedom not for everyone?” “To me, personally, it doesn’t matter what race, religion or culture you are – but if me saying ‘all lives are equal’ has offended people to the point of – these people obviously don’t believe in what I have written.” “What I have written is not political, I’m not taking sides. Human life to me is equal. One Muslim life is equal to one Jewish life, is equal to one Hindu life, and so on.” Despite Khawaja’s revelation about a shocking number of people calling him up to tell him off, he has found support from Australia’s Sport Minister Anika Wells. “Usman Khawaja is a great athlete and a great Australian,” Anika Wells told local media. “He should have every right to speak up on matters that are important to him. He has done so in a peaceful and respectful way.” Meanwhile, Australia captain Pat Cummins said he spoke with Khawaja and confirmed that the batter won’t display the messages despite them “not being divisive.” “On his shoes he had ‘all lives are equal’. I think that’s not very divisive. I don’t think anyone can really have too many complaints about that,” he told reporters in his pre-match news conference. “I don’t think his intention is to make too big of a fuss, but we support him,” Cummins said. ‘Political messaging makes regulatory bodies nervous’ Experts believe how the ICC reacts to Khawaja’s appeal will set a precedent for the handling of such issues by sport bodies. “I think many eyes in the sporting world will look at how this matter is resolved,” Ian Bayley, a senior lecturer in media and public relations at the University of Staffordshire, told Al Jazeera. When asked if Khawaja had approached them to seek approval to wear the messaging on his boots, they had “no comment, nothing has happened.” “The ICC code of conduct on this issue is quite explicit,” Bayley said. “But Khawaja’s counter-argument that his messages are not political but are, in fact, humanitarian is an interesting one. The academic said, “Sport has always offered a strong and powerful platform for political messaging.” “But it is a fact that, rightly or wrongly, political messaging tends to make regulatory bodies nervous. “Setting aside the arguments about free speech, it is not surprising that many [sports bodies] have rules in place which effectively limit, or even ban, competitors from displaying political messages.” Former England cricketer Moeen Ali has also been at the receiving end of the ICC’s warning for showing support for Palestinians. In the middle of the 2014 war in Gaza, Ali was asked to stop wearing wristbands showing support for Gaza during a Test match against India. More recently, Pakistan wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan dedicated his country’s win against Sri Lanka at the Cricket World Cup in India to the people of Gaza but did not face any sanctions as the comments were made after the match. ‘Double standards’ Cricket
Palestine’s and Turtle Island’s liberation are entwined
Over the past two months, protest marches in solidarity with the Palestinian people have taken place all across the United States and Canada. They have attracted a diverse crowd of people, including many Indigenous nations and communities. Participants have denounced “US imperialism” for enabling Israeli aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide while others have charged Israel itself with “settler colonialism”. However, many attendees – especially pro-Palestinian immigrants – have failed to comprehend their own relationship to settler colonialism. Many of us see the US and Canada as secular democracies that provide good economic opportunities and not as settler-colonial societies, serving as the blueprint for Israel. We have ignored our own complicity as settlers. Muslims and South Asian, North African and Arab immigrant settlers must interrogate the legitimacy of America’s and Canada’s right to exist and the costly trade-off they make in taking on national identities in these countries that come at the expense of Indigenous peoples at “home” and imperialist adventurism abroad. Settler-colonial history ignored A significant number of migrant Muslims do not seem to comprehend that American societies are animated by white supremacist religious doctrines such as manifest destiny and doctrines of discovery and terra nullius, Protestant ethics, common law property rights, and Victorian notions of gender and sexuality. Rather, Muslim “arrivants” to the US should consider the history of settler colonialism in the Americas – a history that sees Islamophobia and anti-Indigenous narratives as well as anti-Blackness and anti-Jewishness inextricably bound. In the late 15th century, Christopher Columbus’s conquistador invasion of the Americas commenced as the European Crusading eviction, murder and forced conversion of Muslims and Jews in Andalusia was coming to an end. There, Muslims and Jews were racially and religiously cast as “enemies”, “savages” and “heathens”, an othering that tinted the lens through which Columbus and his successors saw Indigenous peoples in the Americas, describing them as “blood drinkers”, “cannibals” and “devils”. As Alan Mikhel writes in his book God’s Shadow, Columbus described the weapons used by the Indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean as “alfanjes, the Spanish name for the scimitars used by Muslim soldiers”, while Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés identified 400 Aztec temples in Mexico as “mosques”, described “Aztec women” as “Moorish women” and referred to Montezuma, the Aztec leader, as a “sultan”. Later, in the 16th century, as the transatlantic slave trade got under way, Africans – 20 to 30 percent of whom were Muslims – would become the new “infidels” and “savages”. These were not mere insults but Euro-American Christian religious and racial narratives of dehumanisation that eventually found their way into US religious doctrine, law and settler attitudes. They were used to justify the expropriation of Indigenous land and resources as well as the enslavement and continued “after-life of slavery” projects targeting Black peoples. They also drove the Islamophobia that in recent years has resulted in Muslim bans, unmitigated US government support for Zionist settler colonialism as well as the death and destruction wrought as part of the “war on terror”. Rather than question the US settler-colonial project root and branch, Muslim immigrants have taken it for granted and tried to entrench themselves as “good liberal settlers”, eliding their own settler-colonial complicities, even when they have come from countries ravaged by the effects of imperialist US foreign policy. American nightmare This love for the delusional promise of the “American dream” runs counter to what the selectively quoted anti-American Muslim Malcolm X, referred to as an “American nightmare” and exists despite a surge in recent years of Indigenous activism as well as a vast body of scholarship in Indigenous, Palestinian and comparative settler-colonial studies. This activism and work help us understand that the US’s imperial commitments abroad are informed by the violence it has wreaked against Black peoples and Indigenous peoples in North America – or what the latter refer to as Turtle Island. As Eve Tuck, professor of critical race and Indigenous studies at the University of Toronto, and K Wayne Yang, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego, wrote in a paper titled Decolonization is not a Metaphor: “Oil is the motor and motive for war and so was salt, so will be water. Settler sovereignty over the very pieces of earth, air, and water is what makes possible these imperialisms. … ‘Indian Country’ was/is the term used in Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq by the U.S. military for ‘enemy territory’.” A case in point is the Iraq war. Critics and some US officials were adamant that the war – spearheaded by Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of oil giant Halliburton – was intended to benefit big oil. However, it was missed that US fighter jets, cruise missiles and armoured vehicles could not have descended on Iraq in 2003 without the fuel derived from abundant oil supplies tapped from Indigenous lands, which today makes the US the world’s largest oil producer and, by far, the largest polluter. Indigenous-led NoDAPL protests in 2016 against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was set to run close to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation were a missed opportunity for Muslim and pro-Palestinian activists to centre and draw deeper connections between settler colonialism at home and abroad. Another blatant instance of the relationship between settler colonialism at home and abroad is at Cornell University, the Ivy League institution where I was a visiting scholar last year and which has also been a hub of pro-Palestinian activism in recent weeks. Set among the bucolic countryside of upstate New York and flush with waterfalls, gorges and evergreens, Cornell is regarded as the largest university land grab in US history and the single largest beneficiary of the 1862 Morrill Act, which saw 10.7 million acres (4.3 million hectares) stolen from 250 different Indigenous peoples in 15 states and handed over to universities. In this, Cornell accrues benefits from the principal revenue and capital of the land as well as surface extraction rights involving minerals, resources, mining and water. Cornell University is also partnered with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,
How is the Gaza War seen beyond the US and the West?
Israel was isolated with a few allies in the UN General Assembly vote. An overwhelming call at the United Nations General Assembly for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel and the United States were among the few voting against the resolution. How isolated are these two nations from most of the world, which opposes the war? Can international opposition have any impact? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Temir Porras – former career diplomat in Venezuela and policy adviser specialising in Latin American economics and geopolitics Melanie Verwoerd – former South African ambassador and member of parliament during Nelson Mandela’s administration Sami Hermez – associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar who specialises in social movements, the state and security in the Arab world Adblock test (Why?)
GOP lawmaker wants to crack down on climate change activists who deface historical artwork
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, wants to raise the stakes for climate change activists who vandalize historical artworks or damage museum property by creating harsher penalties for the crime. The Consequences for Climate Vandals Act, introduced in the Senate on Wednesday, would also apply to the grounds or property of the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian museums, the Kennedy Center, among others, and raise the maximum prison time from five years to 10. The consequences would mirror the current maximum prison time in England, where climate activists have frequently glued themselves to artworks or thrown soup or other liquids on protective casings of museum pieces. “There should be no tolerance for the vandalization of our historic works of art,” Vance said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Apparently, a maximum penalty of five years in prison isn’t enough to keep these far-left protestors from tarnishing displays of cultural significance.” He added, “Let’s make it 10 years and see if they’re still so bold.” CLIMATE ACTIVISTS TAKE HAMMERS TO FAMOUS PAINTING IN LONDON MUSEUM In May, two protesters were indicted for smearing paint on the case of a famous Degas sculpture at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., just a month prior. At the time, the group of activists – known as Declare Emergency – posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they wanted to send a message about climate change. “Around 11 am today two parents who are terrified about their children’s futures (as well as all children) made a statement at the National Gallery in DC. Climate change will cause famine, floods, droughts and destruction unless we act now,” the post read. DARK MONEY FUND POURED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO ECO ACTIVIST GROUPS BLOCKING HIGHWAYS, DESTROYING FAMOUS ART JUST STOP OIL PROTESTERS INTERRUPT ‘LES MIS’ PERFORMACE IN LONDON, CALLED ‘STUPID PEOPLE’ BY ANGRY CROWD Last month, a climate activist from the same group smeared red paint on an exhibit honoring an African American regiment that fought during the Civil War, during a protest at the National Gallery of Art. The activist vandalized a wall in the West Building gallery of the Washington, D.C., museum that houses the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, officials told Fox News Digital at the time. Using red paint, the activist wrote, “Honor Them,” and explained President Biden could honor Black Civil War soldiers by declaring a climate emergency. “We should honor them by carrying on their work,” the activist said in a statement. “So, I say, ‘Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency’ in their honor because the great majority of the people who are being harmed by the climate emergency now and who will be harmed in the future are people who look like the soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th.” Last month, two climate activists took hammers to the protective glass of a famous painting in London and called for the U.K. to halt all new oil and gas projects in the country. Both were arrested and reportedly charged on suspicion of criminal damage. Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
Migrant encounters again top 10K in a single day as lawmakers eye new border limits
Migrant encounters at the southern border again topped 10,000 encounters in a single day on Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News, as lawmakers in Washington, D.C., remain locked in discussions about new border measures. The numbers seen on Wednesday are slightly less than the over 12,000 seen in a single day last week, which broke daily records, but are still at overwhelming levels for Border Patrol agents on the ground. Tucson and Del Rio Sectors, which saw 3,000 and 2,700 encounters, respectively, were both more than 200% over capacity. Meanwhile, agents were hit by multiple groups of more than 100 migrants in multiple locations simultaneously, Fox is told. 5,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED EVERY DAY INTO US, ADMIN OFFICIALS PRIVATELY TELL LAWMAKERS “The TCOs [Transnational Criminal Organizations] know what they are doing,” one agent said. Fox reported on Saturday that lawmakers had been briefed by officials that over 5,000 illegal immigrants are currently being released into the U.S. each day. That is in addition to the 1,600 migrants who arrived at ports of entry and are being processed and released via the use of humanitarian parole each day under the CBP One app. Border Patrol agents have encountered migrants from over 150 countries, lawmakers were told. Sources also told Fox that on Tuesday, there were more than 190 Chinese nationals encountered in the San Diego sector alone, while there were more than 120 encounters of nationals from Guinea in the Tucson Sector. The numbers come after a record-breaking FY 23 which saw more than 2.4 million encounters, and records broken in both September and October. While numbers typically drop over the winter months, the current surge is showing little sign of slowing. It comes as lawmakers are furiously negotiating over the White House’s supplemental funding request for border funding, as well as aid to Ukraine and Israel. JORDAN SUBPOENAS MAYORKAS FOR CASE FILES OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH MURDER, TERROR CHARGES The White House has requested over $100 billion, including $14 billion for border funding — which includes migrant care, costs related to expedited removal and help for besieged cities. The administration says it is dealing with a broken system and a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs funding and reform from Congress. However, Republicans, who blame the administration’s policies for the new crisis, want to see tighter restrictions on asylum standards and the use of parole by the administration. President Biden said last week that he is open to “significant compromises” on the border in order to get the deal over the line, and any supplemental deal is expected to include some restrictions on initial “credible fear” screenings and a greater use of expedited removal. The White House’s initial supplemental plan included a request for resources to expand the use of expedited removal, which allows for the quick deportation of those who do not meet initial standards for asylum. Some Democrats have balked at Republican demands for more restrictions, arguing that any such policy changes would need to be accompanied by an amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. – a likely non-starter for Republicans. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters on Wednesday that the White House has been “more involved,” calling that “good news” but said it was unclear if an agreement could be reached. “Whether we can land this plane, I don’t know,” he said. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Jordan says Hunter Biden made a ‘huge change’ by saying his father was ‘not financially involved’ in business
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said Hunter Biden made a “huge change” by saying his father, President Biden, was “not financially involved” in his business dealings. Jordan’s comments came shortly after Hunter Biden defied his subpoena by not appearing for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee, and instead, delivering a public statement defending himself and his family amid the House impeachment inquiry against his father. “My father was not financially involved in my business,” Hunter Biden said Wednesday morning from Capitol Hill, adding the president was not involved in his dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, or his Chinese investments and others in the U.S. HUNTER BIDEN WILL NOT SIT FOR DEPOSITION BY GOP, SAYS FATHER NOT ‘FINANCIALLY’ INVOLVED IN HIS BUSINESS “No evidence to support that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” Hunter Biden said. The White House and President Biden have maintained that the president was “never in business” with his son. Biden has also said he never spoke to his son about his business dealings, but Republicans say evidence — including email records and testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business partners — seem to contradict those statements. Jordan, shortly after Hunter Biden’s public appearance, pointed out his changing narrative. “I would just point out that I’ve had a chance to review what Hunter Biden said in his press conference. I think he made an interesting statement,” Jordan said. “He said his father was not financially involved in the business. And I think that qualifier, the word ‘financially’ is important because once again, it shows another change in this story.” Jordan continued, “First, it was no involvement. Then no one ever, never talked to anyone, and then we find out about the dinners, the meetings, the phone calls, everything else.” “Now, it’s okay, he wasn’t involved in the business financially,” Jordan continued. “I think that is important. It’s one of the reasons we want to talk to Hunter Biden.” Jordan said the “biggest takeaway” from Hunter Biden’s appearance was that statement about President Biden not being financially involved — which to Jordan indicates the elder Biden may have been involved in his son’s business dealings in other ways. WHITE HOUSE, HUNTER BIDEN’S TEAM KEEP SHIFTING GOALPOSTS IN DENYING DAD’S INVOLVEMENT WITH BUSINESSES “That is a huge change, which means — sort of means he’s involved,” Jordan said. “I think that’s how anyone with common sense would read it.” Jordan described the change as indicating President Biden has “been involved, just not financially.” Jordan said that “is a huge departure from everything they’ve said now for the last three and a half years.” President Biden, dating back to August 2019 on the 2020 campaign trail, said he “never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period.” A month later, Biden said he had “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.” The next month, Biden said, “I don’t discuss business with my son.” This summer, however, the White House made a change, and began saying Biden was not “in business” with his son during his vice presidency. “As we have said many times before, the president was not in business with his son,” White House counsel’s office spokesperson Ian Sams said in a June 29 statement. “The answer remains the same,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a July 24 briefing. “The president was never in business with his son. I just don’t have anything else to add.” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Jordan, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith wrote a letter to White House Counsel Stuart Delery in July to seek clarity on the shifting message, but their July 27 deadline was ignored. Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell in September said he can “categorically” declare that the elder Biden was not involved in his son’s previous business dealings and did not profit from any of them. “I can tell you that Hunter did not share his business with his dad,” Lowell told CNN in September. “I can tell you that he did not share money from his businesses with his dad. And as the evidence out there, his dad, like all good parents, tried to help Hunter when Hunter needed that help.” Meanwhile, Comer and Jordan last week threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he defied the subpoena and failed to appear for his deposition. Comer and Jordan had vowed to release the full transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition if he did participate. They also vowed to then schedule a public hearing for the president’s son to testify in a setting for the American people to hear from him directly. HUNTER BIDEN MAY BE HELD IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS IF HE DOESN’T SHOW UP FOR INTERVIEW Meanwhile, Comer and Jordan spoke to reporters, defending their “lawful subpoena of the president’s son.” “This is a normal process in an investigation,” Comer said. “This has been a serious investigation since day one — an investigation about public corruption at the highest level.” Comer said he still expects to depose the president’s son. “And then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing,” Comer said. Jordan said if a public hearing took place first, as suggested by the first son, members would filibuster and delay lines of questioning. “The way you get the facts is you bring people in for an interview behind closed doors,” Jordan said. Lowell and the White House have argued that the subpoena was not valid because the House impeachment inquiry was never formalized by the full House of Representatives. However, a vote to do so is expected later Wednesday. “We think it is going to pass,” Jordan said. “We’ll see what their excuse is then.” However, Jordan did say that once that vote takes place, he and Comer will, as promised, “move forward with