Republicans startled as Hunter Biden arrives at House contempt hearing
The Oversight Committee was meeting to consider a resolution to hold the president's son in contempt for defying a House subpoena.
Cameras blazed as he strode into the room with his attorney, Abbe Lowell.
Republicans appeared angered by the move, with Rep Nancy Mace accusing him of "white privilege".
"I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail," the South Carolina congresswoman said. "Our nation is founded on the rule of law and the premise that the law applies equally to everyone, no matter what your last name is."
Democrats on the panel urged Republicans to allow Mr Biden, who sat in the audience, to be allowed to speak. But chair James Comer, who at times struggled to control the hearing, declined: "Mr Biden doesn't make the rules, we make the rules."
Mr Biden exited Congress without speaking at the hearing a short time later. He exited the room as right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene began to speak.
The Georgia representative, who has previously displayed nude images of Mr Biden during hearings, called him a "coward".
The Oversight Committee is planning to consider the contempt resolution later on Wednesday. Its passage through that body is the first step toward it being considered by the wider House.
For Mr Biden to be held in contempt it would require a simple majority in the chamber, which Republicans hold by a slim two-seat margin.
The 53-year-old's lawyer, Mr Lowell, who accompanied him, reprimanded Republicans for using Mr Biden as a "surrogate to attack his father", President Joe Biden. House Republicans have alleged that Mr Biden and his family unfairly profited from the elder Biden's longstanding political status in Washington.
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