Judge Napolitano criticizes president over son's subpoena defiance

On Dec. 13, Hunter Biden was ordered to testify before a House committee, but instead, he defied his subpoena and gave a bizarre news conference outside of the Capitol building explaining why he was doing so.

Many reporters and others have raised questions as to whether or not President Joe Biden -- and other top White House officials -- knew what Hunter Biden would do on that day.

Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano recently told Newsmax that he believes President Biden would be "off the wall" if he influenced his son's decision to defy the congressional subpoena.

Judge Napolitano to Newsmax: Biden 'Off The Wall' If He Advised Defiance https://t.co/OTTkvstNE6

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Notably, later on Dec. 13 after Hunter Biden did his presser outside of the Capitol, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the situation.

At the time, she said that President Biden "was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say."

That answer, not surprisingly, prompted Republican leaders to question exactly what level of influence the sitting president might have had on his son's dumb decision to defy a congressional subpoena.

In turn, House Republicans demanded to see any correspondence between the president and his son -- and his son's lawyers -- regarding the decision to defy the subpoena. Napolitano agreed that Republicans have the right to make such a request.

"Congress has the absolute right to look at the communications between Joe Biden and his son," the former judge said.

He added, "I happen to think Joe Biden would have been really off the wall if he advised his son to show up at the congressional hearing and then not go in the building and hold a press conference outside the building. That's ridiculous."

Napolitano doubled down, adding that it would have been much less of a headache for the president's son to just show up for the testimony, plead the Fifth, and move on.

"We all know he has the Fifth Amendment right," Napolitano said. "He should have shown up, taken the oath [on the Bible], answered the question as to who he was, and then assert the Fifth Amendment."

He added, "But to show up at the building and thumb your nose at the Congress, rip into the Congress way the way he did, If the president was behind that, the Congress has the right to find out about it."

Only time will tell if Republicans find a way to get Hunter Biden before them for questioning..