Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is being condemned for appearing at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing and prominently displaying what's believed to be explicit photos of President Joe Biden’s 53-year-old son, Hunter Biden.
The Wednesday hearing was intended for the committee to discuss an investigation involving Hunter’s taxes after allegations were previously made by two whistleblowers. The unnamed sources claimed “political interference in the Justice Department” occurred while investigating Hunter, The Washington Post reported in June.
“I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home know that parental discretion is advised,” Greene, 49, explained before presenting the compromising images of Hunter, according to the Post. She then accused the commander-in-chief's son of "making pornography."
Hunter and Joe Biden attend a Washington, D.C. event in 2016. Teresa Kroeger/GettyGreene's actions quickly invited backlash from Democratic lawmakers in the room.
“In an effort to ‘own’ Hunter Biden, they are assembling nude photos of him, having some intern have to sit in a room and blow up these photos and put it on poster boards and figure out, ‘Oh, which ones are beyond the pale?’” Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said of Greene’s strategy while he spoke.
As New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her closing remarks during the hearing, she said she considered the photos to be “pornographic” in nature and argued that members of the Republican Party had reached a “new low.”
“Frankly, I don’t care who you are in this country, no one deserves that," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene testifies in court in April 2022 after voters argued that she shouldn't be allowed to seek reelection because of her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. John Bazemore/AP/ShutterstockMaryland Rep. Jamie Raskin denounced Greene’s attempts to expose Hunter, deeming the photos “completely irrelevant," noting that it “did not advance in any way the putative objective of the hearing.”
Raskin further expressed his disapproval of the move, claiming what Greene did was “deliberately provocative and sensationalistic and voyeuristic.” He continued, “I hope to speak to the chairman about this as an assault to the dignity of the committee.”
While some Republicans seemingly backed Greene by sharing the photos on social media sites including Twitter, Hunter’s legal counsel slammed the disturbance.
“We are curious to hear how that instance of pure harassment of a private person’s personal life informed Congress of some real gap in our tax laws… Nothing is beneath Ms. Greene,” attorney Abbe Lowell said after calling the unwanted attention “political theater.”
Greene’s documents weren’t the first time Hunter has made headlines for alleged compromising content. The Washington Post added that in 2019, the Yale Law School alum had “intimate photos'' shared from his personal laptop after he left the device at a repair shop. According to CBS News, the shop’s owner turned the content in question over to the FBI after receiving a subpoena to do so.
Following the fiasco, Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter, disclosed that "there have been multiple attempts to hack, infect, distort, and peddle misinformation regarding Mr. Biden's devices and data."
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He added that those close to Hunter believed that "there are ongoing efforts to utilize the infected and distorted data to spread disinformation. At no time did any individual… have Mr. Biden's consent to access his computer data or share it with others."
How Greene obtained the images shown in yesterday’s House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing remains unclear.