KJP Punts on White House Knowledge of Hunter Biden Hearing Appearance: ‘He’s a Private Citizen and He Makes His Own Decisions’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joked during Wednesday’s press briefing that the press corps were “low-energy,” but they ended up having plenty of questions for her, including about Hunter Biden.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee were holding hearings Wednesday morning to vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying his subpoena to testify behind closed doors. To (almost) everyone’s surprise, Biden and his legal team showed up at the hearing, a PR stunt to reiterate his willingness to testify — in public.

Naturally, the White House press corps, specifically Nancy Cordes, chief White House correspondent for CBS News, had some questions about whether President Joe Biden knew of his son’s plans. And naturally, since Hunter Biden is not part of his father’s administration, Jean-Pierre deferred to someone else to provide answers:

Cordes: Was the White House informed in advance that Hunter Biden would be showing up at the House Oversight Committee hearing on Capitol Hill today?

KJP: So here’s what I’ll say, and I’ve said this many times before. Hunter, as you all know, is a private citizen, he’s not a member of this White House. He makes his own decisions, like he did today about how to respond to Congress. And so I would refer you any further questions, any additional questions about this process, certainly, too, I refer you to Hunter’s representatives.

Cordes: Fully grant you that he makes his own decisions, but my question was about whether the White House was informed in advance.

KJP: I would just, again, I would say that I don’t have anything, we don’t have anything else to share beyond that. He’s a private citizen, and he makes his own decisions as it relates to this particular, you know, response, his particular response to the Congress, that’s something that he decides on. And I would refer you to his representatives.

Watch the video above via C-SPAN.