House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told Fox News Digital that he will release the transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition later this month and will schedule a public hearing for the president’s son after he testifies behind closed doors as part of the ‘most transparent major congressional investigation in history.’

Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a deposition earlier this month. The deposition is set for Dec. 13.

But Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell has, instead, offered the president’s son for a public hearing, where he can answer questions and offer his testimony directly before the American people.

Democrats have blasted Comer and House Republicans amid their impeachment inquiry against President Biden for not taking Lowell up on the offer, saying their denial proves that the case against the first son is weak.

But Comer dismissed those claims in an interview with Fox News Digital.

‘Democrats always create a false narrative ahead of potential peril,’ Comer told Fox News Digital, using Hunter Biden’s laptop as an example of Democrats peddling the inaccurate narrative that the laptop was a product of Russian disinformation.

‘We have always planned on deposing the key witness in this entire investigation — that’s the president’s son,’ Comer said.

Comer told Fox News Digital that his committee has ‘accumulated tens of thousands of pages of documents.’

‘We have hundreds of questions that we have to ask Hunter Biden,’ Comer said, noting that a public hearing is not an efficient setting to get answers to all questions. ‘If you have a public hearing, we may get to 35, 40 questions with five minutes each way. In a deposition, we can easily get 400-plus questions in.’

Comer stressed that the deposition of Hunter Biden ‘will be transparent.’

‘We will release the transcripts,’ he said. ‘We always do unless they contain classified information.’ 

Comer said that ‘This has been the most transparent major congressional investigation in history.’ 

Comer said that each time the committee investigators find new evidence, they ‘present it’ to the public.

‘We have done four bank memorandums,’ he said. ‘We have had countless press conferences.’

‘We want Hunter Biden to have a public hearing — but he will be deposed first,’ Comer continued. ‘That is how every investigation in history — whether a congressional investigation or a criminal investigation by law enforcement agencies — they always begin with a deposition.’ 

Comer slammed his Democratic colleagues for a double standard.

‘We will have the public hearing, but the Democrats are trying to create a narrative that depositions are bad,’ he said. ‘All they did were depositions in the January 6 investigation, and when they did hold the public hearings, they showed films of the depositions they did.’

The top Democrat on the Oversight Committee called Comer’s denial of Hunter Biden’s request for a public hearing an ‘epic humiliation’ and said their hesitancy to let the president’s son give public testimony is ‘a frank confession that they are simply not interested in the facts and have no confidence in their own case or the ability of their own Members to pursue it.’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Raskin said. ‘After wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full Committee and the eyes of the world and to answer any questions that they pose?’

But former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who served as the House Oversight Committee chairman and led several high-profile investigations, including the congressional probe of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, said it is ‘normal and customary for a serious investigation to do a transcribed interview or deposition before a public hearing.’

‘The good news is, they get to do both,’ Chaffetz, a Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital. ‘A deposition is a different format — the content is complex and deep, and we did that routinely, and it is the proper way to do an investigation.’

Chaffetz added that the Bidens ‘don’t get to dictate how the House of Representatives does their investigations.’ 

Chaffetz explained that in a deposition, questions are asked by professional staff — not lawmakers.

‘You can get a better, more thorough investigation done during the deposition, which should be the goal of everybody,’ Chaffetz said.

Chaffetz told Fox News Digital he thinks Hunter Biden’s team knows a public hearing ‘is much easier than doing a transcribed interview.’

‘You can be coached up how to filibuster a five-minute set of questions from a member of Congress, so, I think they don’t want the thoroughness and they don’t want the explicit facts to come out,’ Chaffetz explained. ‘That’s just a guess—but Abbe Lowell is an exceptional, talented attorney—a transcribed interview with Hunter Biden will go on for hours, if not for a day or two, so the exposure is lessened by having only public testimony.’

He added: ‘But if you’re James Comer and want to get to the details of the facts, you want to do both.’

Lowell, earlier this week, accused Comer and Republicans of using ‘closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.’

‘We therefore propose opening the door,’ Lowell wrote. ‘If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about, then let light shine on the proceedings.’ 

But Democrats, Chaffetz said, are in a ‘precarious position because they set the standards.’

‘And now that they have to live with them, they don’t want to do that,’ he said.

Chaffetz said the deposition for Hunter Biden is ‘not an optional event.’

‘You typically would take the main witness last, and that’s Hunter Biden,’ Chaffetz said. ‘Hunter Biden needs to show up and I can’t think of a single excuse that would justify his non-attendance.’

Meanwhile, Comer told Fox News Digital that his months-long investigation into the Biden family business dealings is ‘a credible, serious investigation of public corruption at the highest levels.’

‘We bring out more evidence almost on a daily basis that shows this family was involved in serious crimes ranging from money laundering to being an unregistered foreign agent to securities fraud,’ Comer told Fox News Digital. ‘And along the way, we have proven that Joe Biden knew and communicated with all of these shady characters that were involved in wiring his family millions of dollars.’

Israeli authorities have announced the death of three Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas during their deadly attack on Oct. 7. All three deceased were from Kibbutz Nir-Oz, an Israeli border community.

The hostages were identified as 85-year-old grandfather Aria Zalmanowicz, 56-year-old mother and kindergarten teacher Maya Goren, and 54-year-old father and photographer Ronen Engel.

No details were provided on how their deaths were verified.

Israeli officials said Zalmanovitch was recently seen looking sick in a video Hamas released a few weeks ago.

Israeli authorities released a statement, announcing each death and a brief description.

‘With great sadness Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Aria (Zalman) Zalmanowicz. Zalman was 85 years old, and was a founder of Kibbutz Nir Oz,’ the announcement read. ‘Zalman was a father of two and grandfather of five grandchildren. He was a man of the land, dedicated to agriculture his entire life. He was an avid reader, with a wide knowledge of history and the country. May his memory be a blessing.’

The kibbutz authorities said Goren was a mother of four children: Assif, Bar, Gal and Dekel. She was also a ‘hardworking and dedicated kindergarten teacher, and gave loving care to the kibbutz children for many years. May her memory be a blessing.’

Her husband, Avner Goren, also 56, was killed during the Oct. 7 massacre.

Authorities identified the third victim, Engel, as a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz and a volunteer with Israel’s national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom.

‘With great sorrow Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Ronen Engel. Ronen was 54 years old, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Married to Carina, and father to Tom, Mika, and Yuval. A photographer, a volunteer in Magen David Adom (the national EMS organization), and a motorcycle enthusiast,’ the announcement read.

His wife and two daughters, also abducted on Oct. 7, were released this week.

The announcements come just hours after a weeklong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expired on Friday morning. During the temporary truce, Hamas released approximately 110 hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Fighting resumed just minutes after the cease-fire expired, although negotiators are attempting to form a new, lasting agreement.

Fox News’ Dana Karni contributed to this report.

The House of Representatives voted to expel scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on Friday, making him the first House lawmaker to be expelled in more than 20 years.

A solemn hush fell over the House chamber as Speaker Mike Johnson slammed his gavel, formalizing the historic ouster.

Santos walked out of the House chamber just before all the votes that sealed his fate were cast and did not answer reporters’ questions on his way out. 

Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote. The last time a House lawmaker was expelled was more than two decades ago, when late former Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out of Congress in 2002. 

Prior to his ousting, Traficant had been convicted of 10 felony counts, including racketeering and taking bribes. 

Santos has not been convicted of a crime, but he has been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos has been accused of using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as botox. He has pleaded not guilty.

The 311 to 114 vote was strongly bipartisan, although slightly more Republicans voted to keep Santos than to oust him. 

Johnson would not answer reporters’ questions on the Santos expulsion when leaving the House chamber after the vote, including a shouted query from Fox News Digital on whether his exit and the subsequent slimmer GOP majority changes Republicans’ calculus on the current government spending fight. 

Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told Fox News Digital after the vote, ‘This was not a partisan effort. It was a reflection that, I think, House members came to a conclusion that, given the facts surrounding Santos, election and post-election, that he defamed the House of Representatives…and was not an appropriate person to represent people in the United States Congress.’

Sentiments within the House GOP on whether to expel Santos appeared split when Republicans emerged from a closed-door conference meeting on Friday morning.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, argued to reporters that expelling Santos now would take away the presumption of innocence he is entitled to. He also referenced Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who was recently accused of taking bribes from and acting in the interest of Egyptian officials, and the fact that he is not being removed from the Senate.  

‘He hasn’t been tried either civilly or criminally, and that’s what probably gives me the most pause,’ Issa said. ‘I’ve also become aware that the Republicans on the ethics committee wanted to consider a lesser sanction than removing him, and the three Democrats were not willing to consider anything except the expulsion.’

The House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the statement.

Meanwhile, others, chiefly the New York Republican delegation Santos is part of, maintained there was more than enough evidence to expel him.

‘I believe as I’ve stated that George Santos has committed crimes. He’s defrauded voters, taxpayers and donors. And we have established, through a comprehensive investigation, the standard by which he should be expelled,’ Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters.

‘I just hope that my colleagues see through any distortion and see that we have an individual who is divorced from reality, who has committed crimes, is a con man and will continue to behave in the way he has and has met the threshold not to serve the house.’

Santos himself said he expected to be expelled from Congress during a Friday morning interview on ‘FOX & Friends.’

FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan demanded Hunter Biden appear for his deposition later this month as part of their effort to determine whether the House of Representatives will draft articles of impeachment against President Biden.

The lawmakers also stressed to Hunter Biden’s attorney that the president’s son will receive no ‘special treatment.’

Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a deposition earlier this month. The deposition is set for Dec. 13.

But Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell offered the president’s son for a public hearing instead, where he would answer questions and offer his testimony directly before the American people.

In a letter to Lowell on Friday, Comer and Jordan said Hunter Biden’s testimony ‘will occur initially in a deposition setting, as has been the consistent practice of Committees of the majorities—as well as these Committees during this inquiry.’

‘We also appreciate your confirmation that Mr. Biden is willing to testify at a public hearing,’ they wrote. ‘We look forward to his testimony in a hearing at the appropriate time.’

Comer and Jordan, who are leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden along with Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., explained that the committees require Hunter Biden’s testimony ‘to inform potential legislative reform relating to federal ethics and financial disclosure laws.’

‘In addition, the Committees are investigating whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden based on evidence received to date showing that President Biden was aware of at least some of his family’s business ventures and sought to influence potential business deals that financially benefited his family,’ they wrote.

Comer and Jordan also said that Lowell has suggested that there is ‘no evidence to support a finding’ that Hunter Biden’s business dealings ‘implicate the official actions of his father.’

‘This is contrary to the facts already established through the investigation,’ they wrote. ‘As we have detailed in the memorandum explaining the scope of the impeachment inquiry, witnesses have testified not only that Mr. Biden sold the Biden ‘brand.’ But also how Mr. Biden placed his father on speaker phone twenty times with business associates and how he introduced his father in-person during business meetings with foreign business partners.’ 

Comer and Jordan also pointed to the FBI FD-1023 form in which an FBI confidential human source ‘detailed a bribery scheme in which President Biden allegedly participated with his son.’ 

‘Despite your bluster, the evidence remains undisputed,’ they wrote, adding that Lowell is just working to ‘discredit the allegations against Mr. Biden, distort the truth, and attack the integrity of witnesses against Mr. Biden.’ 

They added: ‘Your attempts to now bully and intimidate the committees will not stand.’

Regarding Lowell’s request for Hunter Biden to testify at a public hearing, Comer and Jordan said that is an effort to ‘avoid sitting for a deposition’ and said it ‘amounts to a demand that he receive special treatment from the committees.’ 

‘Mr. Biden will not succeed in attempting to dictate to the Committees how they conduct their investigation,’ they wrote. ‘The subpoenas Mr. Biden has received compel him to appear before the Committees for a deposition; they are not mere suggestions open to Mr. Biden’s interpretation or preference.’ 

Comer and Jordan noted that Justice Department, FBI and IRS officials have all testified in transcribed interview and deposition settings, as well as Hunter Biden’s business associate Devon Archer.

They also noted that other Biden business associates are ‘also cooperating with our subpoenas and not demanding a public hearing first.’

‘Mr. Biden seems to believe that he should be treated differently than other witnesses before the committees,’ they wrote. ‘Nonetheless, if it helps to alleviate your stated concerns, you should be aware that, consistent with House and Committee rules and practice, we intend to videotape the deposition and release the deposition transcript soon after its completion.’ 

Comer and Jordan added: ‘The committees’ investigation will proceed apace without interference or obstruction.’ 

Comer and Jordan gave Lowell until Dec. 4 to confirm Hunter Biden’s attendance at his deposition, scheduled for Dec. 13.

Lowell, earlier this week, accused Comer and Republicans of using ‘closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.’

‘We therefore propose opening the door,’ Lowell wrote. ‘If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about, then let light shine on the proceedings.’ 

Democrats have blasted Comer and House Republicans amid their impeachment inquiry against President Biden for not taking Lowell up on the offer, saying their denial proves that the case against the first son is weak.

But Comer dismissed those claims in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday.

‘Democrats always create a false narrative ahead of potential peril,’ Comer told Fox News Digital, using Hunter Biden’s laptop as an example of Democrats peddling the inaccurate narrative that the laptop was a product of Russian disinformation.

‘We have always planned on deposing the key witness in this entire investigation — that’s the president’s son,’ Comer said.

Comer told Fox News Digital that his committee has ‘accumulated tens of thousands of pages of documents.’

‘We have hundreds of questions that we have to ask Hunter Biden,’ Comer said, noting that a public hearing is not an efficient setting to get answers to all questions. ‘If you have a public hearing, we may get to 35, 40 questions with five minutes each way. In a deposition, we can easily get 400-plus questions in.’

Comer stressed that the deposition of Hunter Biden ‘will be transparent.’

‘We will release the transcripts,’ he said. ‘We always do unless they contain classified information.’ 

Comer added: ‘This has been the most transparent major congressional investigation in history.’ 

A vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry of President Biden is likely to come before the House of Representatives breaks for the December recess, multiple Republicans said Friday.

House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters he expected his committee to get the legislation ‘sometime next week,’ which will likely tee up a House-wide vote shortly thereafter.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said he anticipates a House-wide vote ‘before we will break’ on December 15.

‘I think that every Republican should be convinced about voting for the impeachment inquiry, there’s plenty of smoke there,’ Gimenez said.

They spoke after a closed-door House GOP Conference meeting where the three chairmen investigating Biden and his family – Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo. – reiterating their case for lawmakers.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said the meeting was held ‘to see where the votes are and make sure everybody’s communicated with, people have had their chance to understand what an impeachment inquiry is versus impeachment.’

‘It’s important we get it done as soon as possible so that we can move forward with this investigation,’ Hern said. 

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said a vote would likely come ‘soon’ and contrasted the push to formalize Republicans’ impeachment inquiry with how House Democrats handled former President Trump, moving forward with the impeachment process without a House-wide vote.

‘We’re actually trying to do it the right way,’ Murphy said.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., directed the House to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden in September, but the White House has dismissed the probe as illegitimate without a formal vote on the matter. 

The administration’s resistance to cooperating with House investigators’ subpoenas has inspired even Republicans in districts won by Biden in 2020 to support formalizing the inquiry.

Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital, ‘This is what the administration has asked for.’

‘The administration made it very clear, they weren’t going to actually work with our constitutional authority, unless we did the vote. Fine,’ Schweikert said. 

Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said he would ‘very, very, firmly support’ authorizing an impeachment inquiry.

‘I believe we have an unregistered foreign agent as our President of the United States and I believe the evidence is in place already to establish that,’ he said.

Asked when he believed a House-wide vote could occur, Duarte said, ‘I think, if we have the votes, it would be by the end of the year.’

Oversight Democrats sent out a 5-page memo Friday morning rebutting Republicans’ claims, citing a ‘mountain of evidence’ they said clears Biden of any wrongdoing.

‘Rather than accept these facts, Republicans have resorted to cherry-picking and distorting facts in order to justify continuing this sham investigation aimed at satisfying the demands for retribution of President Trump who was twice indicted and now faces 91 felony counts,’ the memo read.

House Democrats were ready for Republicans to fail to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) today. Had the GOP failed, Democrats would have highlighted this roll call vote as a signature event to demonstrate problems in the GOP.

They would note how the GOP House came close to hitting the debt ceiling. How they flirted with two government shutdowns. How they are now on their second House Speaker – after burning through three candidates for Speaker. And then a failure to expel Santos.

GOOD TIDINGS AND CHEER, UNLESS YOU’RE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

But.. that didn’t happen.

Ironically, the vote to expel Santos could hinder SENATE DEMOCRATS.

Santos has only been indicted. The House had never before expelled a member who only faced indictment. Only Confederates or convicted felons.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE DEMOCRATS’ GAMBIT TO EXPEL SANTOS – OR EMBARRASS THE GOP

Across the Capitol Rotunda, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., faces indictment and accusations of being a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. Menendez has refused to step down – much to the dismay of his fellow Democrats.

Like House Republicans, Senate Democrats also have a narrow majority going into 2024. Democrats face an uphill climb to hold the Senate as many Democrats face re-election in swing or red states.

After the Santos expulsion, you can bet that Republicans will now make sure that vulnerable senators facing re-election – ranging from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – will be asked where they stand on expelling Menendez.

A new standard was set today in Congress – for good or ill.

And for the record, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), the son of the the indicted senator, voted today to expel Santos.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is seeking answers from the U.S. Department of Commerce on why the Chinese Communist Party’s Institute for Forensic Sciences was removed from the department’s Entity List, which restricts trade from certain groups or individuals. 

Entities listed by Commerce are typically involved in activities contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. The trade control list includes foreign individuals, businesses, research institutions, government organizations and other branches that are subject to specific licensing requirements for the export, re-export or transfer of certain items. 

‘This deeply misguided decision to lift sanctions on the CCP — as China continues to indoctrinate our children through social media and poison Americans with fentanyl — will only embolden President Xi,’ Marshburn wrote to the department’s secretary Gina Raimondo on Friday. 

Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; JD Vance, R-Ohio; and Katie Boyd Britt, R-Ala., co-signed the letter. 

The department reportedly removed the CCP-run institute in hopes of halting China’s illicit fentanyl precursor exports. 

‘While we agree that stopping the CCP’s exportation of these precursors is paramount and long overdue, your administration’s strategy is misguided,’ Blackburn wrote. ‘By preemptively removing the Institute from the entity list, you continue to show weakness on the world stage.’

‘We must also continue to stand for human rights around the world. In 2020, President Trump put the Institute on the sanctions list because of their abuse of the Uyghurs. The CCP — and the Institute for Forensic Sciences — subjects the Uyghurs to unthinkable evil,’ the letter continued. 

Blackburn also linked America’s fentanyl crisis to the Biden administration’s border policies and urged a focus on border security measures and to ‘punish the criminal Mexican cartels who have partnered with the Chinese to poison Americans with fentanyl.’

In July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the Chinese communist regime ‘bears responsibility’ for helping tackle the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. — pointing to areas in which China can assist the U.S. in stopping the drug getting into the country.

‘The precursor chemicals, many of which have legal use, the precursor chemicals, the pill presses that are used to manufacture fentanyl, it’s extremely easy to manufacture, it’s extremely quick, it’s easy to conceal,’ he said at the time. ‘We seized vertical, long vertical candles that were hollowed out with pills. China bears responsibility. We need their assistance in interdicting the chemicals and pill presses that are going in volumes that don’t reflect legitimate use.’

Illicit fentanyl is typically created in Mexico by cartels in labs with the use of precursors shipped over from China. The U.S. has called for an international coalition to combat the crisis and has appealed for help from both China and Mexico.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.