Hunter Biden says the 'Trump cult is obsessed with me' as he vows to go on offense and call out 'lies' as his father faces impeachment inquiry over his business dealings

Hunter Biden said that the 'Trump cult is obsessed with me' in an interview Wednesday afternoon after making his surprise statement on Capitol Hill. 

The first son stood outside the U.S. Senate and spoke for around five minutes, calling House Republicans 'shameless' for trying to tie his father, President Joe Biden, to his erratic business deals he struck while addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. 

Later, Hunter spoke to Axios, telling the news outlet that Republicans 'have weaponized my dad's love for me, and turned his greatest strengths - his compassion, his empathy, his authenticity - into evidence of corrupt complicity.'

'They've made it really hard for people to square that circle, which is why the Trump cult is obsessed with me,' Hunter went on. 

'I feel I have two equal responsibilities now,' he continued. 'The first is staying clean and sober, and the second is defending my dad. My mistakes are in spite of him - not a reflection of him. And that's why I need to call out their lies as loud and as often possible going forward.' 

Hunter's appearance on Capitol Hill came with some misgivings from White House staff, who feared the first son going on the attack would only give stories about him more oxygen, Axios reported.

But coverage of Hunter hasn't died down and his team believed that a lack of a response was hurting the president's political standing. 

Republicans were able to turn him into a one-dimensional character - the definition of corruption - which was seeping into attitudes about his father. 

At the top of his statement, Hunter acknowledged that he had made 'mistakes' in his life.

'And wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded,' he said. 'For that I am responsible, for that I am accountable and for that I'm making amends.' 

He continued, 'But I am also here today to correct how the MAGA right has portrayed me for their political purposes.' 

Hunter spoke about how he is a son, a father, a brother and a husband 'from a loving and supportive family' and how he achieved degrees from Georgetown and Yale, saying he was 'proud' of both his legal and business careers.

'For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the house committees who are in a closed-door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends,' he said.  

'They have ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they have belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father who has devoted his entire public life to service,' the younger Biden continued. 

'For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, "Where's Hunter?" Well here's my answer, I am here,' he added. 'Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home and abroad and certainly not as an artist.' 

Hunter admitted that, 'In the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances.' 

'But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd,' he said. 'It's shameless,' he added. 

Last week, the Department of Justice indicted Hunter on nine new tax charges, after he was indicted on federal firearms charges in Delaware. 

House Republicans have pressed on with an impeachment inquiry of the Democratic president, trying to tie him to Hunter's business deals in Ukraine and China. 

'There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,' Hunter said Wednesday.

He volunteered to testify at a public hearing, but said he would not sit for a deposition behind closed doors. 

In doing so, he defied a Congressional subpoena, which could put him in additional. legal hot water.

'What are they afraid of? I'm here, I'm ready,' Hunter said, concluding his statement. 

Without missing a beat, former President Donald Trump mocked Hunter at a campaign stop in Iowa Wednesday night. 

'Did you see Hunter today, right?' Trump said. 'He went to the wrong place. He went to the Senate instead of the House.' 

'Everyone's saying, "Where's Hunter?" See, it always gets, "Where's Hunter?,"' Trump said. 'What a two-tier system of justice we have,' the ex-president and 2024 contender commented.