Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden was 'familiar' with son Hunter's statement but refuses to say if he should be charged for defying subpoena as she dodges questions on first son's shocking statement

The White House press secretary on Wednesday said President Joe Biden was 'familiar' with what his son Hunter was going to say earlier in the day as he laid out his case for defying a congressional subpoena to testify.

But Karine Jean-Pierre did not answer questions about whether the president offered advice or questions about whether Hunter Biden, 53, should be prosecuted for his snub of the Republican investigation.

'As you know, Hunter Biden is a private citizen. And so I certainly would refer you to his representatives,' she said when asked if the president watched his speech.

'You know, the president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say. 

'And I think what you saw was from the heart from his son, and you've heard ... heard me say this, you've heard the president say this, when it comes to the president, the first lady, they are proud of him, continuing to rebuild his life.'

She stonewalled follow up questions about how the president was 'familiar' with his son's speech, and whether the two had discussed it.

Earlier, the president's son appeared on Capitol Hill where he lashed out at Republicans and set out his reasons for refusing their summons to a closed-door deposition. 

'I'm here today to make sure that the House committees' illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies,' he said.

Instead he offered to testify in public.

'What are they afraid of? I am here,' he said.

Republican leaders quickly said they were ready to launch contempt of Congress proceedings.

They have for months tried to tie President Joe Biden to his son's business dealings. So far, their evidence has failed to find anything that implicates the elder Biden in any wrongdoing. 

At the White House, Jean-Pierre did not say whether or not the president had watched his son's speech.

Instead she set out the ways in which Biden was focused on the important business of running the nation.

'We just went back and forth about what's happening at the border and how he wants to make sure that we secure the border, and the work that he and his team have been doing on negotiating to make sure that there's a bipartisan compromise,' she said.

She stonewalled on other questions about whether the president was relaxed about his son defying a subpoena.

'I'm just not going to get into into specifics on that,' she said, referring reporters' questions to Hunter Biden's personal representatives.

Nor did she engage with questions about comments Biden made in 2021 about Jan. 6 suspects defying subpoenas issued by House investigators.

He was asked by CNN's Katelyn Collins whether they should be prosecuted by the Justice Department? 'I do, yes,' he said.

'I don't have anything to add,' she said. 

But she was clearer on another question when she was asked whether Biden would issue a pardon. 

'The president is not going to pardon his son,' she said.

The president's son also faces criminal charges in two states. 

He is charged with firearm counts in Delaware, where he is accused of breaking laws against drug users having guns in 2018.

And Special Counsel David Weiss also filed new charges and nine new tax counts last week, alleging that he schemed to avoid paying about $1.4 million in taxes over a three-year period.