Gaetz brought up Hunter Biden's substance abuse issues at impeachment but it backfired

Savannah Behrmann | USA TODAY

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WASHINGTON – After Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., used the proposal of an amendment to the articles of impeachment during Thursday's hearing to recount Hunter Biden's past substance abuse issues, another colleague seemingly made reference to Gaetz's own past in response.

Gaetz, one of President Donald Trump's fiercest defenders on Capitol Hill, had been reading a New Yorker profile on Hunter Biden that described some prior drug use while introducing an amendment to remove former Vice President Joe Biden as Trump’s target in the articles of impeachment and replace him with his son.

Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. One of the Republican's main arguments is that Trump was right to want to look into Burisma and Biden's son, claiming he had a lack of qualifications for the position and the reportedly large paycheck associated with it.

“I don't want to make light of anybody's substance abuse issues,” Gaetz stated. "It's a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own dispute with Hertz rental car leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car.”

“We have the ability to show that Burisma is corrupt,” Gaetz exclaimed. “We have the ability to show that Hunter Biden is corrupt. That totally exculpates the president.”

The comments were followed by a scolding from Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., who without naming Gaetz directly said Republicans shouldn’t raise accusations about substance abuse because some of them may have had problems themselves.

Rep. Hank Johnson responds to Matt Gaetz’s smear of Hunter Biden. He says “the pot calling the kettle black” is not something we should do, citing an example of if a member of the committee had a DUI in his background. pic.twitter.com/xKxhRDQLJS — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) December 12, 2019

“I would say that the pot calling the kettle black is not something that we should do,” Johnson said, prompting laughter in the chamber.

Gaetz was cited in 2008 for suspicion of driving under the influence after he was pulled over for speeding while driving home from a nightclub in Florida's panhandle. Gaetz's father, Don, whose BMW, Gaetz was driving, was at that time serving in the Florida State Senate. Gaetz refused a breathalyzer test at the time he was pulled over, an act which normally leads to criminal prosecution and an automatic one-year suspension of driving privileges in Florida; however, Gaetz received his license back in less than a year after his case was assigned to the state's attorney, who also dropped all other charges against Gaetz, According to PolitiFact.

#MattGaetzDUI was trending on Twitter during the hearing.

Peeking a glance towards Gaetz, Johnson continued, “I don't know what members, if any, have had any problems with substance abuse, been busted in DUI, I don't know. But if I did, I wouldn't raise it against anyone on this committee. I don't think it's proper.”

Cameras showed Gaetz staring at Johnson after his comments.

His amendment was later rejected by the committee.

Contributing: Nicholas Wu, Bart Jansen, Ledyard King