Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said at Thursday’s House mark-up hearing on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Thursday that if Hunter Biden were to testify in Congress, it would reveal that his lucrative job in Ukraine while his father, the Vice President, managed the U.S. relationship with the nation.

“An essential element on the Democrats’ case on abuse of power is that the Bidens did nothing wrong,” Gaetz said. “It can only be an abuse of power and not a correct use of power if the president was pursuing something under which there was no reasonable basis to ask a question about Hunter Biden and Burisma.”

Gaetz pointed out in his remarks that Hunter Biden was a board member at Burisma Holdings earning as much as $86,000 a month while his father was vice president.

“Maybe I’ll use language familiar to the former vice president: ‘Come on, man. This looks dirty, ’cause it is,’” Gaetz said.

Gaetz went on to share a profile in the New Yorker that recounts several anecdotes about Biden’s history of substance abuse — one of which was first revealed by Breitbart News.

“It’s a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own disputes with Hertz rental car over leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car,” Gaetz said.

The New Yorker article also says Biden bought crack at a homeless encampment “a few times” on the same trip.

“It is just hard to believe this was the guy, wandering through homeless encampments buying crack, that was worth $86,000 a month to Burisma Holdings,” said Gaetz, who added that he was not in any way making light of drug addiction.

Gaetz said this issue is why Republicans are balking at the partisan impeachment process in this House.

“This is why the minority hearing issue is so important,” Gaetz said. “It’s because we have the ability to show Burisma is corrupt.”

“We have the ability to show that Hunter Biden is corrupt,” Gaetz said.

Follow Penny Starr on Twitter