Hunter Biden skewers "baseless" GOP impeachment inquiry ahead of testimony

• "I did not involve my father in my business," Hunter Biden wrote in a statement on Wednesday. "Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never."
• Hunter blasted the inquiry led by the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees as politically partisan in remarks and during testimony, NBC News reported.
• Republicans' impeachment inquiry took a major hit this month after the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, an ex-FBI informant whose explosive allegations about Biden and his son Hunter played a prominent role in the probe.

Catch up quick: House Republicans halted an effort in January to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to sit through a closed-door deposition. He appeared at the Capitol in December, condemning the GOP inquiry on camera.

• His foreign business dealings and struggles with addiction from 2013 to 2018 will be part of the focus of the Wednesday testimony with the committees.
• Republicans have failed to find evidence that President Biden benefited from his son's international business dealings.

James Biden, the president's brother, testified privately on Feb. 21.

• He denied that the president "ever had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest" in his businesses.

Between the lines: "You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism — all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face," his prepared remarks read.

• He called out Republicans' lack of evidence and said his testimony should put an end to the "baseless and destructive" political charade.

Zoom out: The president's son said his sobriety is critical to ensuring that former President Trump isn't re-elected to the White House this year.

Go deeper: Exclusive: Hunter Biden sees his sobriety as key to keeping Trump from winning