Washington DC - House Republicans have advanced their effort to have President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, held in contempt of court.

According to The Hill, members of both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees voted on Wednesday to advance the resolution after debating whether Hunter should be held in contempt for defying a subpoena to testify.

"Hunter Biden's willful refusal to comply with the Committees' subpoenas is a criminal act," House Oversight Chair James Comer said.

"It constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney's Office for prosecution as prescribed by law.

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"We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name," he added.

The vote came hours after Hunter made a surprise appearance at the Oversight Committee's hearing and abruptly walked out as far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was preparing to speak.

The moment caused a frenzy during the hearing, with many House Republicans bemoaning the president's son for what some described as a PR stunt.

House Democrats and critics have been calling out House Republicans, who continue to insist that Hunter and Joe Biden are "corrupt," yet have failed to produce any evidence to back the claim.

During the tense hearings on Wednesday, California Rep. Adam Schiff pointed out that Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who is leading efforts against Hunter and has called for the president's son to be jailed over the subpoena, has defied multiple subpoenas from Congress regarding investigations into Donald Trump and the January 6 Capitol riots.

California Rep. Katie Porter argued that Hunter agreed to give a public deposition, but Republicans, seeking a private testimony, denied it, favoring what she called "political gamesmanship behind closed doors." She went on to describe the entire effort as "Washington at its worst."

In a recent interview, First Lady Jill Biden described the treatment of her son as "cruel" and said she was "really proud" of how Hunter has "rebuilt his life after addiction."

"To look at it, what we used to have, and what the other side, the extremists, have turned this country into - I mean, we would never see things like that, say 10 years ago," Jill added.