ALEX WAGNER: To the extent that you are able to, could you help us understand a little bit of the dibble- deliberations that led to that moment yesterday outside the Capitol. Was there any reluctance on the part of Mr. Biden to speak to the public on an issue so fraught for his family?
U.S. REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): No. He's eager to tell his story publicly. And in fact he was asked by Chairman Comer, the Republican chairman, to testify publicly, multiple times, Comer said you could do it privately or publicly. And Hunter recognized that they were distorting the public- or the private testimony that was taking place and that Republicans would rather have the mystery and the speculation of a closed-door hearing than the truth come out and come to light in a public hearing. And so yesterday was Hunter saying, and raising his hands and saying “I'm here. I'm not perfect. I made mistakes in the past.” But what you think happened never happened. And he wanted to bring that to light publicly.
WAGNER: Do you think that this is going to be an ongoing strategy? I mean, are we gonna hear more from Hunter Biden because Republicans are certainly not letting this go anytime soon. Does that mean Hunter Biden is going to be in front of a microphone for the next few months?
SWALWELL: Well, I hope his story is told because the Republicans have nothing. In fact, what you will see the more you learn, is that Hunter Biden, just like millions of Americans, was an addicted person who made mistakes in his personal life, had a father and a mother who loved him very, very much and helped him, and he has been clean for many, many years. But what’s sick and perverse about this and I say that is somebody who has a loved one that I’ve helped fight addiction, is that Republicans would weaponize his addiction because they have never accepted his father as a legitimate president of the United States. And so it's time to play on the Republican side of the field and say if you want to talk about this, let's have a public hearing and talk about this. But that's not what they want, because they have nothing. And so they will continue, whether it was through a violent insurrection to overturn the election or now through this impeachment inquiry, or through the speculation around the president's son, they'll use every weapon in government to try and throw out Joe Biden, because they’ve never accepted he is lawful president of our country.