I can't say I'm surprised at Hunter Biden's defying the Republican House. This was all signaled ahead of time, orchestrated by his lawyers, and make no mistake, Papa Biden knew all about this ahead of time.

So, if you're going to declare Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, you may as well go the extra yard and declare Joe Biden in contempt of Congress as well. And the goal posts were moved, yet again. Don’t miss that point, please.

First, Papa Biden said he had no knowledge of his son's business. Then, he said he was never involved in his son's business. Now, the party's line is he was never "financially" involved in Hunter's business. Not even the NFL refs would throw so many penalty flags.

I can't say for sure, but I can ask about all those little family LLCs that took Chinese money on one end and filtered through what looks an awful lot like an elaborate money laundering scheme — that winds up paying Joe Biden's bills on the other end. 

FED LEAVES INTEREST RATES UNCHANGED AGAIN, SIGNALS THREE CUTS COMING NEXT YEAR 

Or loans, without loan documentation. Or what went on with all those Cafe Milano meals and Oval Office phone calls? Or sitting next to Hunter while shaking down a Chinese investor who happens to be a Chinese Communist Party apparatchik? Or the mysterious Burisma bribery charges, where no one can still find the former CEO of Burisma. Or, of course, what exactly Hunter was selling, that people from Russia, China, Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan were buying?

The family business still looks an awful lot like influence peddling. Hunter has been busted in Wilmington, Del., for guns and in California for taxes, but we still don't know much about evading the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and what kind of lobbying he did or did not do.

Now, if you say it's all circumstantial, I suppose you might have a point, but Oversight Committee chair James Comer has a lot of suspicious-looking bank deposit records, and Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith has a lot of IRS whistleblowers.

When you have this volume of evidence, you suspect it's going to come to something. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre keeps telling our own great reporter Peter Doocy that Joe Biden would never pardon Hunter Biden, which, of course, means he will absolutely pardon him, if and when the time comes, especially if he loses the November election to Donald Trump.

I'm all for the House GOP following through on their investigations. Follow the money wherever it may lead, but somehow, my political antenna tells me an impeachment investigation is a better strategy than an actual impeachment.

Meanwhile, Republicans should not forget about the election importance of a strong economic growth and prosperity message — to "drill, baby, drill," cut taxes, minimize regulations, curb federal spending and maintain a reliable King Dollar.

Bidenomics has failed and let's not forget about the wide-open border crisis and the catastrophic dangers of Joe Biden's foreign policy failures. Republicans will retake the White House next November with peace and prosperity optimism.

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the December 13, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."