WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden was defiant Wednesday in a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill, blasting a Republican impeachment inquiry into his father, the president, and the family’s business affairs as a “house of cards” built on “lies” as he faced probing questions from lawmakers.

“For more than a year, your Committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad,” Biden said in an opening statement obtained by The Associated Press. He accused Republicans of trafficking in “innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism” and insisted, “I did not involve my father in my business.”

But Republicans remained undeterred by Biden’s repudiation of their investigation during the six-plus hours of testimony. Rep. James Comer, one of the GOP chairmen leading the inquiry, came out late Wednesday to declare that it was a “great deposition,” and said it helped back up several pieces of evidence they’ve gathered so far.

“But there are also some contradictory statements that I think need further review,” the Kentucky Republican said, adding that the next forum for that will be a public hearing with Biden at a future date.

The deposition of President Joe Biden’s son marked a decisive point for the 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family. The probe has centered on Hunter Biden and his overseas work for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long questioned whether those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Biden, particularly when he was vice president.

Yet after conducting dozens of interviews and obtaining more than 100,000 pages of documents, Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence of misconduct by the president. Meanwhile, an FBI informant who alleged a bribery scheme involving the Bidens — a claim Republicans had cited repeatedly to justify their probe — is facing charges from federal prosecutors who accuse him of fabricating the story.

Despite the stakes of their investigation, it was unclear in the end how much useful information Republicans could extract from Hunter Biden during the deposition. He is under federal investigation and has been indicted on nine federal tax charges and a firearms charge in Delaware, which means he could refuse to answer some questions by asserting his Fifth Amendment rights.

But by midday, Hunter Biden had not asserted those rights, according to Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., one of the members inside the deposition. Instead, Mace told reporters Wednesday that the president’s son had provided testimony in the first hour that was “defiant and dishonest.”

The majority of Republicans remained quiet as the deposition dragged into the afternoon, with Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan, the GOP chairmen leading the inquiry, declining to answer reporters’ questions. They both cited the sensitivity of a private deposition.

Democrats on the Oversight and Judiciary Committees came out several times to denounce the deposition, calling it an “embarrassing spectacle where the Republicans continued to belabor completely trivial points.”

“This thing is over. A referee would stop the fight if this was a boxing match. A coroner would pronounce this thing dead,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said about the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

He added that Hunter Biden had “leaned in” and had not been afraid to answer any of the questions. “In fact, he’s challenged a number of Republicans about their baseless theories,” Swalwell said.

The task of interviewing Hunter fell mostly to Comer and Jordan. They first subpoenaed Hunter Biden in November, demanding that he appear before lawmakers in a private setting. Biden and his attorneys refused, warning that his testimony could be selectively leaked and manipulated. They insisted that he would only testify in public.

On the day of the subpoena, Hunter Biden not only snubbed lawmakers waiting for him in a hearing room — he did so while appearing right outside the Capitol, holding a news conference where he denounced the investigation into his family.

Both sides ultimately agreed in January to a private deposition with a set of conditions. The interview with Hunter Biden was not filmed, and Republicans have agreed to quickly release the transcript.

Hunter is the second member of the Biden family questioned by Republicans in recent days. They conducted a more than eight-hour interview last week with James Biden, the president’s brother. He insisted to lawmakers that Joe Biden has “never had any involvement,” financially or otherwise, in his business ventures.