Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he is directing a House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings, launching historic proceedings ahead of the 2024 election.
McCarthy said the House Oversight Committee’s investigation so far has found a “culture of corruption” around the Biden family as Republicans probe the business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, from before the Democratic president took office.
“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said outside the speaker’s office at the Capitol. “That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.”
The announcement comes as the Republican leader faces mounting pressure from his right flank to take action against Biden while he also is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown at the end of the month.
McCarthy is planning to convene lawmakers behind closed doors multiple times this week, including for a meeting to discuss the Biden impeachment.
The Republican leader is once again at a political crossroads — trying to keep his most conservative lawmakers satisfied and prevent his own ouster. It’s a familiar political bind for McCarthy, who is juggling the impeachment inquiry and the government shutdown threat with no clear end game.
Biden’s White House has dismissed the impeachment push as politically motivated.
“Speaker McCarthy shouldn’t cave to the extreme, far-right members who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get a baseless, evidence-free impeachment of President Biden. The consequences for the American people are too serious,” White House spokesman Ian Sams has said.
The impeachment push comes as Trump, who was twice impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate, faces more serious charges in court. Trump has been indicted four times this year, including for trying to overturn the2020 election Biden won.
“This is a transparent effort to boost Donald Trump’s campaign by establishing a false moral equivalency between Trump — the four time-indicted former president,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
House Republicans are probing the business dealings of Hunter Biden but so far have not produced hard evidence linking him and the president. They have shown a few instances largely during the time the elder Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president when he spoke by phone with his son and stopped by dinners his son was hosting with business partners.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman leading the Oversight Committee, is digging deeper into the Biden family finances and is expected to seek banking records for Hunter Biden as the panel tries to follow the flow of money.
On Tuesday, Comer demanded the State Department produce documents about the work Biden did as vice president during the Obama administration to clean up corruption in Ukraine. Comer wants to understand the State Department’s views of former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, whom Biden and many Western allies wanted removed from office because of allegations of corruption.
The White House has insisted Biden was not involved in his son’s business dealings. And Democrats on the Oversight Committee are stepping up to fight against what they view as unfounded claims against Biden ahead of the 2024 election, as the president seeks reelection.
This comes as federal government funding is set to run out on Sept. 30, which is the end of the federal fiscal year, and Congress must pass new funding bills or risk a shutdown and the interruption of government services.
Conservatives who power McCarty’s majority want to slash spending, and the hard right is unwilling to approve spending levels the speaker negotiated with Biden earlier this year.
McCarthy is trying to float a 30-day stopgap measure to keep government running to Nov. 1, but conservatives are balking at what’s called a continuing resolution, or CR, as they pursue cuts.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said late Monday exiting McCarthy’s office she has “red lines” against any new money being spent for COVID-19 vaccines or mandates or Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Another Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a top Trump ally, is warning that McCarthy could face blowback from conservatives if he does not push hard for spending cuts.
At the start of the year, Gaetz and other Republicans secured agreements from McCarthy as he struggled to win their votes to become House speaker.
Under the House rules, McCarthy’s opponents are able to call a vote at any time to try to oust the speaker from office.
(AP)
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13 Responses
Which will inevitably end with a finding of “Not Guilty”. His caucus would be better advised to work on the budget, the economy and national defense. Everyone knows Biden is is too old and too corrupt to be president (and half the country doesn’t care).
Show us actual evidence of which so far there has been none, just unverified allegations.
Has the House accomplished anything legislatively this session under McCarthy?
The gop continues to make a mockery of the constitution
Can you imagine if this was dealt with way back when we found out about it, during the 2020 election instead of it being swept under the rug like everything else #DNC. Nothing happening now is anything new. It’s just finally going to be dealt with.
yaakov doe:
The evidence has been mounting. If you have listened to any of the newscasts, or better to the actual congressional hearings, you would have seen true evidence. Nothing resembling the narratives that were concocted by Hillary y”sh and the other Democrat pathological liars in the Steele dossier. There is much proof, and more to discover. Stop being partisan about this. If Biden is guilty, he should encounter the consequences.
The real reason to place focus elsewhere is the threat of Kamala getting more power, and that is a matter of grave danger for everyone in America, not just Republicans. She is a combination of evil and stupid, a formula for catastrophe.
a military boat will come within ten feet of the Chinese and then war
Kamala Harris is a great American Patriot and is super qualified to be the President.
She has fulfilled all of her duties as VP perfectly and with tremendous respect and admiration by all.
She is super smart and has experience in making deals with republicans.
She could step into the leadership of the US on day one.
Republicans have no desire to actually govern and do what they were elected to do, which is work for the American people. They do not even know how to govern. They never do it. The answer to immigration is a wall that will never work. Answer to healthcare is – sorry no answer. Answer to infrastructure is we don’t want to fix bridges and highways.
They are all Fox News wannabees and don’t care if they make fools of themselves or lose re-election, as long as they get a cushy job afterwards.
A few of them are completely crazy.
@jackk
I’ve been having you in mind by davening but you still need to do your hishtadlus and get back on your meds.
@jackk
LOL
Yup Jackk
Kamala, as you say, is super qualified. She’s black AND female. No other requirements needed. And, oh, if she has even a fraction of a brain, she should mask up and not open her dumb mouth that can’t even concoct a combobulated word salad.
In a competition match between her and Joe, u tell me which one will emerge the stupider.
This is a distraction.
After all these Kangaroo Trump indictments, who needs formal inquiry proceedings?? Just impeach Briben, then Ka-mala and hello President McCarthy. Shalom al Yisrael, problem soldved.
this is a huge mistake by Mccarthy. going to give energy to the left. should have left it alone.