McCarthy Orders Formal Biden Impeachment Inquiry
Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he has directed a House Committee to launch an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden’s family business dealings. This is the beginning of a historic process ahead of 2024 elections.
McCarthy said that the House Oversight Committee has so far found a “culture” of corruption in the Biden family, as Republicans investigate the business dealings Biden’s own son, Hunter Biden. This investigation began before the Democrat was elected.
McCarthy, R.-Calif. said, “These allegations of abuse of authority, obstruction, and corruption warrant further investigation by House of Representatives.” McCarthy spoke outside the speaker’s offices at the Capitol. “Today, I’m directing my House committee to launch a formal investigation into the impeachment of President Joe Biden.”
The announcement comes at a time when the Republican leader is under increasing pressure from his right-wing to act against Biden, while also struggling to pass the legislation necessary to avoid a shutdown of the federal government by the end the month.
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McCarthy basically outlined possible charges.
He plans to meet with lawmakers several times behind closed doors this week, notably to discuss Biden’s impeachment.
The Republican leader finds himself at a crossroads in his political career. He is trying to satisfy his conservative legislators while preventing his own removal. McCarthy is in a familiar situation, juggling both the impeachment investigation and the threat of a government shutdown with no end goal.
The government funding will run out at the end of September, which is also the end of the fiscal year for the federal government. Congress must pass funding bills to avoid a shutdown or interruption of services.
Biden’s White House dismissed the impeachment campaign as being politically motivated.
Speaker McCarthy should not cave in to extreme far-right members that threaten to shut down government unless President Biden is impeached on a basisless, non-evidenced basis. White House spokesperson Ian Sams said that the consequences for Americans are too grave.
Trump, who has been impeached twice by the House, but was acquitted in the Senate, now faces serious charges. Trump has been charged four times in the past year, including for attempting to reverse Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections.
This is a transparent attempt to boost Donald Trump’s campaign by establishing a bogus moral equivalence between Trump – the four times indicted former President – and Biden who has “zero proof of any wrongdoing at all”, said Rep. Jamie Raskin.
House Republicans are investigating the business dealings Hunter Biden, but have so far not provided hard evidence that they and the president are connected. The Republicans have shown some instances, mainly when the elder Biden served as Barack Obama’s Vice President and spoke with his son by phone or stopped by dinners that his son hosted with business partners.
A formal impeachment investigation would give more weight to the House’s investigation, particularly as they fight in court to gain access to financial records of the Biden family.
Republicans claim that the Justice Department did not investigate the allegations against Hunter Biden and that he was given preferential treatment as part of what they called a sweetheart deal which recently fell through. In this investigation, the Department of Justice appointed a special prosecutor.
McCarthy said, “We’ll go where the evidence leads us.”
The White House insists that Biden did not have any involvement in the business dealings of his son. Democrats on the Oversight Committee have stepped up to combat what they see as unfounded allegations against him in advance of the 2024 elections.
Rep. James Comer is the Republican Chairman of the Oversight Committee. He is looking into the finances of the Biden family and will likely seek out the bank records for Hunter Biden. The panel is trying to track the money flow.
Comer requested documents from the State Department on Tuesday about the work Biden performed as vice president under the Obama administration in order to eliminate corruption in Ukraine. Comer wants the State Department to explain its position on former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Shokin was accused of corruption by Biden and other Western allies, who wanted him removed from his office.
The federal government’s funding will run out at the end of fiscal year on September 30. Congress must now pass new funding legislation or risk a government shutdown.
McCarty’s conservative majority wants to cut spending. The hard right, however, is not willing to accept the spending levels that Biden and McCarty agreed to earlier this year.
McCarthy has proposed a stopgap 30-day measure to keep the government operating until Nov. 1. Conservatives, however, are not happy with what is called a continuing Resolution, or CR. They want to make cuts.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Monday that she had “red lines” when leaving McCarthy’s office. She has stated that any additional money spent on COVID-19 mandates, vaccines, or Russia’s conflict in Ukraine is not acceptable.
Matt Gaetz, another Republican and top Trump ally from Florida, warns McCarthy that if he doesn’t push for spending cuts, conservatives will be angry.
McCarthy was trying to gain the votes of Gaetz and the other Republicans to become House Speaker.
McCarthy’s enemies can call for a vote to remove the speaker at any time under the House Rules.
