McCarthy Announces House Will Open Impeachment Inquiry into Biden Over Corruption Allegations

Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday that the House of Representatives would open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over allegations of corruption and bribery.

Summary

Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday that the House of Representatives would open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over allegations of corruption and bribery.

• McCarthy, the top House Republican, said that a formal impeachment inquiry was necessary due to what he called a “culture of corruption” surrounding President Biden.
• The probe will focus on Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings and whether the senior Biden benefitted from his son’s blatant influence-peddling.
• The House Oversight Committee released evidence in August identifying more than $20 million in payments to the Biden family from foreign oligarchs from China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, and Romania. Oversight Chairman James Comer said at the time “it appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself.”
• McCarthy will direct several House committees to investigate Biden as part of the formal impeachment inquiry. The impeachment inquiry is being opened without a vote of the entire House, following a precedent set by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019.
• The decision to open an impeachment inquiry does not guarantee that the House will vote to impeach President Biden. Should the House impeach him, the Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to vote to convict and remove the leader of their party.
• The remote possibility of actually removing Biden from office has led Senate Republicans to pour cold water on the House’s impeachment efforts. “It really comes to how do you prioritize your time? I don’t know of anybody who believes Chuck Schumer will take it up and actually have a trial and convict a sitting president,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a leading Senate Republican.

• The New York Times reported former President Donald Trump has been privately urging House Republicans to advance their impeachment efforts against Biden. Trump has spoken with Reps. Elise Stefanik, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others to make the case to impeach his successor.
• Axios noted the impeachment inquiry was unveiled at the same time McCarthy is struggling to get the votes to avert a government shutdown. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, including perpetual discontents like Reps. Matt Gaetz and Bob Good have demanded more concessions from McCarthy on spending and have not been satisfied with the inquiry.
• Politico laid out “7 key questions” about the impeachment inquiry, including:
  • “What are Republicans trying to prove? That Biden was on the take.”
  • “What’s the timeline? Unclear.”
  • “Will there be public hearings? Eventually.”
  • “Will Republicans vote to formalize the inquiry? That’s the plan.”
  • “Who is the White House going to handle this? Very carefully.”
  • “Will impeachment placate McCarthy’s conservative critics? Sure doesn’t seem like it.”
  • Is there any way this doesn’t end in Biden’s impeachment? Don’t count on it.”

• The Biden White House are already trying to work the refs on impeachment. The New York Post reported Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, has drafted a letter to CNN, the New York Times and Fox News urging the media outlets to “ramp up their scrutiny” of House GOP “for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.”
• Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville downplayed House Republicans’ impeachment efforts. According to Fox News, Tuberville thinks they must “not waste time” on any Biden impeachment effort and be sure to have an “ironclad” case against the President, especially because the Senate “couldn’t get the votes” to convict.
• The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board noted that impeachment has become “the new censure.” The board continued, “Congress is in danger of turning the serious sanction of impeachment into the new censure—a statement of rebuke rather than a threat of removal. Republicans will need evidence of genuine corruption by Mr. Biden if they want to convince a majority of Americans that he should be removed from office with an election coming in 2024.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023