WASHINGTON — The White House’s oversight and investigations war room was finally thrust into battle on Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s announcement of a GOP-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. This long-awaited retribution comes after House Democrats impeached Donald Trump twice during his tenure.
Since Republicans regained the House majority last year, the White House has been assembling a team of legal experts and spokespeople to counter the congressional inquiries into the president and his son, Hunter Biden. As calls for impeachment intensified on the far right of the GOP, the new White House war room has been publicly refuting Republican accusations and amplifying impeachment skeptics within the GOP caucus.
“House Republicans have investigated the president for nine months and have found no evidence of wrongdoing,” stated Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, on Tuesday. Sams also noted that “McCarthy’s own GOP members have affirmed this.”
Thus far, House Republicans have failed to produce any evidence of Biden profiting from his son’s business dealings or committing any high crimes or misdemeanors. However, impeachment proponents argue that a formal inquiry will grant investigators the necessary legal power to subpoena records from Biden that could potentially unveil any wrongdoing.
Interestingly, McCarthy’s decision to bypass a formal vote on opening the inquiry and simply declare one implies that committees will not be endowed with any additional investigatory power under House rules. This move raises questions and adds to the perplexity surrounding the situation.
Despite the absence of concrete evidence, Republicans have seized upon testimony from Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, who revealed to the House Oversight Committee that over a 10-year period, Hunter had put his father on speakerphone during discussions with business associates about 20 times. The younger Biden sought to create an “illusion” of access to the then-vice president as part of his business “brand.” Archer emphasized that business matters were not addressed during these phone calls and meetings.
In the court of public opinion, the lack of substantial evidence has not dissuaded the majority of Americans from believing that the president was involved in his son’s business dealings while serving as vice president. A recent CNN poll indicated that 61% of Americans hold this belief, though only 42% consider the involvement to be illegal.
Under intense pressure from far-right members of his caucus, McCarthy has faced conflicting pressures regarding impeachment proceedings. While some members argue that it is too early, others, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, have made strong demands for an impeachment inquiry. Greene has even stated that she will not vote on necessary budget bills unless the House opens the inquiry. With a slim 222-212 majority, McCarthy must carefully navigate the demands of every member in his caucus.
In response to these pressures, the White House has contended that giving in to the demands of far-right members would underscore the notion that the exercise is a “costly, illegitimate, politically-motivated exercise not rooted in reality.”
Sams criticized McCarthy’s decision to initiate the inquiry himself after previously committing to bringing it to a floor vote. McCarthy had previously criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi for opening an impeachment inquiry against Trump without a floor vote, deeming it “completely devoid of any merit or legitimacy.”
Although McCarthy did not explain his decision to forgo a vote, it suggests that he may not have had sufficient support within his caucus to secure the 218 votes required. Several Republican members have recently expressed skepticism about impeachment.
Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the Freedom Caucus, called the situation “absurd” in an interview with MSNBC. Buck emphasized that impeachment should only be pursued when there is evidence linking President Biden to a high crime or misdemeanor, which is not present at this time.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
