By Kristen Holmes and Eric Bradner | CNN
Donald Trump reportedly supports House Republicans’ push to impeach President Joe Biden as they potentially prepare for a rematch in 2024, according to sources close to the former president.
These sources reveal that Trump is closely monitoring the situation, even speaking with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House GOP conference chair, about the party’s impeachment strategy after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden on Tuesday.
Trump and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also discussed the impeachment inquiry during a dinner at Trump’s New Jersey golf club, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
Moving forward with Biden’s impeachment comes as Republicans face pressure from McCarthy’s right flank. However, they have yet to provide evidence that Biden directly profited from his son’s foreign business deals.
While sources close to Trump claim that he is not intensely focused on impeachment and is not forcing the issue, other sources maintain that the impeachment is inevitably tied to Trump.
Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, argues, “When President Trump speaks, many activists get on board and make their members aware of that. So directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump’s pressure.”
Another source close to Trump states, “He doesn’t need to directly tell people what he wants—they know.”
Greene denies that Trump is exerting influence over the House of Representatives, saying, “He’s running for president and will be our nominee. We fully expect him to be our president in January 2025.”
According to a source who recently spoke with Trump, he has shown more interest in the House’s ability to defund the Justice Department. Following Trump’s arraignment in New York, he called on Republicans in Congress to defund “THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES,” in a post on Truth Social.
Additionally, Trump has discussed the possibility of Congress expunging his own two impeachments, a notion that McCarthy personally supports and plans to gauge conference support for, as previously reported by CNN.
One source close to Trump suggests that McCarthy faces more intense pressure from conservative members of Congress on Biden’s impeachment and a potential federal government shutdown than he does from Trump.
On Tuesday, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz outlined a series of demands, including the passage of individual spending bills instead of a short-term stopgap measure, as he threatened a push to remove the speaker.
Despite warnings that pursuing Biden’s impeachment could backfire on the Republican party, other Republicans support McCarthy’s move.
Senior House Republican Tom Cole of Oklahoma acknowledges that impeaching Biden may not be good politics, but he believes there is enough merit to warrant the House’s inquiry.
Trump has consistently stated that if he wins another term in the White House in 2024, he will seek retribution against his opponents.
During a recent campaign rally in South Dakota, Trump declared, “If I win and somebody wants to run against me, I call my attorney general. I say, listen, indict him.”
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