Republicans in the US House of Representatives kicked off their impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden on Thursday, saying they intend to force him “to account.”
The chairs of the various committees involved in the proceedings took advantage of the opening hearing to examine the constitutional and legal issues at stake.
Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, who chairs the Oversight Committee, argued that lawmakers have a “mountain of evidence” that will show Mr. Biden “abused his office to obtain financial gain for his family “.
The opening hearing came as House Republicans face pushback from within their own ranks over an impeachment inquiry targeting Mr. Biden.
This resistance is even deeper in the Senate, where Republican elected officials are concerned about the political ramifications surrounding the procedure and recognize that the possibility of seeing Mr. Biden be convicted and impeached is almost zero.
The procedure also comes at a crucial time for the American administration, when the government could find itself paralyzed if an agreement on financing is not reached quickly.
At the start of the hearing on Thursday, Democrats displayed a screen indicating the number of days, hours and minutes remaining before government paralysis, as Congress struggles to get closer to an agreement. before Saturday’s deadline.
“We are 62 hours away from shutting down the government of the United States of America and Republicans are launching an impeachment campaign, based on a long-debunked and discredited lie,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat in the House. of the supervisory committee.
Mr. Raskin also questioned the legitimacy of the hearing, since the House of Representatives did not vote to formally launch the impeachment inquiry.
He argued that Republicans are rehashing five-year-old allegations raised by Donald Trump, who is Mr. Biden’s main rival in the 2024 election, during the impeachment proceedings that targeted the former president in 2019 .
“They don’t have a shred of evidence against President Biden for an impeachable offense,” he said.
Joe Biden’s son at the heart of the affair
Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden for years, dating back to when his father was vice president.
While questions have already been raised about the ethics of the family’s international affairs, there has been no evidence to date that the president, in his current role or as vice president, has abused his role. , accepted bribes, or both.
As the hearing approaches, Republicans released a series of new documents and bank records detailing wire transfers from a Chinese businessman to Hunter Biden in 2019. Hunter Biden had listed his father’s address on the wire transfer form, which Republicans say creates a clear link to the president.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, explained, however, that the address on the wire transfer — which he said was a loan — matched the president’s home in Delaware because that was the address on on Hunter Biden’s driver’s license and “his only permanent address at the time.”
“Once again, Rep. Comer peddles lies to support a premise — some wrongdoing by Hunter Biden or his family — that vanishes into thin air the moment the facts are revealed,” Lowell said writing.
The White House issued a statement saying nothing can distract from the Republicans’ inability to govern before a government shutdown.
Thursday’s hearing is expected to be the first of many as House Republicans consider how that investigation will conclude and whether or not they will continue to pursue articles of impeachment against the president.