Republican Party elected officials accuse the Democrat in particular of having used his influence when he was Barack Obama’s vice-president.
“Joe Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people.” This is how the head of the powerful investigative committee of the House of Representatives, James Comer, justified the formal opening of an impeachment inquiry into the American president. This was approved by Lhe American Congress, Wednesday December 13.
This decision allows the continuation of the investigation carried out for a year by the Republican Party, which has failed to prove the existence of a serious crime or misdemeanor. The impeachment inquiry, adopted by their votes alone, will offer them additional powers, and therefore new possibilities to incriminate the Democratic leader.
Even if this procedure has almost no chance of succeeding, it could turn into a headache for the White House before the presidential election in November 2024, for which Joe Biden is a candidate. Franceinfo explains to you why the American president is targeted by conservatives.
Because he is accused of having favored the activities of his son
The Republican investigation has so far focused heavily on Hunter Biden, 53. Lawyer then businessman, Joe Biden’s son converted to painting after recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. He is one of the favorite targets of his father’s Republican opponents – starting with Donald Trump – who consider him the Achilles heel of the Democratic president. Conservatives accuse Joe Biden in particular of having used his influence when he was Barack Obama’s vice-president (from 2009 to 2017).
The Republican camp denounces in particular the business carried out by the youngest son of the democratic leader in China. They accuse Hunter Biden of having “used his name” to get these contracts, blaming his father for getting it “never mind”. Conservatives also accuse Joe Biden of having obtained the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect the Burisma gas group from prosecution for corruption. However, Hunter Biden accepted a mandate as director of the group in 2014, in return for generous remuneration.
On Wednesday, Hunter Biden wanted to clear his father of any involvement in his controversial affairs. “Let me say this as clearly as possible, my father was never financially involved in my business”he declared, in a serious tone, before the American Congress. “Not when I was a lawyer, not when I was on the board of directors of Burisma, not when I did business with a Chinese man, not when I made investments here or abroad, and certainly not when I was an artist”he listed.
Because the Republicans accuse him of having interfered in the investigation
Hunter Biden is also the target of two federal investigations. He is being prosecuted for making a false statement when purchasing a gun in 2018, saying he did not use illegal drugs while he was a drug addict. He is also being prosecuted for tax fraud. According to the indictment, Joe Biden’s son “was involved in a scheme” which allowed him not to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019. “The tax arrears have since been paid”specified the Washington Post early December.
The US Minister of Justice, Merrick Garland, appointed a special prosecutor in August to lead the investigations against Hunter Biden. David Weiss may have been appointed by former President Donald Trump, but Republicans accuse the Biden administration of interfering in the investigations targeting his son. The latter reached an agreement in June to plead guilty with David Weiss, which probably would have allowed him to avoid prison and an embarrassing trial for him and his father. But this agreement was canceled following doubts expressed in July by a judge about its validity.
During a hearing of the Minister of Justice in September, the chairman of the House of Representatives’ Judicial Affairs Committee, Republican Jim Jordan, once again criticized the minister for having appointed “the guy he knows will protect Joe Biden”. The minister assured that the prosecutor had complete freedom to conduct his investigation.
Because confidential documents were found in his garage
End of 2022, confidential documents were found in a “locked cupboard” from Joe Biden’s former office at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank located in Washington, as well as in storage in the garage of a private residence of the President of the United States, in Wilmington, Delaware. These documents date from when Joe Biden was vice president, between 2009 and 2017, when Barack Obama led the country.
However, a 1978 law obliges American presidents and vice-presidents to transmit all of their emails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives, responsible for recording presidential activities for history. For Joe Biden, this is a “error”. But
Republican James Comer announced that the House of Representatives would investigate “President Biden’s improper handling of classified documents and the backwater’s efforts to hide this information”.