(The Center Square) – House Republican leadership announced Tuesday that they would bring the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden to the House floor, likely Wednesday, for an official vote.
This vote is not to impeach the president, but to formalize the inquiry itself, which was initially kicked off earlier this year by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who has since announced his retirement from Congress.
“This week, House Republicans are going to bring a resolution to the floor to formalize our impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told reporters Tuesday, saying the vote will allow the investigation to continue.
“The evidence mounting against the president cannot be ignored,” Emmer added. “We know that Joe Biden has lied to or misled the American people about his knowledge of his son’s business dealings over and over again, and it is very likely that he was involved in and benefited from his family’s corrupt business dealings as well.”
The president has repeatedly denied that he benefited from any of his son’s alleged overseas dealings.
The impeachment inquiry, which brought the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees together to investigate the president’s alleged misdeeds, has uncovered a string of new evidence backing allegations against the president.
That evidence includes testimony from IRS whistleblowers detailing more than $20 million to the Biden family and associates from entities in China, Ukraine, Russia and other nations and that the president himself spoke to Hunter Biden on speaker phone in the presence of his associates.
The Congressional investigation has also released bank records showing monthly payments from one of Hunter Biden’s companies to the president as well as two checks totaling $240,000 to the president from family members which Republicans say came as a direct result of Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings.
Emmer went on to say that the Biden administration has been “stonewalling” efforts to collect more information in their investigation.
“The Department of Justice has refused to allow two attorneys to testify before the Judiciary Committee,” he said. “The White House sent Chairman Comer and [Chair Jim] Jordan a letter stating they have no intention of complying with our subpoenas and requests for interviews without a formal vote. And the National Archives has withheld thousands of pages of documents and emails.”
The majority support of the House, as Democrats are not expected to back the inquiry, could add more weight to the subpoenas and legal efforts like those of House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who has sent out a flurry of subpoenas and threatened a Contempt of Congress charge against Hunter Biden if he skips his deposition this week.
“It’s clear the House will have to defend our lawful investigations in court, and passing this resolution will put us in the best position possible to enforce our subpoenas and set forth a clear process,” Emmer said.
