House Republicans are conducting the first hearing of their impeachment inquiry into President Biden as they attempt to build a case against him. The Republican chairs of the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees have outlined their justification for an inquiry in a 30-page memo. They claim that the Biden family sold access to the president’s power, and the Justice Department protected the Biden brand. The memo states that the purpose of the inquiry is to determine if there are sufficient grounds for drafting articles of impeachment against President Biden. However, a witness for the majority, law professor Jonathan Turley, stated that he doesn’t believe there is currently enough evidence for impeachment.
The White House criticized House Republicans for launching the impeachment inquiry just days before a potential government shutdown, as Congress has not yet passed a measure to fund the government. Democrats on the committee set up a clock counting down the hours until the shutdown. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the oversight panel, suggested that Republicans’ motivation for the hearing was political, pointing to a recent social media post by former President Trump encouraging Republicans to shut down the government to “defund these political prosecutions against me and other patriots.” So far, no evidence has been produced to show that President Biden broke the law, financially benefited, or abused his office to help his son.
The impeachment inquiry was initiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, under pressure from conservative members of his conference. The House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer claimed that records and interviews show that President Biden allowed his family to sell his brand to enrich them. However, the White House issued a memo aiming to debunk these specific claims. An attorney for Hunter Biden stated that the facts and evidence have shown repeatedly that there is no connection between the president’s actions and his son’s business affairs. The full House has not yet voted to launch the impeachment inquiry as the Democrat-controlled House did in the case of former President Trump.