McCarthy vows to 'go wherever the evidence takes us as he formally endorses Biden impeachment inquiry

By Guardian - Léonie Chao-Fong - Tue 12 Sep 2023

McCarthy said his decision to direct a House committee to formally open a formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden was not taken lightly.

The House speaker said he believed that the president “would want to answer these questions and allegations” and that this “should concern all Americans” regardless of who they voted for.

The American people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family.

I would encourage the president and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation in the interests of transparency. We are committed to getting the answers for the American public – nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us.

• Updated at 16.46 BST1m ago12.52 EDT

Just over an hour before Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he would direct his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly told journalists:

The way to make inquiry legitimate is to have a vote as to whether or not you should have one at all, rather than just the leadership deciding.

From CBS News’ Alan He:

• 8m ago17.45 BST

As we reported earlier, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said less than a fortnight ago that an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden would only move forward if there is a formal House vote.

In 2019, McCarthy posted a tweet warning his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, that she could not call on an impeachment probe against Donald Trump without a House vote. He wrote:

Speaker Pelosi can’t decide on impeachment unilaterally. It requires a full vote of the House of Representatives.

• Updated at 17.46 BST21m ago17.33 BST

White House spokesperson blasts McCarthy’s move as 'extreme politics at its worst

Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, has also responded to Kevin McCarthy’s announcement.

Posting to Twitter, Sams described the House speaker’s move as “extreme politics at its worst”, adding that House GOP members have uncovered “no evidence of wrongdoing” in the months-long investigation into Joe Biden.

• Updated at 17.34 BST

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26m ago17.27 BST

John Fetterman, the Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, was asked to respond to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s announcement.

Here’s the clip from NBC’s Liz Brown-Kaiser:

Fetterman had previously dared Republicans to impeach the president, saying that doing so could end up hurting the GOP.

• Updated at 17.28 BST30m ago17.23 BST

Just earlier this month, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wouldn’t move forward with an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden without a floor vote.

In an interview with Breitbart published on 1 September, McCarthy made clear that the move would come not as an announcement from him or anyone else, but from a formal vote on the floor of the House. He said:

To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives.

That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.

He now appears to have changed his mind.

• Updated at 17.25 BST40m ago17.13 BST

A spokesperson for Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the House is not expected to vote on the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, Reuters is reporting.

• Updated at 17.18 BST48m ago17.05 BST

Biden impeachment effort ‘eight months of abject failure’ – watchdog

               David Smith

James Comer, the chair of the House of Representatives oversight committee leading the Republican charge for an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, spent “eight months of abject failure” in trying to prove the US president guilty of wrongdoing, according to a watchdog report released on Monday.

In June, Comer and Senator Chuck Grassley, investigating Hunter Biden’s work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, began touting potential audio tapes supposedly proving that Biden accepted a $5m bribe from the energy firm during the Barack Obama administration. But Comer later admitted: “We don’t know if they are legit or not” during a Newsmax interview just five days later.

In July, after weeks of hype from Comer about “bombshell testimony”, a business associate of Hunter Biden named Devon Archer appeared before the House oversight committee. But Archer failed to offer any evidence of a conflict of interest between the president and his son’s business ventures.

Comer made much of a portion of testimony by Archer suggesting that Biden joined Hunter on speakerphone while talking with business associates up to 20 times. The report says:

The reality, however, was that Archer’s testimony referred to approximately 20 instances over the span of a decade in which Hunter indicated Joe Biden was merely present; Archer did not testify that President Biden was directly involved in business discussions beyond ‘the brand’ – only that he held casual conversations about ‘the weather’ and ‘fishing’.”

Comer himself was not even present for the testimony. One anonymous Republican source was quoted as saying:

It was like following a general into battle, but the general decided to stay home instead of fight.

In early August, Comer released a memo that attacked Biden for supposedly receiving bribes from foreign countries. It was widely derided by fact-checkers. The Politico website reported:

But the memo, the third Comer has released so far this year, also doesn’t show a direct payment to Joe Biden.

• Updated at 17.08 BST1h ago16.53 BST

Donald Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges in four jurisdictions, has urged Republicans in Congress to impeach Joe Biden or “fade into oblivion”.

The former president, who was impeached twice himself, told Real America’s Voice:

I don’t know actually how a Republican could not do it. I think a Republican would be primaried and lose immediately, no matter what district you’re in.

In a post on his Truth Social platform last month, Trump wrote:

Biden is a Stone Cold Crook — You don’t need a long INQUIRY to prove it, it’s already proven. These lowlifes Impeached me TWICE (I WON!), and Indicted me FOUR TIMES – For NOTHING! Either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!”

• 1h ago16.45 BST

McCarthy vows to 'go wherever the evidence takes us as he formally endorses Biden impeachment inquiry

McCarthy said his decision to direct a House committee to formally open a formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden was not taken lightly.

The House speaker said he believed that the president “would want to answer these questions and allegations” and that this “should concern all Americans” regardless of who they voted for.

The American people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family.

I would encourage the president and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation in the interests of transparency. We are committed to getting the answers for the American public – nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us.

• Updated at 16.46 BST1h ago16.38 BST

House investigation found a 'culture of corruption around Biden family, says McCarthy

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republican-led investigations into Joe Biden “paint a picture of a culture of corruption”.

He said:

Through our investigations we have found that President Biden did lie to American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealers. Eye witnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phones and had multiple interactions, dinners that resulted in millions of dollars into his son and his son’s business partners.

McCarthy claimed bank records showed nearly $20m in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates “through various shell companies”. He went on:

Despite the serious allegation, it appears that the president’s family has been offered special treatment by Biden’s own administration treatment that otherwise would not have received.

These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives.

He announced that he is directing the House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into the president, describing it as a “logical next step” that will give the committees “the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public”.

• Updated at 16.41 BST1h ago16.28 BST

Kevin McCarthy calls for Biden impeachment inquiry

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has called for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters, he said:

I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

More to follow.

• Updated at 16.29 BST2h ago16.23 BST

              Sam Levine

Impeachment would require a majority vote in the House – where Republicans have a slim advantage – to formally charge Joe Biden, then a two-thirds vote in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, to convict him. It is therefore extremely unlikely to succeed.

Far-right Republicans in the House have agitated for impeaching the president but those who could face tough re-election battles next fall have been more skeptical.

“So the question to me right now is: do the investigations … are they producing enough facts and evidence that warrant taking it to the next step?” Mike Lawler, a New York Republican in a highly competitive district, told NBC News in August.

I don’t think it’s there at the moment, but these committees are doing their job.

In the Senate, some more moderate Republicans have also expressed skepticism about impeachment. Mitt Romney of Utah told HuffPost last week:

I haven’t seen any evidence at this stage to suggest he’s met the constitutional test for impeachment.

Even on the right of the Republican Senate caucus, enthusiasm for impeachment is scarce. Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, a leading Trump ally, told reporters last week he was “not for going through another damn trial, to be honest with you. [We] did that here with Trump.”

• 2h ago16.17 BST

              David Smith

The report by the Congressional Integrity Project offers an anatomy of a fake scandal, detailing a series of exaggerated assertions that have shriveled under scrutiny.

They include James Comer, the chairman of the House of Representatives oversight committee, saying at his first press conference that he had evidence of “federal crimes committed”, relentlessly invoking “deep state” conspiracy theories and claiming that his whistleblowers “fear for their lives”.

The report states:

After months of political stunts, dozens of hearings, transcribed interviews, and memos, and despite hours on Fox peddling conspiracy theories, Comer and his Maga crew have failed to find a single shred of evidence linking President Biden to any of their lurid accusations.

In fact, Republicans have been forced to walk back claim after claim.

For months, the report says, Comer talked to the media about four individuals he claimed were “whistleblowers”, a term increasingly hijacked by the right. It adds:

Problem is – they weren’t whistleblowers and there were only two people.

Comer was eventually fact-checked by his own colleague on the House oversight committee. Democrat Jamie Raskin wrote to him:

The two individuals your staff specifically identified as the individuals they understood to have been referenced during your March 6 Fox News interview, are not whistleblowers … Your repeated statements about ‘four people’ suggest that either you have intentionally misrepresented the Committee’s investigative progress to your conservative audience or that key investigative steps have been deliberately withheld from Committee Democrats.

• 2h ago16.13 BST

Kevin McCarthy and the GOP House leadership scheduled a closed-door session for Thursday morning so that members could get an update on the investigations by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chair Jamie Comer, according to the Punchbowl News report.

On Monday, a report by the Congressional Integrity Project said Comer has spent “eight months of abject failure” in trying to prove Joe Biden guilty of wrongdoing. Comer has repeatedly overhyped allegations of bribery and corruption against Biden without once producing hard evidence, the report said.

Comer has been leading an aggressive investigation into unsubstantiated claims that Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs during his time as vice president.

A CNN/SSRS poll this week found that 61% of Americans believe that Biden did play such a role, including 42% who think he acted illegally. But establishing the link between father and son has proved an elusive holy grail.

• Updated at 16.14 BST2h ago16.09 BST

We’re currently waiting for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to deliver an expected statement endorsing an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

McCarthy “has been moving in the direction of an impeachment inquiry, calling it a ‘natural step forward’ for the House GOP to gather more facts", according to NBC News.

Yet this morning, Punchbowl News reported that McCarthy is set to tell House Republicans later this week that an impeachment inquiry is the “logical next step” in the GOP’s investigations into the president and his son, Hunter Biden.

• 2h ago15.55 BST

Kevin McCarthy to give statement ahead of expected endorsement of Biden impeachment inquiry

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to tell Republicans that the House has enough evidence to justify impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden, according to multiple reports.

McCarthy plans to tell his conference the impeachment inquiry is the “logical next step” in order to obtain bank records and other documents from the president and his son, Hunter Biden, Punchbowl News reported.

In recent weeks, McCarthy has privately told Republicans he plans to pursue an impeachment inquiry into Biden and hopes to start the process by the end of September, sources told CNN.

As Donald Trump faces four separate criminal cases, House Republicans have floated the impeachment of Biden as they investigate his son Hunter’s business dealings. Republicans have been unable to substantiate wrongdoing by either Biden.

McCarthy suggested last month the House would pursue impeachment if it did not obtain access to certain documents, even though Republicans had never asked for some of the documents at issue, according to the Hill.

McCarthy is expected to give a press conference at 11 a.m. ET. We will be following it live here.

• Updated at 16.19 BST2h ago15.42 BST

Kevin McCarthy faces a 'perfect storm as a shutdown looms

The House returns from its summer recess today as the speaker, Kevin McCarthy faces a collision course of difficult challenges – avoiding a costly government shutdown and addressing growing calls on the right to launch an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

With just 12 legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year, the Republican-controlled House must quickly pass some kind of spending package to keep the federal government open after 30 September.

If it does not, the government will shut down for the first time in nearly five years, furloughing federal employees and stalling many crucial programs.

McCarthy has indicated his preference to pass a continuing resolution, but members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus insist they will not back a continuing resolution unless the speaker agrees to several significant policy concessions, such as increased border security and an impeachment inquiry into Biden over the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden.

Given House Republicans’ narrow majority and a new rule allowing any single member of the chamber to force a vote on removing the speaker, McCarthy’s handling of this fraught situation could determine whether he loses his gavel after just eight months in power.

Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican congressman, said in a Sunday interview with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki:

There’s a perfect storm brewing in the House in the near future, in September.

He added:

On the one hand, we’ve got to pass a [short-term funding bill]. And we also have the impeachment issue. And we also have members of the House, led by my good friend, Chip Roy, who are concerned about policy issues. So you take those three things put together, and Kevin McCarthy, the speaker, has made promises on each of those issues to different groups. And now it is all coming due at the same time.

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