US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday said that Republican lawmakers are possibly considering an impeachment against President Joe Biden over financial misconduct claims mainly involving his son Hunter Biden. This is McCarthy's strongest comment after he reportedly ignored efforts earlier to launch impeachment inquiries.
In his remarks at the US Capitol, the House Speaker said that so far the probes have not revealed any wrongdoing, but an inquiry would help the Congress to get information to be able to know the truth. McCarthy said that if the administration “denies us the ability to get the information we’re asking for, that would rise to an impeachment inquiry.”
Republicans ramp up investigations in Biden family
Republicans in the US Congress have accelerated investigations of Joe Biden and his son Hunter by digging into their family finances, including payments that Hunter received from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company involved in the first impeachment of Trump.
Hunter Biden has already agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of having failed to pay income taxes for several years and will appear in court this week. Yet, Republicans continue to pursue Trump's claims about Burisma with new information.
According to an unnamed FBI informant, Burisma company officials in 2015 and 2016 sought to pay the Bidens $5 million each in return for their help ousting a Ukrainian prosecutor who was purportedly investigating the company. A probe was initiated by the Justice Department and was closed after eight months due to insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, McCarthy also faces pressure from Republicans to display support for former President Donald Trump, who will be a frontrunner for the upcoming Presidential elections in 2024. Trump himself questioned last week as to why Biden has not been impeached yet.
McCarthy is yet to endorse Trump and denied a report claiming that he is considering House votes to expunge the two cases of impeachments against the former President as a way of showing support.
"Instead of focusing on the real issues Americans want us to address like continuing to lower inflation or create jobs, this is what the House GOP wants to prioritise," said White House spokesman Ian Sams after McCarthy's remarks on Tuesday.
Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, accused the House majority of becoming "little more than an arm” of Trump’s 2024 campaign. “It’s clear that Donald Trump is the real Speaker of the House," he said.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the US Senate appeared wary of the idea. "’ll say what I’ve said before, and that is I think the best way to change the presidency is win the election. And that means looking forward, not backward," said Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican.
Trump was first impeached by the House in 2019, which resulted in charges that he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens. He was acquitted by the Senate.
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