House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that the House could move forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden if his administration doesn\u2019t provide documents Republicans say they want to review.
During a Fox Business interview Tuesday night, McCarthy, R-Calif., was asked whether he has made up his mind whether to launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
\u201cThe thing that holds up whether we’ll do an impeachment inquiry: Provide us the documents we\u2019re asking,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole determination here is how the Bidens handle this.\u201d
\u201cIf they provide us the documents, there wouldn\u2019t be a need for an impeachment inquiry,\u201d he added. \u201cBut if they withhold the documents and fight like they have now to not provide to the American public what they deserve to know, we will move forward with impeachment inquiry when we come back into session.\u201d
McCarthy said Republicans are seeking bank and credit card statements, but did not specify from which members of the Biden family.
McCarthy also raised allegations that he mentioned in an interview last month with Fox News host Sean Hannity. The House speaker told Hannity at the time that allegations stemming from Republican probes into the business dealings of family members of Biden are \u201crising to the level of impeachment inquiry.\u201d
The allegations include that Biden family members received payments from foreign companies and that the Justice Department, according to IRS whistleblowers, has treated the Biden family \u201cdifferently\u201d in its investigation into Hunter Biden, he noted.
\u201cWhen Biden was running for office, he told the public he has never talked about business. He said his family has never received a dollar from China, which we now prove is not true,\u201d McCarthy alleged in the interview last month.
\u201cIf you\u2019re sitting in our position today, we would know none of this if Republicans had not taken the majority,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe only followed where the information has taken us. But this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed.\u201d
McCarthy\u2019s office and the House Oversight Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity on which documents the House speaker said Republicans are asking for. The White House also did not provide comment when asked about McCarthy\u2019s warning and claims about not receiving documents.
The White House and Democrats have criticized McCarthy\u2019s comments and GOP-led probes into Biden and his family. White House spokesperson Ian Sams pushed back at a tweet by McCarthy this month claiming House investigators “have proven President Biden repeatedly lied about his involvement in his family\u2019s foreign business dealings.\u201d
\u201cMcCarthy keeps lying about their \u2018investigations\u2019 because the truth is their own witnesses testified President Biden wasn\u2019t involved and did nothing wrong, and bank records they subpoenaed show no involvement,” Sams tweeted. “Yet they go on wasting time and tax dollars on their wild goose chase.\u201d
Republicans in June decided to\u2002forgo an immediate vote on a Biden impeachment resolution\u2002led by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., by sending it to the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees amid escalating internal GOP tensions.
The move came after McCarthy urged rank-and-file Republicans at a closed-door meeting to oppose Boebert\u2019s resolution, arguing that such an important issue should go through the committee process, three GOP sources who heard the comments confirmed at the time.
McCarthy and other Republicans had argued that a quick impeachment vote would be \u201cpremature\u201d if it took place before Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, conclude their sprawling investigations into Biden, his family and his administration.
The impeachment resolution came after Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in May said a whistleblower had informed them that the FBI had a document known as an FD-1023 that included an unverified allegation from a human source who alleged Joe Biden as vice president was involved in a bribery scheme involving a foreign government. Grassley released a redacted version of the FBI informant document last month.
In an interview with Fox Business in June, Comer said the Oversight Committee\u2019s investigation and expertise are \u201ccentered around bank statement and bank records,\u201d adding that the panel has received \u201c100 percent\u201d of information it requested through subpoenas.
\u201cEvery subpoena that I\u2019ve signed as chairman of the House Oversight Committee over the last five months, we\u2019ve gotten 100 percent of what we\u2019ve requested,\u201d Comer said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s with the FBI or with banks or with Treasury. We have built up success that will lead to more success because now what we\u2019re subpoenaing is a lot more challenging.\u201d
Comer, who is leading the investigation into Hunter Biden\u2019s foreign business dealings, said this month his panel plans to subpoena members of the Biden family, including possibly the president.
\u201cThis is always going to end with the Bidens coming in front of the committee. We are going to subpoena the family,\u201d Comer, R-Ky., said earlier this month in an appearance on Fox Business.
\u201cObviously, with all the opposition and obstruction we\u2019re getting from the Biden attorneys now, we know that this is going to end up in court when we subpoena the Bidens,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo we\u2019re putting together a case, and I think we\u2019ve done that very well.\u201d
Although McCarthy has floated an impeachment inquiry into Biden, some politically vulnerable and centrist Republicans are conflicted about whether to launch a formal inquiry, typically the first step before impeachment proceedings, NBC News reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n