House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has made opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden a top priority as the House returns from its August recess.
McCarthy (R-CA) announced an inquiry that will ostensibly involve the House Oversight and Ways and Means Committees delving into “abuse of power, obstruction and corruption” allegations connected to the Biden family’s foreign business dealings, Fox News reported.
McCarthy told Breitbart earlier in September that he would require any impeachment inquiry be commenced “through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.”
However, McCarthy did not mention a floor vote when he announced his decision on Tuesday to open an inquiry.
“Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings. Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions, dinners resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his sons and his son’s business partners,” McCarthy said during a brief press conference, Fox News reported.
McCarthy did not take any questions from reporters.
Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, quickly noted that McCarthy did not take a floor vote as he suggested he would.
Posting on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Sams said, “House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing[.] His own GOP members have said so[.] He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support[.] Extreme politics at its worst.”
Sams’ post elicited a retort from a social media user, who responded, “Right because the two Trump impeachments were rock solid. You guys started this, sit down.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, appeared on the NBC program Meet the Press Now on Tuesday in anticipation of the inquiry announcement. He claimed that the evidence he has seen proves that “Joe Biden hasn’t done anything wrong. … Say whatever you want about Hunter Biden. … None of it touches Joe Biden.”
Raskin added that the inquiry is going forward because Trump “doesn’t want to be the only guy on the ballot who was impeached before.”
In the same interview, the host mentioned that an NBC poll found 34% of registered voters were less likely to vote for President Biden because of the allegations against his son Hunter, who is at the center of influence-peddling allegations.
A House vote is not required for an impeachment inquiry to begin. Democrats initiated their impeachment of former President Donald Trump with an inquiry before a formal house vote, noted Fox News.