The US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to formally authorise its continuing impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, as Republicans rally behind the plan despite the fact that no evidence of wrongdoing has been found.
The Republican-controlled chamber voted 221-212 along party lines to approve the investigation, which is looking into whether President Biden improperly benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s international business dealings, only hours after Hunter Biden refused to testify behind closed doors.
Republicans Approve Biden’s Impeachment Inquiry
House Republicans argue that Biden and his family profited from his actions as then-President Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017, focusing on his son’s business ventures in Ukraine and China during that period.
They obtained evidence that the younger Biden tricked clients into believing he could gain access to the vice president’s office. However, they have not provided evidence that Biden took any official actions to assist or benefit from those businesses.
The decision, announced on Wednesday, comes after the White House informed the three GOP-led congressional committees handling the investigation that their subpoenas were illegal in the absence of a formal House vote authorising the investigation. Despite their reservations, more moderate Republican lawmakers began to support their party’s investigation efforts.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has refused to comply with a Republican investigator’s request for closed-door testimony while reiterating that he was ready to appear publicly as part of the GOP-led inquiry of the president.
The U.S. House has authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Every Republican rallied behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president. pic.twitter.com/xL1aIkt7lh
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 14, 2023
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a statement ahead of the vote that the action will “strengthen our legal case in the courts as we face obstruction from the White House and witnesses.”
“Today’s obstruction by Hunter Biden reinforces the need for a formal vote,” they added while announcing preparations to initiate contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden.
After the vote, Jordan said such an action would “help us get those key individuals to speak to us in a more timely fashion.”
“The House has now spoken and I think pretty loudly, pretty clearly with every single Republican voting in favour of moving into this official impeachment inquiry phase,” Jordan went on.
Even as the majority of House Republicans rally around the inquiry vote, GOP leadership has made it clear that authorising the inquiry does not mean impeaching the president is inevitable.
Biden’s Response
In a statement, Biden slammed House Republicans for failing to act on any of his domestic objectives or provide emergency funding for Ukraine and Israel. “House Republicans are not joining me. Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies,” he asserted.
“Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts,” Biden said.
“The American people need their leaders in Congress to take action on important priorities for the nation and world,” Biden remarked.
Hunter Biden’s Statement
“I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committees’ legitimate questions,” Hunter Biden said in his first public address since being criminally charged twice. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say.”
Hunter defended his father, arguing, “Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practising lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments home or abroad, and certainly not as an artist.”
"There's no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen."
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) December 13, 2023
— Hunter Biden dismisses GOP’s key Biden impeachment claims at a news conference pic.twitter.com/Ky9D9pwNXQ
White House, Democrats Defend Biden
At every turn, House Democrats and the White House have dismissed and, in some cases, debunked Republican charges linking Joe Biden to his son’s multi-million-dollar overseas deals.
A recent White House memo responded to allegations that it hindered the investigation, stating that Republicans had access to over 35,000 pages of private financial records, over 2,000 pages of Treasury Department financial reports, and at least 36 hours of witness interviews.
House Democrats remained unified in their opposition to the impeachment process, calling it a farce planned by Republicans to divert attention away from former President Donald Trump and his legal woes.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, slammed Republican efforts to launch an impeachment inquiry, claiming that Republicans are attempting to create a “dark cloud” that will follow the president into next year’s election.
Allegations on Biden
In an early August memorandum, the House Oversight Committee stated that evidence indicated the Biden family and their business connections had received more than $20 million in payments from foreign sources in countries such as China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, and Romania.
Republicans have also focused on an unconfirmed FBI report claiming that Joe Biden encouraged Ukraine’s government to dismiss a top senior prosecutor in order to halt an investigation into Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where Hunter Biden was on the board.
Additionally, Republicans say that the Justice Department did not thoroughly investigate the allegations against Hunter Biden and that he was given preferential treatment.
Reports indicate that the Republican investigation has focused mainly on Hunter Biden, who is facing federal tax and weapons charges, and the work he did for businesses and partners overseas. However, they are also investigating whether the Biden Administration interfered with the Justice Department’s probe of Hunter Biden, and whether President Biden mishandled confidential documents while serving as vice president or senator.