The U.S. House of Representatives will hold its first impeachment inquiry hearing this month, the House Oversight Committee confirmed on Sept. 19.
The first hearing will take place on Sept. 28, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee told The Epoch Times.
“The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the president’s involvement in corruption and abuse of public office,” the spokesperson said. “The Committee also intends to subpoena Hunter and James Biden’s personal and business bank records as early as this week. The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption,” Mr. McCarthy said. He said that the inquiry would help lawmakers obtain more evidence, including bank records.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is helping lead the probe.
Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said that Republicans have already been investigating the president and have “turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.”
President Biden recently told reporters, “The best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government.”
Enough Evidence?
Under the U.S. Constitution, the House can bring charges of impeachment via a simple majority against the president or another official.The Senate then considers the charges in an impeachment trial.
Former President Donald Trump was impeached twice and was acquitted both times.
Some Republicans say that the evidence is already sufficient to impeach President Biden.
“Here’s the reality: As Vice President, Joe Biden changed U.S. foreign policy to the benefit of a Ukrainian business paying Hunter Biden,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in an op-ed this week.
“In my mind, we have more than enough to impeach him right now. I don’t think we have to go through the process of an impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) said on Newsmax.
Others have said that starting the inquiry will empower members to dig further.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said: “There are text messages, there are emails, there are witnesses, there are whistleblowers, there are meetings, there are phone calls, there are dinners. And you can’t say, ‘Hey, there’s a little bit of smoke, we’re not going to follow the fire.’ And the inquiry, my understanding is, as you said earlier, gives us expanded subpoena powers.”
Some Republicans have said they oppose the effort.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), for instance, said in an op-ed that the available evidence is a “flimsy excuse” for an impeachment. “Trump’s impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and a disservice to Americans. The GOP’s reprise in 2023 is no better,” he wrote.
Democrats, meanwhile, have decried the inquiry.
“There is no facts in the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in wrongdoing. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in impeachable offenses. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden broke the law in any way, shape or form,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat in the House, said on ABC.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on CBS that he wished House leaders would spend more time working to avoid a government shutdown than on impeachment and “things they know will not ever pass the Senate in any kind of bipartisan fashion.”
