McCarthy: Biden Family Probe ‘Rising to the Level of Impeachment Inquiry’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to the media during a briefing in National Statuary Hall at the Capitol in Washington on July 17, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has asserted that the growing body of evidence surrounding corruption allegations against President Joe Biden and his family has approached warranting an impeachment inquiry to investigate potential wrongdoing.

During an interview on “Hannity” on Monday night, Mr. McCarthy discussed the whistleblower allegations involving substantial payments made to the Bidens by foreign entities. He accused the FBI of withholding crucial information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging that the agency deemed the informant’s claims credible.

“When President Biden was running for office, he told the American public that he’s never talked about business. He said his family has never received a dollar from China, which we now prove is not true,” Mr. McCarthy said.

The House Speaker also referenced two IRS whistleblowers who allege that government prosecutors slow-walked an investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax crimes. He also noted that House GOP investigations had found records of millions of foreign funds having traveled through shell companies to Biden family members and associates.

“We would know none of this if Republicans had not taken the majority,” McCarthy emphasized. “But Hannity, this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress with the strongest power to obtain the knowledge and information needed for oversight.”

Mr. McCarthy accused Mr. Biden of weaponizing the federal government “to benefit his family” and obstruct Congressional oversight. He asserted that a full-fledged impeachment-level inquiry was likely necessary to address these serious allegations.

The FBI relied on an informant who claimed to possess evidence of bribery involving the Bidens. The informant claims to have allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hunter Biden, raising concerns about potential corruption at the highest levels of the United States government if the allegations prove to be true.

White House Reacts

The White House responded to Mr. McCarthy’s remarks by accusing House Republicans of prioritizing irrelevant issues instead of focusing on important matters like inflation and job creation.

“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 Republicans] wants to prioritize," Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said on Twitter. “Their eagerness to go after [the president] regardless of the truth is seemingly bottomless.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reaffirmed that the president “was never in business with his son” during a briefing on Monday.

Mr. McCarthy’s statement about the allegations of Biden family corruption reaching the level of an impeachment inquiry followed the release of an FBI memo documenting unverified corruption allegations related to Hunter Biden’s work with Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released an unclassified document last Thursday that Republicans claim is significant in their investigation of Hunter Biden. Lawmakers on the Oversight Committee have previously had limited access to the information for review. However, this marks the initial public release of the complete document, which includes unprocessed and unconfirmed data.

Referred to as an FD-1023 form, the FBI memo comprises allegations made by a confidential informant in 2020 regarding Hunter Biden’s purported business activities during his tenure on the board of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.

The memo’s release has contributed to Republican skepticism regarding the Bidens’ foreign business dealings, though Mr. McCarthy did not cite them as a basis for an impeachment inquiry on Monday night. Top Republicans have acknowledged that they are unable to verify the accuracy of the information.

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“The American people can now read this document for themselves,” Mr. Grassley said.

An associate of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, is soon expected to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committees during a closed-door interview regarding details about Hunter Biden’s interactions with foreign business partners.

This recent push for an impeachment inquiry comes on the heels of Mr. McCarthy’s previous consideration of an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland. The basis for this consideration was Mr. Garland’s alleged contradictions regarding IRS whistleblowers’ authority in the investigation of Hunter Biden.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.