Republicans Will Take Legal Action to Enforce Subpoenas in Biden Impeachment Probe: Speaker

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 12, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are prepared to take legal action against people who don’t comply with subpoenas issued as part of the impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, the top GOP member in the lower chamber said on Dec. 12.

“The House will likely need to go to court to enforce its subpoenas,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said.

He made the declaration in an op-ed published the same day the House meets to mark up a resolution that would formalize the probe into President Biden.

The investigation was opened by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in September without formal approval. Mr. McCarthy was later ousted from the speaker position in a bipartisan vote.

“Opening a formal inquiry—backed by a vote of the full body—puts us in the strongest legal position to gather the evidence and provide transparency to the American people,” Mr. Johnson said.

A vote on the resolution is slated to take place this week, before the House goes on its holiday break of three-plus weeks.

The resolution directs House panels like the House Judiciary Committee to continue their investigation into whether there are “sufficient grounds” for the House to impeach President Biden.

Subpoenas have already been issued to witnesses like Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Mr. Biden has insisted he will only testify in public, while Republicans say he must start answering questions in a private session.

Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), both chairmen of committees involved in the probe, informed Mr. Biden’s lawyer recently that they would move to hold him in contempt of Congress if he defies the subpoena. Contempt can trigger a criminal charge, which can land a person in jail.

Won’t Prejudge

Evidence Republicans have accumulated so far has undercut some of the president’s key claims, including that his son never made money from China. Bank records showed that claim was false.

Other records showed President Biden received money from Mr. Biden’s company, Owasco P.C., which took in money from China and Ukraine.

Also obtained were email logs showing President Biden messaged with Eric Schwerin, one of Mr. Biden’s closest business partners, while the president was vice president. Those emails indicate the president is hiding something, Mr. Johnson said.

But the speaker, who helped defend former President Donald Trump during impeachment inquiries against him, said that Republicans will not “prejudge” the investigation.

“We will depose witnesses, gather evidence, establish a thorough record and present articles of impeachment only if the evidentiary record dictates such action,” he said. “We understand that to begin to rebuild Americans’ trust in the Congress, we owe it to the people to undertake this process methodically and transparently.”

President Biden has claimed that Republicans are promoting a “bunch of lies” against him, though he did not specify any of the alleged lies.

“I’m not going to comment on it,” President Biden said. “I did not. It’s just a bunch of lies. They’re lies.”

A majority vote from the House on articles of impeachment would impeach President Biden. Republicans hold a narrow majority at present.

The matter would then go before the Senate, which Democrats control. A two-thirds vote is required in the upper chamber to convict an official who was impeached.

An official who is impeached and convicted is barred from holding a public office in the future.

President Trump was impeached twice but was acquitted both times by the Senate.

Priorities

Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Monday that the president “is laser-focused on the issues that matter most to American families.”

The president is “focused on what matters to American families, not Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conspiracy theories about his own family,” he added.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has called for President Biden’s impeachment.

Mr. Johnson said that the House is engaged in other business even as it investigates the president.

“The House has a full plate of pressing issues, and we do not take this inquiry lightly. Our southern border is wide open, American families are struggling to make ends meet and a perception of American weakness has thrust the world into a state of chaos,” he said.

“Yet at this juncture, the evidence mounting against President Biden cannot be ignored, and the pushback from the White House and others must be addressed.”

Many Republicans have said that the probe should move forward, but some clarified that Republicans need to focus on other issues as well.

“I think the American people deserve the right to know answers to questions, however I also really believe that we need to continue to focus on the priorities that we had coming into this Congress,” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) told reporters in Washington.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said on Fox News over the weekend that he sees the inquiry taking about two more months, with articles drafted in the spring of 2024.