House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) announced Tuesday the opening of an official impeachment inquiry into the first family’s alleged influence peddling schemes.
“This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. “It’s exactly what we want to know – the answers. I believe the president would want to answer these questions and allegations as well.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy officially announces an impeachment inquiry into President Biden: pic.twitter.com/7yfFGbqQKO
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) September 12, 2023
McCarthy did not say whether the full House would vote on opening the impeachment inquiry. A vote is not required before an inquiry can be opened, though McCarthy has previously said he would prefer to take a vote before proceeding with the investigation.
McCarthy’s reticence to put the impeachment inquiry to a vote is likely indication that his caucus is divided on the issue, and he can afford to lose just four votes given the Republicans’ slim House majority.
Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado and Don Bacon of Nebraska have voiced skepticism about the wisdom of opening an official impeachment inquiry given the state of the evidence.
As a result, it might be difficult to gain a full House vote this month ahead of a looming government shutdown like McCarthy intends.
Meanwhile, the House speaker noted House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R., Ky.), with the help of House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), will continue leading the investigation effort into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Since Republicans reclaimed a majority in the House, Comer and Jordan have uncovered what they say is evidence of then-vice president Biden cooperating with his son’s foreign influence-peddling efforts, most notably those involving the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter was appointed to while his father was serving as vice president.
Hunter’s former business partner and fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer testified before the Oversight Committee that the elder Biden spoke on the phone and/or met with their business partners a total of 20 times over the course of their decade-long partnership.
Some of those meetings and calls included Burisma executives who had asked Hunter to use his influence to shield them from an investigation being conducted by Ukrainian proseuctor Victor Shokin, whom then-vice president Biden later bragged about having fired. In exchange for that intervention, Hunter and his father received $5 million each, according to an anonymous FBI informant.
The informant first made the FBI aware of the allegations in 2017 in a series of meetings.
Those meetings were summarized in re-interview of the informant on June 30, 2020, and outlined in a Form 1023, the standard FBI form used to record information from an interview with a confidential human source (CHS), which was later obtained by the House Oversight Committee.
The fact that Hunter has not been charged with acting as unregistered agent of a foreign government, among other possible gun and tax charges, suggests he “has been offered special treatment by Biden’s own administration,” McCarthy said during the Tuesday press conference.
Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported McCarthy will meet behind closed doors with House Republicans on Thursday to discuss the impeachment inquiry as well as Comer and Jordan’s updates regarding evidence in the case.
At the private meeting, McCarthy plans to say the two chairs have uncovered enough information that necessitates obtaining the Biden’s bank records and other documents.