McCarthy appears to be winning over the Republican Party News, sports, jobs
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s surprise decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has captured the support of more reluctant Republicans, with some GOP lawmakers pressing for quick action while others expect the matter to drag on into the 2024 election year.
McCarthy opened and closed a special meeting Wednesday of House Republicans explaining his reasons for the investigation sought by former President Donald Trump, the party’s front-runner to challenge Biden next year.
The White House mobilized its efforts to fight what it called “unprecedented and baseless allegations” against the president regarding his son Hunter and his family’s financial affairs.
Biden did not respond to loud questions about impeachment during an event on cancer research at the White House.
“They provided no evidence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “This is a political ploy.”
This moment represents a politically pivotal moment for Republican House Speaker McCarthy, whose job is being targeted by Trump’s right-wing allies. He has already pointed to possible charges of abuse of power, corruption and obstruction of possible articles of impeachment.
“There are a lot of accusations that you just want answered,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol.
In the investigation, House Republicans are trying to link Biden to the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, and divert attention away from the legal risks Trump faces as the two men vie again for the White House.
The White House said that Joe Biden was not involved in his son’s business affairs. So far, Republicans have discovered no concrete evidence of wrongdoing by Biden Sr., who as vice president spoke frequently to his son and actually stopped at business dinners with his son’s associates.
In a 14-page memo to news media leaders, the White House urged them to hold Republicans accountable for the fact that they are moving toward impeachment over allegations that are not only baseless, but have been effectively refuted in almost all cases.
Trump, Biden’s main rival, is the only president to have been impeached twice — and was acquitted both times — and is the first to face criminal charges in four separate indictments, including for trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden.
Some GOP lawmakers feel the sooner the better to go after Biden.
“I hope we can get this done as quickly as possible,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the oversight committee leading the impeachment inquiry.
Comer and the other House chairs involved in the impeachment inquiry marched through the Capitol later Wednesday and spent nearly an hour briefing Senate Republicans on evidence they said they had collected in the past eight months.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell warned the House of Representatives against impeachment. “I have not heard any allegation of something that would rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor,” Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, after announcing that he would not seek reelection in 2024, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
But John Thune of South Dakota, the GOP’s No. 2 in the Senate, said the House members’ briefing made him feel “there’s enough smoke out there that there are legitimate questions.”
