House Republicans have voted in favor of formalizing the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
Despite this, GOP leaders noted that this decision does not necessarily indicate an imminent impeachment while emphasizing a commitment to legal processes even with mounting pressure within the party and among its base, CNN reported.
House Republicans Voted to Formalize the Joe Biden Inquiry
With a party line vote of 221-212, the Republican-led House has approved a GOP resolution to formalize an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. The inquiry will center on the Biden family's alleged foreign business transactions.
However, it has faced challenges in unearthing evidence of wrongdoing by the president, preventing it from securing votes when it was first unilaterally launched in September under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
On Wednesday, every House Republican representative voted to formalize the inquiry, including Representative Ken Buck, who earlier said he was leaning against it. The vote came as Biden's son, Hunter Biden, defied the subpoena of the Republican investigator for closed-door testimony Wednesday morning.
Instead, Hunter demanded to testify publicly to answer questions about his actions as part of the GOP-led probe of whether the president committed an impeachable offense in connection to his family's foreign business dealings.
Formalizing the inquiry will reportedly help investigators get "key individuals" to speak and get access to additional documents. House Speaker Mike Johnson underscored the importance of not preemptively determining the outcome, saying that the focus is on adhering to the rule of law rather than making a political calculation.
According to the Constitution, impeachable offenses include "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The exact constitutes of those crimes, particularly "High Crimes and Misdemeanors," has been a subject of vigorous debate throughout US history.
Joe Biden Criticizes the House Vote
Joe Biden immediately criticized the House vote, denouncing it as a "baseless political stunt" that lacks factual support.
"Instead of doing anything to help make Americans' lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies. Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts," Biden said in a statement shortly after the vote.
The president highlighted critical matters such as the economy, the southern border, Ukraine, and Israel, asserting that Republicans in Congress are failing to address these challenges. The president also criticized congressional Republicans for leaving Washington, DC, without making progress on these issues.
"There is a lot of work to be done. But after wasting weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House and having to expel their own members, Republicans in Congress are leaving for a month without doing anything to address these pressing challenges," Biden noted.
Since September, committees probing the Biden inquiry, led by McCarthy, have interviewed DOJ and IRS officials and obtained documents and bank records related to Biden family members. Despite ongoing efforts, Republicans have yet to provide credible evidence for their claims against Biden.
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