The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday along party lines to formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The Republican-controlled chamber agreed a resolution, 221-212With Democrat Brad Schneider of Illinois not voting, he allowed three committees to continue their investigation into whether Biden profited from his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings.
If such a connection could be proven, it would raise questions about the foreign policy decisions Biden made as vice president from 2009 to 2017.
The investigation so far has found no connection between the president and the president.
The vote was intended to show that the investigation has the support of most members of the House of Representatives.
Three committee chairmen — Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri — had previously conducted their investigation solely at the direction of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Subpoena power
House Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden and asked him to sit to testify by Wednesday, but the president’s son declined and instead offered to appear at a public hearing.
Jordan and Comer said hours before the vote that Wednesday’s vote to formalize the investigation, which also formally gave the chairmen subpoena power, would give the investigation more legitimacy and make it harder for Hunter Biden to refuse future subpoenas.
“We expect that the House of Representatives, with authority that lies exclusively in the House of Representatives, will place on the record that we are in a formal impeachment inquiry phase of our oversight,” Jordan said.
“And if that happens, we’ll see what their excuse is then,” he added, referring to Hunter Biden and his legal team. “You should have been here today. But once we take that vote, we expect him to appear for his interview and deposition.”
Republicans said a closed-door deposition should take place during the fact-finding phase of the investigation before a public hearing.
“We anticipate that we will impeach the president’s son, and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing with him,” Comer said.
Hunter Biden made millions during his father’s tenure as vice president for sitting on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma in business with the Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming.
Hunter Biden speaks to the press
Hunter Biden appeared at the Capitol on Wednesday and made a brief statement to reporters. He didn’t answer any questions.
“There is no evidence that my father was financially involved in my company,” he said. “Because it didn’t happen.”
He named the GOP committee chairs — Comer, Jordan and Smith — saying they had “lied time and time again about every aspect of my personal and professional life” and cast the president’s paternal support as some kind of criminal offense.
“They took the light of my Father’s love for me and presented it as darkness,” he said.
Joe Biden has repeatedly shown his support for his son during his recovery from alcohol and crack cocaine addiction.
Hunter Biden on Wednesday referenced past mistakes and his battle with addiction, but denied that his father based policy decisions on his own business dealings.
At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden was “familiar” with what his son would say, but declined to provide further details. She referred most questions on the topic to representatives for Hunter Biden, noting that he is not affiliated with the White House as a “private citizen.”
But she criticized House Republicans for continuing the investigation without evidence and focusing on impeachment rather than border negotiations to avert a government shutdown in January and other policy priorities.
“Instead they focus on baseless political stunts,” Jean-Pierre said.
“No evidence of wrongdoing”
Several Democrats in the House of Representatives also criticized the investigation in their remarks on Wednesday, calling it “a political assassin” and “a witch hunt” designed to smear President Biden.
“A year of investigation, mountains of documents and a host of Republican witnesses have confirmed there is no evidence of wrongdoing,” said Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “Instead, the Republicans’ wasteful witch hunt only confirms that President Biden is a good and honorable man. What this resolution actually does is cover up an entire year of inactive Republican policy.”
Since winning the House majority this year, Republicans in the chamber have investigated Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including with companies in Ukraine and China, alleging that Joe Biden and other family members benefited from them.
However, they have not proven a direct connection between Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the president. Witnesses asked by GOP leaders to testify at the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s first hearing in September admitted there was no evidence Linking Joe Biden to Hunter Biden’s business activities.
McCarthy directed the three House committees to launch the investigation in September when he was under pressure from the Republican conference amid a push to keep the government funded. The move did not appease the far-right members of his party, who voted with all Democratic members to oust McCarthy the following month.
