House Republicans released a report Monday that concluded President Joe Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct, an update on the monthslong impeachment inquiry that Democrats say shows no wrongdoing has been uncovered.
The nearly 300-page report from three Republican-led House committees rehashed many of the allegations Republicans aired publicly this Congress, as they accused Biden of using his public office to enrich his family when he served as vice president.
The release coincides with the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party is gathering to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris instead of a reelection bid for Biden.
The summary states that the impeachment inquiry continues but the report was released given “considerable Member interest in the status of the inquiry and to correct false and misleading assertions.”
But the report does little to settle whether House Republicans will move forward on an impeachment of Biden, particularly now that he will leave office in January.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in a statement about the report, only thanked the committees for the work and encouraged Americans to read it.
House Republicans hold a slim majority in the chamber, and an impeachment vote could prompt a tough decision for moderate Republicans looking to hold onto their seats in the November general election. Still, a member could seek to force a floor vote.
House Republicans have sought to link the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, with his father as part of the inquiry into alleged influence peddling from the younger Biden years before his father became president.
The report asserts that “the Biden family and their business associates” received money “from foreign interests by leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden.”
The report argues that it was “inconceivable” that the elder Biden did not understand “he was taking part in an effort to enrich his family by abusing his office of public trust.”
Democrats have repeatedly castigated the impeachment inquiry, and a Democratic staff memorandum released Monday stated the mountain of information compiled by Republicans “proves that Joe Biden did not commit any wrongdoing.”
“The voluminous evidence amassed by the Committee firmly establishes that Joe Biden—whether as President, Vice President, or private citizen—did not take part in his family members’ business enterprises, did not profit from them, and took no official actions to benefit them,” the memorandum states.
Partisan jostling
The impeachment inquiry report sparked another round of partisan jostling regarding the legitimacy of the Republican allegations.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James R. Comer, R-Ky., said the information produced by the impeachment inquiry “is the strongest case for impeachment of a sitting president the House of Representatives has ever investigated.”
“President Biden’s legacy is marked by abuse of public office, corruption, and obstruction,” Comer said.
The Democratic-led House impeached Donald Trump twice when he was president, first over dealings with Ukraine and second following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building. The Senate voted to acquit Trump both times.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, ridiculed the Monday report, saying it was “a Banana Republican cream pie they have just pressed into their own faces.”
“Not surprisingly, Republicans give us nothing today but pathetic innuendo and still cannot even specify the alleged high crime and misdemeanor they think Joe Biden has committed,” Raskin said.
The business dealings of Hunter Biden has been a focus for House Republicans this Congress.
Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced last September that the House would open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, amid pressure from the right wing of the House Republican Conference. And in December, the chamber in a party-line vote adopted a measure to formalize the inquiry.
Sharon Yang, White House spokesperson for oversight investigations, said House Republicans “have finally given up on their wild goose chase.”
“This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories,” Yang said.
The post House Republicans release report on Biden impeachment inquiry appeared first on Roll Call.
