U.S House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy has directed a House of Representatives committee to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business activities.
Speaking to reporters outside his office at the Capitol, McCarthy disclosed that a House Oversight Committee investigation so far has discovered a “culture of corruption” around the Biden family.
McCarthy asserted, “These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives.”
“That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” he added.
The U.S House Speaker described the decision as a “logical next step” that will give the committee “the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public.”
Republicans, who now narrowly control the U.S House of Representatives, have accused Biden of profiting while he served as Vice President from 2009 to 2017 from his son, Hunter Biden’s foreign business ventures.
However, they have not presented any evidence to support their claims.
Also, McCarthy divulged that his decision to direct a House committee to formally open a formal impeachment inquiry into the U.S President was not taken lightly.
McCarthy iterated that, he believed that the President “would want to answer these questions and allegations” and that this “should concern all Americans” regardless of who they voted for.
“The American people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family.
“I would encourage the President and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation in the interests of transparency. We are committed to getting the answers for the American public – nothing more, nothing less.”
Kevin McCarthy
“We will go wherever the evidence takes us,” McCarthy added.
McCarthy said that the inquiry will be led by House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman, James Comer.
Meanwhile, Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to use an impeachment inquiry to distract the U.S public from former President, Donald Trump’s legal troubles and hurt Biden’s presidential re-election bid.
They also argue the impeachment drive aims to boost Trump’s own 2024 campaign. Trump maintains a lead in the Republican nomination race despite the criminal cases against him.
Trump faces four separate criminal indictments, including two related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“This is a transparent effort to boost Donald Trump’s campaign by establishing a false moral equivalency between Trump; the four time-indicted former President,” Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, opined.
White House Criticises Impeachment Inquiry
White House Spokesman, Ian Sams, condemned McCarthy’s announcement, calling it “extreme politics at its worst.”
Sams noted in a post on X, that House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.
Sams was also quoted as saying that McCarthy should not give in to pressure from members of his caucus.
“Speaker McCarthy shouldn’t cave to the extreme, far-right members who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get a baseless, evidence-free impeachment of President Biden. The consequences for the American people are too serious.”
Ian Sams
The U.S Constitution empowers Congress to impeach federal officials including the President for treason, bribery and “other high crimes and misdemeanors”.
A President can be removed from office if the House approves articles of impeachment by a simple majority and the Senate votes by a two-thirds majority to convict after holding a trial.
Nonetheless, any impeachment effort against Biden would be unlikely to succeed.
Even if the Republican-controlled House of Representatives votes to impeach Biden, it would almost certainly fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
READ ALSO: IGP Denies Running “One-man” Show Within Police Service
