White House Calls on GOP to end Biden impeachment investigation

WASHINGTON >> The White House insisted Friday that House Republicans end their effort to impeach President Joe Biden, declaring “enough is enough” after their monthslong inquiry failed to turn up promised evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors.

“It is obviously time to move on, Mr. Speaker,” Edward Siskel, the White House counsel, wrote in a four-page letter to Speaker Mike Johnson. “This impeachment is over. There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade.”

The letter comes as the Republican impeachment drive has all but collapsed after the indictment of a key witness on charges of making up allegations against Hunter Biden, the president's son. A number of Republicans have cast doubt on the venture and even some champions of impeachment have now concluded they could not muster a majority if they sent articles to the floor.

The White House hopes to capitalize on Republicans' disarray, in effect calling their bluff and daring them to put up or shut up. Biden's team harbors little hope Republicans will formally call off the inquiry, much less acknowledge they have nothing much to show for it. It is part of a newly aggressive strategy by the president as he embarks on his reelection campaign. After a period in which allies feared Biden was being too passive, he hopes to get back on offense as he engages in a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

House Republicans are not quite ready to give up. They argue they still are investigating and have scheduled a hearing with Hunter Biden's former business associates next week. They also are demanding recordings from the investigation of special counsel Robert Hur, who examined the president's handling of classified documents, even though that was not among the topics of the impeachment inquiry and Hur decided no criminal charges were warranted.