The New York Daily News on House Republicans’ investigation of Hunter Biden (Dec. 15)

The straight party-line vote in Congress to impeach Joe Biden wasn’t about the president, but his wayward son, Hunter, who is facing a slew of federal criminal counts that he cheated on his taxes, as well as gun charges. The recovering drug addict and alcoholic is in a lot of trouble with Department of Justice special counsel David Weiss and could end up in prison for years. And it’s causing his dad major heartache and great political problems.

If Hunter, not Joe, was serving in the Oval Office during his lawbreaking, we would be supporting his impeachment, as a sitting president cannot be criminally charged and must be removed from office first. And Hunter has done a lot of bad stuff, as the prosecutors allege.

But, and but matters a great deal here, Hunter is not the president and the president hasn’t been credibly accused of anything. Nada. Zilch. Goose egg.

The House Republicans have certainly tried finding something that Joe has done wrong, having three separate committees, — Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight — spending all of 2023 looking high and low for Joe’s offenses.

Kevin Mccarthy, who began the year as the new GOP speaker of the House, now ends his congressional career as members depart Washington for their break until after New Year’s. To appease his rightwing nuts, urged on by their leader, Donald Trump, Mccarthy announced a Joe Biden impeachment inquiry in September. It still didn’t save Mccarthy, as the kooks then toppled him in October.

The new speaker, Mike Johnson, hoping to stave off the crazies, has now made it more formal with the vote: “Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, president of the United States of America, and for other purposes.” Gee, what are those “other purposes?” Hunter, who was subpoenaed for a closed-door hearing, instead showed up on Capitol Hill to announce that he wanted an open hearing. That’s not really up to him and the angry Republicans say they will bring contempt charges against him, adding to his legal troubles and lawyers’ bills. But, again, it has nothing to do with Joe Biden.

The indictment Hunter is facing is for tax offenses that all happened years ago, before his dad was president. So, even if Joe was in on it, (which he wasn’t) it is not impeachable.

Says the Constitution, impeachment is for officeholders who commit “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

One wild theory that even the Republicans haven’t floated is that Joe did something improper when was a senator between 1973 and 2009 or during the time he was vice president, from 2009 to 2017. But that would be impeaching him as a former officeholder (senator and veep), which Republicans objected to when Trump was impeached and tried in 2021. Trump was impeached while still in office and tried in the Senate after he left.

Impeaching Biden for something that happened six years ago or earlier is probably too outlandish for this gang. But, egged on by Trump, if they continue to come up empty for Biden’s offenses as president, you never know.