Impeach probe is official
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, letting committee chairmen compel interviews, obtain documents and further their case that he improperly benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings.
The vote broke down along party lines, with 221 Republicans in favor of the inquiry and 212 Democrats against.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) was the only member absent. One seat, that of ex-Rep. George Santos, is vacant.
Biden denounced House Republicans following the vote, saying they were “choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt.”
“Instead of doing anything to make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies,” Biden, 81, said. “Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) disagreed and said his conference did “not take this responsibility lightly and will not prejudge the investigation’s outcome.”
“As President Biden continues to stonewall lawful congressional subpoenas, today’s vote of the full House of Representatives authorizing the inquiry puts us in the strongest position to enforce these subpoenas in court,” Johnson said in a statement.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told The Post ahead of the vote that the White House forced Republicans’ hand after “blocking witnesses from testifying” and “withholding thousands of documents,” including emails Biden traded with his son and his son’s business partners while he was vice president, which are held at the National Archives.
The White House told Republicans that it was “not going to acknowledge or . . . recognize these subpoenas as valid without a full vote of the House,” Emmer said. “Mike Johnson, when faced with that said, ‘All right, well, we’re gonna have to go to court to get these enforced anyway, might as well eliminate any objection that they have before we get there.’ ”
“For the president who says he’s the most transparent president in the history of this country, he’s set a poor example — and he sure is stonewalling,” added Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).
On Sept. 12, Republicans initiated their impeachment inquiry without a vote of the full House, pointing to evidence from bank records, transcribed interviews with Hunter Biden’s former business associates as well as documents and testimony from IRS whistleblowers that Joe Biden was aware of his son’s shady business dealings — and that his administration interfered during a probe into them.