Democrats Rage Against ‘Sham’ Joe Biden Impeachment Inquiry

Democrats have responded with fury to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly voting to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Wednesday by 221 votes against 212, potentially setting the stage for a full impeachment trial.

Republicans have accused Biden of abusing his position as vice president under the Obama administration to support the business activities of his son, Hunter Biden, though no solid evidence has been produced by the GOP-led committee running the investigation.

During a press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted the formal impeachment inquiry is necessary because the White House had been “impeding” the existing investigation. He added: “We have to follow the truth where it takes us, and that is exactly what we’re going to do…There shouldn’t be any such thing as a snap impeachment, a sham impeachment like the Democrats did against President Trump.”

In a statement, Biden hit out at those organizing the inquiry, commenting: “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.”

The president’s remarks echoed a wave of anger from prominent Democrats who claimed Republicans are seeking to damage the president without providing proof he benefitted from his son’s commercial affairs, which Biden has consistently denied any involvement in.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin wrote: “The GOP’s blundering impeachment inquiry isn’t a ‘whodunnit.’ It’s a ‘what-is-it,’ because no one even knows what criminal or constitutional offense Biden is supposed to have committed. The purpose of the inquiry is to give Trump, the one-man crime wave, something to talk about.”

Trump, the current 2024 Republican frontrunner, has been indicted in four separate criminal cases over allegations he orchestrated the payment of hush money to a pornographic actress, mishandled classified documents and acted illegally while trying to reverse the 2020 election result both nationwide and in the state of Georgia, specifically. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, made a similar point, posting: “Joe Biden loves his son Hunter Biden. That’s all the evidence Republicans have. Republicans still can’t articulate what crime President Biden committed. Because he didn’t commit any. This sham impeachment is a waste of time. Republicans are, again, focused on the wrong priorities.”

In a video posted to X, Adam Schiff, a House Democrat who has announced a Senate bid, said impeachment shouldn’t be used “without really solid evidence of a constitutional abuse of power that rises to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor.”

“Here, there is nothing like that, and Republicans admit as much,” Schiff said. “They have no evidence that President Biden did anything wrong. They want to essentially use Hunter Biden’s problems against the president, but they’ve repeatedly failed in their hearings and their depositions to produce a shred of evidence incriminating Joe Biden.”

Wednesday also saw Hunter Biden tell journalists outside Congress he was defying a House subpoena to provide closed-door testimony for Republicans investigating his father but insisted he would be happy to appear if the event took place in public.

Referencing this to reporters, New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: “Not only is the committee not allowing Hunter Biden to testify publicly, but they have not called a single witness, a single first-hand witness to any of their allegations. They haven’t allowed anybody to testify publicly because they do not have a single witness to any of their alleged allegations.”