Biden Testimony Sought By GOP In Impeachment Probe: Democrats Label It ‘A Sad Stunt’
House Republicans have requested President Joe Biden to testify in the impeachment inquiry, focusing on his family’s business dealings.
What Happened: The House Oversight Committee, led by Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), has sent a letter to President Biden, inviting him to testify under oath about his family’s sources of income and the means used to generate it, reported The Hill on Thursday.
“I invite you to participate in a public hearing at which you will be afforded the opportunity to explain, under oath, your involvement with your family’s sources of income and the means it has used to generate it,” Comer.
The letter requests President Biden’s presence on Apr. 16, which is unusual. Presidents typically only appear before Congress once a year for the State of the Union address. This request comes as House Republicans face internal skepticism about the validity of their impeachment probe into Biden.
Comer has hinted at the possibility of drafting a criminal referral to the Justice Department instead of pursuing an impeachment vote in the House, which would necessitate identifying high crimes and misdemeanors.
The White House dismissed the request, pointing to numerous depositions contradicting the GOP’s claims. The letter seeks to directly link President Biden to his family’s business ventures, relying on several disputed claims.
“Comer knows 20+ witnesses have testified that POTUS did nothing wrong. He knows that the hundreds of thousands of pages of records he’s received have refuted his false allegations. This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment,” Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, wrote on social media.
These claims include the assertion that then-Vice President Biden, with the support of the international community, pushed to remove a Ukrainian prosecutor who was allegedly investigating Burisma. Hunter Biden sat on the board of this Ukrainian energy company.
“The GOP couldn’t find an impeachable offense, the evidence has been comically distorted and twisted, and now even right-wing media is calling out all the acrobatic contortions and comic evasions,” House Oversight Democrats said in a statement.
Why It Matters: The Republican’s impeachment effort against President Biden was recently declared dead by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing. This latest move by House Republicans indicates that the impeachment inquiry is still ongoing.
Comer’s request for President Biden’s testimony comes amid ongoing scrutiny over handling classified documents found at Biden’s residence. Despite concerns about Biden’s memory, a transcript of an interview with former special counsel Robert Hur revealed the president’s lighter side.
Comer has been a central figure in the Republican’s impeachment efforts. He has previously defended allegations that one of his businesses is a shell company. Comer also lost his temper during a committee hearing when questioned about his family’s business dealings.
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