The GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing on a possible impeachment of President Joe Biden next Thursday, multiple outlets reported Tuesday, marking the first public meeting on the matter since House Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry into the Biden family’s business dealings last week.
Rep. James Comer in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told ABC News the committee will hear from three "credible witnesses" on September 28 who will discuss the evidence Republicans say they have on the president’s son Hunter Biden’s foreign business interests.
Republicans could subpoena bank records for Hunter and James Biden, the president's brother, as soon as this week, Comer said, adding that the president's records have not been subpoenaed because Republicans do not have any evidence that he received any of the money in question.
The White House has repeatedly denied claims that the president had anything to do with his son's business dealings, including an unconfirmed allegation that a Ukrainian energy CEO paid the Biden family $10 million to help remove a Ukrainian corruption prosecutor.
There has been no evidence publicly presented that Biden broke the law or financially benefited from his son’s work.
Vice-President Joe Biden and sons Hunter Biden, left, and Beau Biden walk in the Inaugural Parade ... [+]
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last Tuesday directed three House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden and his family’s business dealings. The inquiry isn’t automatically a precursor to impeachment, but could set the stage for one. McCarthy did not explicitly call for Biden to be impeached but did say initial looks at the family's business actions warrant “further investigation.” The inquiry came as McCarthy faced increasing pressure from the far right, some members of which threatened to call for his removal if he didn't back the impeachment inquiry while others in the party have spoken against the investigation. Former President Donald Trump last week said he thinks the move against Biden is revenge for his own impeachments—Trump was impeached in 2019 for allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden and other Democrats, and again in 2021 after the January 6 Capitol riots.
“They did it to me … and nobody officially said this, but I think had they not done it to me … perhaps you wouldn’t have it being done to them,” Trump said during an interview with NBC host Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM radio.
Where the inquiry goes. If it leads to serious calls for impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee would need to draft articles of impeachment that would have to be approved by a majority vote of the House. The Democratic-controlled Senate would then need to cast a two-thirds vote to remove Biden. A president is considered to be impeached even if only one chamber approves the articles, but is not removed from office.
House Republicans set 1st Biden impeachment inquiry public hearing (ABC News)
GOP Launches Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden. Here’s What That Means. (Forbes)