A Florida congressman filed a formal article of impeachment against President Joe Biden on Friday for threatening to withhold aid and ammunition from Israel if the country’s military leaders pursue a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
In the long-shot impeachment bid that the White House called “ridiculous,” Representative Cory Mills, a first-term Republican, is accusing Biden of abusing his power by threatening to hold up aid in order to pressure Israel into changing its battle plans, Fox News first reported.
“President Biden abused the powers of his office by soliciting a ‘quid pro quo’ with Israel while leveraging vital military aid for policy changes. This egregious action not only compromised the credibility of the United States but also undermined the interests of our longstanding ally,” Mills told Fox.
Israel launched its invasion of Rafah this week to further its military campaign against Hamas following the terrorist group’s civilian massacre on October 7. Israel quickly took control of the Rafah border crossing separating Gaza from Egypt.
Biden warned Israel during a Wednesday interview on CNN that he would hold up certain forms of ammunition if Israel decides to carry out a full-scale invasion of Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by promising to defeat Hamas with or without U.S. support.
Last week, the U.S. paused bomb shipments to Israel to express opposition to the long-awaited Rafah offensive. On Thursday, Israel’s war cabinet voted to expand the scope of its Rafah operation.
In late April, Biden signed a $95 billion bipartisan foreign aid package for U.S. allies, including $26 billion in aid to Israel and humanitarian aid in Gaza. Far-left Democrats have strongly opposed sending Israel military aid for its war against Hamas terrorists.
After months of gridlock, Congress finally approved the foreign aid package last month in the wake of an Iranian attack on Israel. The U.S. and other allies assisted Israel with its effort to successfully defend itself from Iran’s barrage of drones and rockets.
A White House official dismissed Mills’s long-shot impeachment push and said the White House will ensure Israel receives the funding.
“That’s ridiculous. Senior administration officials had already made multiple public statements about Rafah similar to the President’s, including that we are also ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental,” a White House official told National Review.
“Trump failed to spend dollars appropriated by Congress that he was legally required to spend,” the official added. “This is about a purchase made by a foreign government and our decision whether to deliver that purchase right now, which could enable an operation we’ve publicly and privately objected to.”
Some conservatives have compared Biden’s actions to the first impeachment of former president Donald Trump over his threat to pause military aid to Ukraine unless they cooperate with efforts to investigate Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. At the time, Biden was competing in the Democratic presidential primary to run against Trump.
House Republicans are investigating the extent of Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings as part of an ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president. Hunter Biden testified earlier this year and repeatedly said his father had no role in his foreign business dealings, while admitting Joe Biden met some of his business partners.