House Republicans unanimously passed an impeachment inquiry, an act that allows them greater power to investigate President Joe Biden’s and his family’s business practices.
In the Wednesday afternoon vote, all 221 Republicans in the House supported adopting the impeachment-inquiry resolution, while 212 Democrats opposed the measure. At least 218 votes were needed to pass the resolution, which was introduced by Representative Kelly Armstrong (R., N.D.) last week.
“Today, the House took a critical step in our investigation into serious matters involving President Joe Biden by formally opening an impeachment inquiry. 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,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said in a joint statement with Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R., Minn.), and Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.).
The anticipated vote comes after then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) launched the presidential impeachment inquiry in September, an informal move that Democrats and the White House have decried as unconstitutional and politically motivated.
House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), whose committee has helped lead the investigation of President Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s foreign influence-peddling schemes, told reporters last week that nothing in the Constitution prevents a House speaker from opening an impeachment inquiry without a full House vote.
“Constitutionally, it’s not required. Speaker said we’re [in] an impeachment inquiry, [then] we’re in an impeachment inquiry,” Jordan said.
On Tuesday, he reiterated that an official impeachment-inquiry resolution would give Republican-led committees more legal weight when filing subpoenas against the Biden family and their close business associates.
“We think a formal vote of the majority of the House, on record, for a power that solely resides with the House — that helps us if, in fact, we’ve got to go to court,” said Jordan. “Hopefully, just passing it in and of itself is enough to say, ‘OK, guys, come in and talk to us.'”
Last month, House Oversight chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden, ordering him to appear before the committee for a deposition. Hunter’s legal team objected to the request to testify privately and demanded that their client appear for a public hearing. Comer stuck to his initial order and continues to do so.
The closed-door deposition was set for Wednesday, but Hunter Biden did not attend. Instead, he appeared outside the Capitol and doubled down on his demand for a public hearing — this time before an audience.
“What are they afraid of? I’m here, I’m ready,” the younger Biden said Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill. “I’m here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee’s legitimate questions.”
In response, Comer and Jordan announced they would hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for not appearing at the scheduled deposition.
“Hunter Biden today defied lawful subpoenas and we will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” Comer and Jordan said. “We will not provide special treatment because his last name is Biden.”
“As our committees were today prepared to depose Hunter Biden, he chose to make a public statement on Capitol Hill instead where he said his father, Joe Biden was not financially involved in his family’s business dealings,” the committee chairmen added. “Exactly how was Joe Biden involved? Evidence shows Joe Biden met with Hunter’s business associates and his name was at the center of the family business strategy.”
For months, Republicans on the Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees have been uncovering evidence and collecting testimony of Hunter Biden’s business dealings in an attempt to use his financial and other alleged criminal activity as grounds for President Biden’s impeachment.
While his father served as vice president, Hunter Biden sold the “Biden brand,” or access to Joe Biden, to business partners overseas in order to enrich himself and his family with millions. In total, the Biden family and their associates have received at least $24 million from foreign entities in China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan, according to bank records that Oversight recently obtained through subpoenas.
One of the latest subpoenaed records showed Owasco PC, a corporation owned by Hunter Biden, making several direct monthly payments worth $1,380 to Joe Biden starting in 2018. Comer said the wire transfers prove the president directly benefited from his family’s foreign business dealings, despite his claims to the contrary. Additional records obtained by the committee involve the president’s brother, James Biden, who paid his elder sibling personal checks worth $200,000 and $40,000, both of which were marked as “loan repayments” after receiving those same amounts from a Chinese business partner.
The White House has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on Joe Biden’s part and maintained that the transactions were indeed loan repayments.