Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie argued during an interview on Tuesday that the House GOP's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden may be premature, undermining its seriousness.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday morning, the same day the House returned from its August recess. However, there won't be a vote on the House floor to open the inquiry, a stance at odds with a previous McCarthy statement. The inquiry is a win for conservative House members who have been calling for a Biden impeachment in exchange for supporting legislation to fund the government before the Sept. 30 deadline.

MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INTO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

Yet Christie pushed back against the investigation. "From what I've said is, there is a lot of smoke around the Hunter Biden and Joe Biden business relationships, and we need to have a thorough investigation of it," he said during an MSNBC appearance. "But I don't see evidence yet that would support impeaching Joe Biden. And I think we're cheapening impeachment by doing that kind of thing."

The former governor referenced special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden's financial dealings. "I hope Congress uses its oversight capability to be able to do those investigations," Christie said. "And I hope that the special counsel, now completely empowered, will do that as well. He needs to reestablish his credibility after the ridiculous deal that he signed off on for Hunter Biden, which he's now backed off of because a judge forced him to back off of it."

The younger Biden had agreed to a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and entered into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid a felony gun charge. Republicans criticized the "sweetheart" deal, but it fell apart in July after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about the details of the deal.

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Christie also said it was "important" for the Biden family to be thoroughly investigated after criticizing Democrats for impeaching former President Donald Trump over his Ukraine dealings. "I criticized Democrats for doing that over the Ukraine issue a number of years ago on impeachment, and I don't want my party to fall victim to the same thing," Christie said.

"But I do think it's important for it to be investigated because there are too many connections now, too many inconsistencies in the president's story and what he has said and what others have said who are apparently witnesses to his participation in helping Hunter Biden with his business," he continued. "So we need to get all the facts on that. And then, we can make an intelligent decision about whether the facts exist to move forward to something more serious. But right now, I think what's necessary is investigation both by the Congress and by the Department of Justice."