Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said President Biden “has done nothing wrong” in response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announcing an impeachment inquiry.
“House Republicans have not found a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise,” Mr. Nadler said in a statement. “Speaker McCarthy may get to keep his job for another day, but he has once again caved to the most extreme elements of the Republican party.”
Mr. Nadler was one of the biggest proponents for the impeachment of President Trump, accusing him of abusing the power of his office.
In his statement Tuesday, Mr. Nadler said that House Democrats in 2019 moved towards impeachment “only after developing overwhelming evidence that Donald Trump had attempted to extort the government of Ukraine.”
He also said that in 2021 they needed “very little time to determine who was responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Today’s House Republicans failed to articulate any specific charge against President Biden—because they have no basis whatsoever to launch this so-called inquiry,” he said. “They have no evidence of misconduct. Their whistleblowers have been discredited time and time again.
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer told reporters Tuesday that the impeachment inquiry “is absurd” and that he is “disappointed.”
“The American people want us to do something that will make their lives better not go off on these chases and witch hunts,” Mr. Schumer said. “The bottom line, as we’ve said, you can only accomplish keeping the government open in a bipartisan way.”
The New York Democrat said he had “sympathy” for Mr. McCarthy because he was in a “difficult position.”
“But sometimes you gotta tell these people who are way off the deep end, who have no interest in helping the American people, who just want to pursue their own witch hunts, that they can’t go forward with it.”
Mr. Schumer said that he wouldn’t let the inquiry stop the Senate from keeping the government open.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who also played key roles in the impeachments of Mr. Trump, accused Mr. McCarthy of caving into the demands of his party’s right flank.
Mr. Schiff said on X: “McCarthy’s reading of the Impeachment Clause: The President shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or … when the Speaker, lacking moral authority or control over his members, can’t remain speaker of fund the government without it.”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, questioned House Republicans’ priorities.
“First day back in session, and what is House Republicans’ top priority? Not funding FEMA. Not defending Ukraine. It’s impeaching the President with zero evidence to muddy the waters and appease their lord and savior Donald Trump,” he wrote on social media.
Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, responded sarcastically to a question about what he thought about the inquiry: “Oh my God really, oh my gosh, you know, oh, it’s devastating,” he said animatedly. “Don’t do it, please don’t do it, oh no, oh no.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.