House Republicans may be moving full steam ahead with their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, but a GOP senator cautioned that the president might not be impeachable.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Republican, suggested that if Mr. Biden committed a crime, it had to be as president.
House Republicans voted to authorize their impeachment inquiry this week over allegations the president secured shady foreign business deals.
“If they send us a case, make sure it’s convictable,” Mr. Mullin told Newsmax. “And the bar’s real high, there’s no question about it.”
He continued, “It’s got to be a misdemeanor, high crime or treason, and the other bar is it has to be committed while he was in office, the current office he holds. So what he did as vice president, what he did in between the two, may not be impeachable.”
Three GOP-led House committees, led by oversight and accountability, have investigated Mr. Biden and his family’s business dealings since then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, unilaterally launched the inquiry in September.
Much of the investigation has centered on whether Mr. Biden used the power of his office when he was vice president to bolster his son’s transactions.
Republican investigators say they’re swimming in evidence, uncovering bank records showing the Biden family and associates raked in $24 million from foreign deals and hid the transactions in a web of shell companies.
Formally authorizing the inquiry gives the committees more pull in their subpoena requests and provides better protection from likely court challenges of the investigation. Republicans pitched the need for a formal inquiry as a way to blast through what they characterized as the White House stonewalling by withholding witnesses and thousands of documents.
House Republicans say the outcome of the inquiry is not predetermined and are taking a methodical approach to uncover alleged wrongdoing.
Beyond the House proceedings, many say Articles of Impeachment would have no chance of finding Mr. Biden guilty in the Senate.
“The Senate, it’s controlled by Democrats,” Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican, told The Washington Times, said. “Now, can we get three-fourths [of a Senate vote to convict]? Hopefully we can.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.