House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he is directing House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, amid pressure from some hard-right members of the Republican caucus to do so.

The inquiry would center on whether Biden benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings, among other issues, McCarthy said.

“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption and warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning. “That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.”

McCarthy spoke for three minutes, did not take any questions and left the lectern shortly after making his remarks. McCarthy has previously said he would not launch an inquiry without a vote by the full house.

The House faces a critical Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. McCarthy has been trying to hang on to support for a funding bill from far-right GOP lawmakers, who have been pushing to impeach Biden.

Republican leaders have been weighing whether to use an impeachment inquiry vote as a bargaining chip in the funding negotiations. But it’s not certain that Republicans have the necessary 218 votes to pass it. Some lawmakers are staunchly against it, and McCarthy has said that an impeachment inquiry would occur through a vote on the House floor, as opposed to his unilateral decision-making.

  • [email protected]@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Remember, Trump was initially impeached for:

    In his first impeachment, the House in 2019 charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after he asked Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son on unsubstantiated corruption accusations.

    Now, they are trying to impeach Biden for that same witch-hunt.

    Edit: to be clear, Trump used Hunter to go after Joe Biden during the campaign. He did illegal shit to do it. The house repubs are trying to use Hunter again to go after Joe Biden. That’s what I mean by the same witch-hunt.

    • cowpowered@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Trump was caught attempting to blackmail a foreign leader for political gain, with dramatic geopolitical implications. Hunter Biden’s minor misdeeds are a total nothingburger in comparison. I agree with the other comment, this smells of desperation.

      • Hot Saucerman@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        He also allowed a foreign leaders security detail to violently assault US citizens.

    • Rusticus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      When did Biden call a foreign power and threaten to withhold their funding if they didn’t investigate Trump and his children?