FeaturedFISM News

Republicans continue to gradually up the heat on both Bidens

by Will Tubbs

Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

 

This week, just under a year after assuming control of the lower chamber, House Republicans voted to formalize the inquiry that might lead to a later vote on articles of impeachment for President Joe Biden. But, even as conservatives clamor for more punitive measures, multiple issues are forcing Republicans in Congress to adopt a deliberate pace. 

“We are now at a pivotal moment in our investigation,” Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said on the House floor Wednesday. “We will soon depose and interview several members of the Biden family and their associates about these influence-peddling schemes. But we are facing obstruction from the White House.”

Comer and other Republicans have amended that claim slightly in the last 24-plus hours. Now, they are saying that they are facing roadblocks from the White House and presidential son Hunter Biden and flak from parts of the media. 

The younger Biden, whose business dealings figure heavily in Republicans’ investigation into the president, has ignored a Congressional subpoena for closed-door testimony. This week, he appeared near the Senate rather than reporting to a House deposition. Hunter says he wants to offer his testimony publicly. 

“I’m here today to make sure the House committee’s illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies, and I’m here today to acknowledge I have made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded,” Hunter said during a brief speech in front of the Senate. “For that, I am responsible. For that, I am accountable. And for that, I am making amends.”

Hunter’s path to amends appears to involve attempting to skirt responsibility for missed taxes and illegally possessing a firearm. He’s seeking broad and sweeping immunity from tax charges and, per Axios, recently invoked the Second Amendment as justification for having a gun charge dismissed. 

Add to the list of amends Hunter will have to make, or avoid making as the case may be, the matter of contempt of Congress, a charge almost certain to come after he ditched testifying. 

“Hunter Biden today defied lawful subpoenas and we will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” Comer said in a statement Wednesday. “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. 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.”

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told Fox News Digital, “Nobody gets to do that. He was sent subpoenas. He was told to appear.”

Biggs also intimated that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who Biggs accuses of having encouraged Hunter to defy the subpoena, also faces a censure vote. 

“We’re going to vote to hold [Hunter] in contempt,” Biggs said. “We probably need to vote Eric Swalwell in contempt, because the rumor is that Mr. Swalwell aided and abetted him by setting up his facilities so he could have his [press] conference across the way.”

Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appeared on Fox News Wednesday night, where they pushed even harder for a contempt vote. 

“Only an arrogant & entitled person would pull a publicity stunt like we saw from Hunter Biden,” Comer posted on X. “The President’s son travelled to the U.S. Capitol Building to publicly defy a lawful congressional subpoena. Hunter isn’t above the law. We must hold him in contempt of Congress.”

Republicans indicated that the move to formalize the impeachment inquiry was in response to Hunter Biden, among others in Joe Biden’s orbit, who have stonewalled the process. 

“Today, the House will vote on an impeachment inquiry resolution to strengthen our legal case in the courts as we face obstruction from the White House and witnesses,” Comer said. “Today’s obstruction by Hunter Biden reinforces the need for a formal vote. President Biden and his family must be held accountable for their corruption and obstruction. And we will provide that to the American people.”

CONSERVATIVES BLAST ASSOCIATE PRESS FOR COMER ARTICLE

In either a coincidentally or conveniently timed occurrence, the Associated Press on Thursday released an article in which Comer’s business dealings took center stage. 

The AP reports that Comer used a shell company, Farm Team Properties, to obscure his co-ownership of six acres of farmland. Importantly, the report also contains confirmation that Comer has disclosed millions of dollars in other holdings. 

It might seem a minor issue in the annals of political corruption allegations, but Democrats leaped at the chance to call Comer a hypocrite. 

“The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms,” the House Judiciary Democrats posted on X.

Comer responded by calling the AP story a hit piece. 

“When Democrats can’t win on merit, they attack you personally,” an X post by the House Oversight Committee reads. The post later continues, “Did the AP even write this article, or did the Democrats hand it to them? No amount of intimidation will stop our investigation of Joe Biden. If anything, this proves we are on the right track.”

REPUBLICAN SUPPORT FOR INQUIRY LAGS IN SOME CIRCLES

Among the reasons for Republicans’ deliberate move through the impeachment process, one that has gone less noticed is the fact that a vote to impeach President Biden is by no means a guaranteed winner for the right. 

There have been various versions of articles of impeachment floating around the House since Biden first assumed the highest office in the land, and none have been brought for a vote. 

While those impeachment efforts can be handwaved away as having been created as publicity stunts and without proper investigation, the current more deliberate process is meeting with lukewarm support on the right. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, anti-Trump Republicans like Utah Sen. Mitt Romney have voiced strong opposition. 

During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Romney said Republicans “ought to have some evidence” to launch formal impeachment proceedings, but added, “So far, there’s nothing of that nature that’s been provided.”

But it isn’t just old-guard Republicans who are tepid. Many House Republicans from at-risk districts are equally concerned about coming across as overzealous in their impeachment efforts. Purple-area Republicans would face electoral disaster if they press forward on specious or trumped-up charges. 

Ultimately, even if the House votes to impeach the president, it’s all but guaranteed that he will not be removed from office. There aren’t enough votes in the Senate. 

This likely will come as little comfort to Biden, whose reelection effort is already being hampered by basement-level approval ratings, unbridled spending, funding multiple wars, and numerous gaffs, among numerous other issues. Now, the addition of an impeachment-shaped albatross puts Biden at even more risk.

“I don’t see the evidence of it, but yes, when your own son and your own brother are clearly, at the very least unethical and at worst, doing illegal things — my goodness, of course the country pays attention to it,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), the little-known Congressman who is challenging Biden on the Democratic ticket, said during an interview with Semafor. “People do believe that it perhaps makes him unelectable — somehow, it conflates him with the Trump family’s indiscretions.”

The increased pressure seems to have, at a minimum, caused great consternation for the Biden team. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lashed out at a reporter who asked about Biden’s dealings with his son’s businesses. 

“What we’re seeing from House Republicans is wasted time,” Jean-Pierre said. “And it is certainly, you know, a baseless political slant. That’s what we’re seeing. And they’re leaving. House Republicans are leaving this week to go, you know, enjoy a nice holiday. Right? As most Americans should.”

DONATE NOW