Rep. Adam Schiff accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday of threatening to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden merely to satisfy the “craziest” House Republicans.
“But what concerns me is, I think McCarthy may open an impeachment inquiry because he thinks it will lead off the steam with the craziest in this conference,” the California Democrat, who earlier this year was stripped from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee over past comments about Russian election interference, said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
“But by doing it he is going to set a train in motion that he may not be able to stop. And, of course, McCarthy isn’t thinking ahead. He’s thinking how I keep my speakership for another day, maybe another week,” Mr. Schiff says.
The GOP Conference’s most conservative members, including those in the House Freedom Caucus, have lobbied Mr. McCarthy to open an impeachment inquiry over alleged foreign influence peddling through business deals with Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, when he was vice president.
Republicans have also discussed potentially impeaching Biden officials, most often Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Democrats, and even some Republicans, have chastised Mr. McCarthy for leaning into the impeachment talk, calling such an inquiry unwarranted.
Mr. Schiff served as an impeachment manager in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Mr. McCarthy “is not thinking about what he’s doing … which is, I think, really devastating the country — this kind of faux investigation and this potential abuse of the impeachment power,” Mr. Schiff said.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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