The House will open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over allegations he used the power of his office to help his family secure lucrative foreign business deals while he was vice president.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the inquiry on Tuesday. He cited evidence uncovered by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee documenting millions of dollars flowing into Biden family bank accounts. He said testimony shows that then-Vice President Biden served as the “brand” that his son Hunter Biden and associates used to lock in lucrative deals with China, Ukraine, Russia and other countries.
“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,” said Mr. McCarthy, California Republican. “Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.”
Mr. McCarthy’s announcement thrust the House into what is likely to be an all-consuming impeachment investigation as Democrats and Republicans battle over government spending ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.
It will be the third presidential impeachment inquiry in less than four years.
House Democrats impeached President Trump in December 2019 for trying to persuade Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate corruption involving Mr. Biden, then a presidential candidate.
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Mr. Trump was impeached a second time, in January 2021, on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
No formal vote will be held to start the investigation, Mr. McCarthy’s aides said, a likely reflection of hesitation among some moderate Republicans who see impeachment as a polarizing and perhaps politically risky exercise.
Mr. McCarthy has directed the oversight panel to lead the impeachment inquiry in coordination with the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees.
The three panels, he said, will investigate “allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption” involving Mr. Biden and his family’s foreign business deals.
The White House responded swiftly.
White House spokesman Ian Sams called the move “extreme politics at its worst” and said Republicans have failed to directly connect Mr. Biden to any corrupt actions despite investigating him for nine months.
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None of the money from the foreign business deals has been directly connected to Mr. Biden.
“They’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” Mr. Sams wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, called the impeachment inquiry “a political revenge tour that lacks any factual or constitutional basis” that is led by “extreme MAGA Republicans.”
Mr. Biden has denied involvement in his son’s business deals, but his statements and statements from his press office have shifted as Republicans disclose records and testimony that clash with those claims.
The three Republican lawmakers who will run the impeachment inquiry said they have already uncovered “overwhelming evidence” implicating Mr. Biden that demands the stepped-up investigative authority of an impeachment probe.
The House oversight committee has combed through bank records that Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said show that Biden family members and associates have pocketed $20 million from foreign business deals, much of it while Mr. Biden was vice president.
House investigators also have heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer, who said Mr. Biden would phone in or drop by his son’s business meetings and that his powerful position in government was the main reason his son and business partners could secure lucrative deals.
Archer, who is facing a prison sentence over an unrelated securities fraud conviction, also revealed a Dec. 4, 2015, phone call that Hunter Biden made to the vice president from Dubai. The call included two executives from Burisma Holdings, an energy company paying Hunter Biden a $1 million annual salary as they sought help from Washington in thwarting a corruption probe.
The House Ways and Means and Judiciary committees say they have evidence of obstruction. The committees have interviewed IRS whistleblowers and an FBI agent who said the Justice Department thwarted their efforts to investigate Mr. Biden’s involvement in his son’s business deals.
The committee chairmen said in a statement that they believe Mr. Biden abused his office for monetary gain.
“Based on the evidence, we support the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” Mr. Comer, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith said in a joint statement. “The American people demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this blatant abuse of public office.”
Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, said on news radio WTAM in Cleveland that Mr. McCarthy launched the impeachment investigation to make it easier for the committees to obtain records that the Biden administration would try to block in court.
Republicans want to examine Biden family bank records to determine whether Mr. Biden profited from the deals.
“The speaker did it because the facts warrant such,” Mr. Jordan said of Mr. McCarthy’s decision to open an impeachment investigation.
Rank-and-file House Republicans celebrated Mr. McCarthy’s announcement.
Conservatives have been pressuring Mr. McCarthy to greenlight an impeachment investigation for months.
Two Republican lawmakers, Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have filed separate impeachment resolutions against Mr. Biden.
“Time for Congress to utilize its full capabilities, conduct its constitutional duty, and reveal the culture of corruption that is crippling the Biden presidency,” Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and former House oversight chairman, said on X.
• Alex Miller contributed to this report.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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