House GOP sets first Biden impeachment hearing for Sept. 28

McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry last week after facing mounting pressure from his right flank

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republicans intend to hold the first hearing in their impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden next week.

According to a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee, the hearing on September 28 will focus on “constitutional and legal questions” surrounding allegations of Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s overseas businesses.

Republicans, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have argued in recent weeks that Biden’s actions as vice president demonstrate a “culture of corruption,” and that his son exploited the “Biden brand” to advance his business with foreign clients.

The spokesperson also stated that Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., intends to issue subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James Biden’s personal and business bank records “as early as this week.” McCarthy named Comer to lead the investigation in collaboration with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.

The White House has called House Republicans’ effort during the presidential campaign “extreme politics at its worst.”

“Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement Tuesday.

McCarthy announced the impeachment investigation last week, responding to mounting pressure from his right flank to act against Biden or risk losing his leadership position. At the same time, the speaker is struggling to pass legislation that will keep the federal government open until the end of the month.

The California lawmaker launched the investigation without a House vote, and it’s unclear whether he’d get enough support from his slim GOP majority to approve it. Some lawmakers have argued that the evidence falls short of the constitutional standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

An inquiry is a step closer to impeachment of the president, a constitutional tool that was previously uncommon in Congress.

McCarthy and other Republicans, on the other hand, have faced months of direct challenges from Trump — who is now the Republican front-runner to challenge Biden in next year’s election — to proceed with proceedings against his opponent. The action is also seen as an attempt to divert attention away from the indicted former president’s legal challenges and focus it on Biden.

The impeachment investigation is expected to build on the work that Comer and others have done since gaining control of the House in January. There are several investigative paths, but Comer has been tasked with tracking down the funds that passed through Biden’s son’s and brother’s various business accounts.

The chairman has repeatedly claimed that the Biden family was involved in an influence-peddling scheme, but has yet to directly link any of this to the president.

Republicans have centered their attention on an unsubstantiated tip to the FBI alleging a bribery scheme involving Biden while he was vice president. The bribery allegation, which surfaced in 2019 and was included in Trump’s first impeachment, relates to the allegation that Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor in order to halt an investigation into Burisma, the oil-and-gas company on which Hunter Biden served as a director.

Democrats have countered that the Justice Department investigated the Burisma claim during Trump’s presidency and closed the case after eight months due to a lack of evidence. Other countries were also calling for the Ukrainian official’s dismissal, accusing him of corruption. Hunter Biden’s former business partner has testified to Congress that the bribery allegation is false.