U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to reporters as he returns to the U.S. Capitol following a meeting with President Joe Biden and fellow congressional leaders on May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday backed an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
“Today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public,” McCarthy said at a press conference.
The House speaker claimed Tuesday that Biden had lied to the American people about his knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings.
The impeachment inquiry will be led by GOP Rep. James Comer, Ky., who chairs the House Oversight Committee, in coordination with Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Jason Smith, Mo., who chairs the Ways and Means Committee.
Senate Republicans are skeptical that the House has enough evidence to justify an impeachment inquiry.
The Republican-led House Oversight committee launched an investigation in January into allegations that Biden profited from his son Hunter’s business dealings while he was vice president.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee, called the GOP investigation “a complete and total bust” in a statement Monday.
“The voluminous evidence they have gathered, including thousands of pages of bank records and suspicious activity reports and hours of testimony from witnesses, overwhelmingly demonstrates no wrongdoing by President Biden and further debunks Republicans’ conspiracy theories,” Raskin said.
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