House Republicans vote for impeachment inquiry into Biden

Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved opening an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden.

Republicans said the vote, which was 221-212, was needed to give them full authority to continue carrying out their investigation amid anticipated legal challenges from the White House.

All Democrats voted against the probe and criticized the vote as a political stunt and a move to exact retribution on behalf of former president Donald Trump, who was impeached twice by the House before being acquitted by the Senate.

Authorizing the inquiry ensures that the impeachment investigation goes well into 2024, when Biden will be running for reelection and is expected to again face Trump.

In a statement about the impeachment effort, the president questioned the priorities of House Republicans in pursuing an inquiry against him and his family.

"Instead of doing anything to help make Americans' lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies," the president said following the vote. "Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts."

Since winning the majority, House Republicans have been investigating various aspects of the president's family and administration, looking for evidence that could be used to prove he is corrupt and should be impeached. Trump has urged on their investigation at each step.

The investigation will look into whether the president had ties to the overseas business dealings of his son, Hunter. GOP lawmakers have obtained testimony that Joe Biden before becoming president occasionally met with his son's business associates. Their investigation has raised ethical questions, but no evidence has emerged that Biden acted corruptly or accepted bribes in his current role or previous office as vice- president.

"The House has been engaged in an impeachment inquiry, examining whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to exercise constitutional power to impeach the president of the United States," said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the Rules Committee. "Today's resolution simply formalizes that inquiry and grants the House full authority to enforce its subpoenas that have been denied as recently as today."

Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the move was political: "We are here for one reason and one reason alone: Donald Trump demanded that Republicans impeach, so they are going to impeach. They are weaponizing and abusing impeachment, one of the most somber and serious things that Congress can do, to attack President Joe Biden."

The Republican inquiry has focused heavily on Hunter Biden, who is under indictment on federal tax and gun charges and the work he did for companies and partners overseas.

They are also examining whether the Biden administration interfered with the Justice Department investigation of Hunter Biden and whether the president mishandled classified documents when he was vice-president or a senator.

The vote to start the impeachment process came hours after Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to sit for a private deposition.

Republicans issued the subpoena, demanding to question him over his overseas business dealings as they seek to portray him as corrupt and link the deals to his father.

Outside the Capitol on Wednesday morning, Hunter Biden held a news conference in which he repeated his offer to publicly testify in the investigation into his father, but insisted again that he wouldn't be interviewed behind closed doors. He has said he fears that Republicans would leak selectively from his testimony to distort it.

The Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry then threatened to hold him in contempt of Congress if he didn't comply with demands for private testimony.

aiheping@chindailyusa.com