White House condemns Republican Party demands in impeachment inquiry
The White House on Friday condemned House Republicans’ sweeping impeachment inquiry into President Biden, saying the investigation lacked legitimacy and that recent subpoenas and demands for congressional testimony from former White House counsel, White House aides White House and members of the Biden family were ‘irresponsible’.
“You appear so determined to impeach the President that you have misrepresented the facts, ignored the overwhelming evidence that refutes your claims, and repeatedly changed the rationale for your ‘investigation,’” wrote Richard Sauber, a special counsel for the Mr. Biden, to Representatives James R. Comer, a Kentucky Republican who leads the Oversight Committee, and Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Sauber’s letter came after Republicans in the House of Representatives demanded to interview Biden family members and issued a subpoena to Dana Remus, a former White House counsel under Mr. Biden. It was perhaps the strongest rebuke of the investigation issued by the Biden administration.
House Republicans are investigating numerous aspects of the Biden administration and have accused the president of taking millions of dollars in bribes and changing U.S. policy to enrich his family, but they have provided no evidence to back up their boldest to substantiate claims. Their investigation has focused heavily on the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and the work he did for companies and partners in Ukraine, China and other countries.
They are also investigating Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents and whether his administration interfered with a Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden, who is charged with lying about his drug use on a federal form he filled out in 2018 to buy a gun. .
On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson met with Mr. Comer, Mr. Jordan and Representative Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, for an update on the investigation.
Mr Johnson praised the men for their work and backed their efforts to interview more witnesses in closed-door interviews.
“The right step now is to put key witnesses under oath and question them under penalty of perjury to fill gaps in the file,” Mr Johnson said. “I commend the good work of Presidents Comer, Jordan and Smith. As we move forward toward a turning point in this critical investigation, they have my full and unwavering support.”
This month, Republicans in the House of Representatives issued subpoenas demanding testimony from Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president’s brother, as they look for evidence to build an impeachment case against him.
Mr. Comer also demanded that other Biden family members submit to transcribed interviews. He sent letters requesting interviews to Sara Biden, James Biden’s wife; Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, the president’s eldest son; Elizabeth Secondy, Hallie Biden’s sister; and Melissa Cohen, who is married to Hunter Biden.
“These requests appear to be motivated by a desire to increase the number of subpoenas, as per Chairman Jordan tweeted only this week, in lieu of any legitimate research interest,” Sauber wrote on Friday. “Congress’ intimidation of the president to score political points is exactly the kind of behavior the Constitution and the separation of powers were designed to prevent.”
Mr. Sauber added: “You should reconsider your current course of action and withdraw these subpoenas and demands for interviews.”
Mr. Comer responded in a statement that he would not drop his demands for interviews with White House staffers.
“If President Biden has nothing to hide, he should make his current and former staff available to testify before Congress about his mishandling of classified documents,” he said.
In some ways, Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has used the investigation as leverage to keep far-right forces at bay.
Mr Johnson is seen as a more outspoken supporter of the inquiry than former chairman Kevin McCarthy. In July, Mr. Johnson called the Bidens “hopelessly corrupt” and said they were “apparently involved in a long-standing pattern of extortion, bribery, influence peddling, tax fraud and staggering abuse of power.”
Since becoming speaker, Mr Johnson has adopted a more neutral tone, telling reporters: “We have to follow due process, and we have to follow the law.”
Also Friday, Mr. Johnson said he would make good on another promise he made to the far-right Republican faction in Congress: He said Republicans in the House of Representatives have released more than 40,000 hours of footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack online were going to place. at the Capitol.
Mr. McCarthy had allowed the footage to be viewed in person but declined to post any of it online due to U.S. Capitol Police security concerns. Mr Johnson said on Friday that more than 95 per cent of the footage – all except parts deemed a security risk – would be posted online in tranches over the coming months.
“Today we will immediately begin posting video footage to a public website and will add almost all of the footage to the website as soon as possible, over 40,000 hours,” Mr Johnson said. “Meanwhile, a public viewing area will ensure that every citizen can watch every minute of the videos uncensored.”