MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US House to move on with Biden's impeachment process

Biden said it was all a “baseless political stunt”

The United States House of Representatives voted 221-212 strictly along party lines Wednesday to launch a preliminary probe into the possible causes for the impeachment of President Joseph Biden, Speaker Mike Johnson announced in Washington DC.

The initiative was promoted in September unilaterally by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the opposition Republican Party, which controls the House.

The investigation would allow lawmakers to access information, documents, and testimonies that might be relevant when deciding whether to bring the case before the Senate, where the Democrats are currently in control.

Upon hearing the news, Biden, who intends to seek reelection next year, said he was “being attacked with lies” because “Congressional Republicans themselves admit it is not based on facts.”

“Instead of doing anything to help improve the lives of Americans, they are focused on attacking me with lies,” Biden insisted after being accused of allegedly having financial ties with China and leveraging his political influence for his family's business interests, particularly his son Hunter when he was vice president under Barack Obama (2009-2017).

In Biden's words, the allegations against him are a “baseless political stunt.”

House committees believe the Biden family received more than US$ 15 million from companies and foreign governments in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania, and China between 2014 and 2019. His associates reportedly received another US$ 9 million. Some 150 of these transactions were flagged as “suspicious” by the US Treasury Department.

Hunter Biden had been summoned this Wednesday to testify behind closed doors on the matter, but he defaulted on his subpoena claiming that he wants his testimony to be public. “I am here to testify at a public hearing today, to answer the committee's questions,” Hunter Biden said.

Hunter Biden admitted that he “made mistakes” in his personal life, and accused Republicans of trying to “dehumanize me all to embarrass and damage my father.” Republicans had rejected his offer to testify in public and said they would move forward to hold him in contempt of Congress. Biden Jr is under scrutiny for deals dating back to when he served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma from 2014 to 2019. He was indicted a second time last week on three felonies and six misdemeanor tax offenses after he allegedly failed to pay his taxes, failed to file his tax returns, and filed fraudulent tax returns.

“We're very pleased with the vote today,” said House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky. “I think that it's a message loud and clear to the White House.”

“We expect to depose the president’s son, and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing,” Comer also pointed out.