Recently-installed US House Speaker Mike Johnson believes Republicans may have the votes needed to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden.
Johnson stated on Fox News on Saturday that the House GOP will decide whether to initiate procedures in response to long-standing allegations that Biden and his family were involved in an illegal conspiracy to exploit their political influence for financial advantage while he was vice president.
Johnson, who took over as Speaker of the House in October, also claimed that the White House has “stonewalled” inquiries against Biden by impeding witness committee testimony and withholding records.
I believe we will [hold a vote],” Johnson said on the ‘Fox & Friends’ news program, flanked by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Steganik. He added that he didn’t believe that Democrats would provide any support, “but they should.”
However, Johnson stressed that impeachment proceedings would not be used as a blunt partisan tool to pursue Biden for political gain. “Elise and I both served on the impeachment defense team of Donald Trump twice, when the Democrats used it for brazen partisan political purposes,” he said. “We decried the use of it. This is very different.”
Republicans have been poring over Biden and his son Hunter’s business activities for months, looking for probable illegalities that may lay the groundwork for impeachment. However, no vote was held because some Republicans questioned whether there was enough proof of wrongdoing to proceed.
According to Johnson, the White House has “withheld thousands of pages of evidence.”
Biden has frequently disputed Republican charges against him and has stated that the investigations that have followed are without merit. According to the Associated Press, a White House legal representative stated last month in a letter to House Republicans that they had “misrepresented” the facts of Biden’s alleged misconduct.
Republicans, according to the attorney, “ignored the overwhelming evidence disproving [their] claims and repeatedly shifted the rationale for [their] ‘inquiry.’” A White House spokeswoman told CNN on Saturday that the accusations are a “baseless, politically motivated attempt to smear President Biden.”
Hunter Biden promised to appear before Republican committees investigating his business practises last month, but only provided it was done in public.
If the House impeaches Biden, it is unlikely that the Democrat-controlled Senate will vote to remove him from office. Former President Donald Trump was acquitted in both of his Senate trials after being impeached twice.
If a vote to initiate impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden is to take place this month, it must take place by the end of the month.
