Joe Biden impeachment inquiry formally opened despite lack of evidence | US News

An impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has been formally approved – even though there is no evidence shown that he committed high crimes.

The Republican-controlled House voted 221-212 along party lines on Wednesday to authorize the probe into whether the president benefited improperly from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals.

Republicans have not released evidence publicly supporting the allegations.

‘Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies,’ stated Biden of Republicans lawmakers shortly after 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.’

Republicans began the probe informally three months ago. The chairman of the Rules Committee, Republican Rep Tom Cole, said lawmakers in September started ‘examining whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to exercise constitutional power to impeach the president of the United States’.

‘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,’ said Cole.

Biden’s impeachment inquiry was authorized hours after Hunter defied a congressional subpoena for a closed-door deposition and said he would only testify publicly in the probe into his business dealings.

‘Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say,’ stated Hunter outside the US Capitol. ‘What are they afraid of? I am here.’

Hunter added: ‘There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.’

The impeachment inquiry is unlikely to remove Biden from the White House. If the House votes to impeach him, two-thirds of the Senate must then vote to convict him. But Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, which is in Biden’s favor.

Biden is running for reelection, with former President Donald Trump the clear frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Trump was the first president in US history to be impeached two times and is facing four criminal trials ahead of the 2024 election.

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