McCarthy Lays Out Biden Impeachment Timeline If House Investigations Blocked

Published: 8/23/2023, 12:27:37 PM EDT

McCarthy Lays Out Biden Impeachment Timeline If House Investigations Blocked — U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to reporters outside the Speaker’s Balcony at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on July 25, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives could move forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden in the coming weeks, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) revealed on Tuesday night.

In an interview with Fox Business, host Larry Kudlow asked the Republican speaker about the recent special counsel appointment to investigate the president's son, Hunter Biden, and about potential Republican efforts to initiate their own impeachment inquiry into the president himself. Mr. McCarthy said the Republican decision on whether or not to initiate an impeachment inquiry will likely be contingent on whether or not the Biden administration allows the turnover of documents pertaining to his family's business activities, and of his possible involvement in those transactions.

"If the Biden administration continues to fight to withhold information that could really clear all this up—Did they take bribes? Did they deal in the business?—If they hold that up, we would have to move to an impeachment inquiry," Mr. McCarthy said.

He said an impeachment inquiry would give House investigators more expansive subpoena powers that could allow them to pursue bank and credit card statements. Such documents could provide new insights into the Biden family business dealings—and what involvement Joe Biden had in those activities.

Summarizing Republican investigative findings thus far, Mr. McCarthy said they'd uncovered details about an array of business entities operated by the Biden family that received payments from foreign nationals—including Chinese entities—while Joe Biden served as vice president. Mr. McCarthy also noted the recent testimony of Hunter Biden's former business partner, Devon Archer, who said the elder Biden was on speaker phone with his son during numerous business dealings, and even attended in-person dinner meetings with his son and his son's other business partners.

Last week, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) raised allegations that the elder Biden also used multiple aliases in communications that involved his son and Ukrainian officials, at a time when his son served on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. According to Mr. Comer, Hunter Biden was cc'd on a May 27, 2016 email to Vice President Biden, though the communication was sent to one of the elder Biden's suspected aliases, “Robert L. Peters." Mr. Comer has pressed the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for unredacted records of those alleged communications involving Robert L. Peters, and three other names Mr. Comer alleges were pseudonyms for the elder Biden.

"The whole determination here is how the Biden's handled this: if they provide us the documents, there wouldn't be a need for impeachment inquiry," Mr. McCarthy reiterated. "But if they withhold the documents and fight like they have now, to not provide to the American public what they deserve to know, we will move forward with impeachment inquiry when we come back into session."

The House is currently in its August recess but is due to resume its work in September.

NTD News reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) has insisted Mr. Archer's testimony revealed the elder Biden's interactions with his son's business partners amounted to "casual conversations" and that business matters were never discussed.

"There still is no connection of any of Hunter Biden’s business dealings with President Biden,” Mr. Goldman told reporters after concluding a closed-door interview with Mr. Archer earlier this month.

Democrat defenses of the president have not stopped Republicans from accusing Joe Biden of profiteering from his family's business dealings. On Aug. 14, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) filed articles of impeachment against President Biden, accusing him of "knowingly allowing his family members to promise access to him and actions by him" in order to further their business dealings—and of colluding with Department of Justice officials to undermine investigations into Hunter Biden.

Special Counsel Won't Impede House Investigation: McCarthy

During his interview with Fox Business, Mr. McCarthy also took aim at the recent appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss to lead a special counsel investigation into Hunter Biden.

Attorney General Merrick Garland granted Mr. Weiss special counsel authorities in his investigation of the president's son. Many Republicans, who have accused Mr. Weiss of being overly lenient in his prosecution of the sitting president's son, have expressed skepticism about the decision to now give Mr. Weiss special counsel powers.

"Merrick Garland hired a Special Counsel who he knew would not investigate the President’s illegal behavior while he was Vice President," Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said of the appointment earlier this month. "He is placing the same prosecutor in charge of Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal. David Weiss has shown himself to not be an impartial decision-maker, and therefore I do not believe he is qualified to be Special Counsel."

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, said if Mr. Weiss is actually working as an impartial investigator, then "he will quickly conclude" that Hunter Biden and Joe Biden should face consequences. That comment comes as President Trump faces multiple criminal indictments, including two brought by special counsel Jack Smith—another appointee of Mr. Garland.

Reacting to the special counsel appointment, former Republican South Carolina governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley also said "I don't trust it."

Mr. McCarthy shared his own suspicions of Mr. Weiss during the Fox Business interview, accusing him of dragging out his investigation into Hunter Biden and of pursuing lighter charges, while allowing the statute of limitations to expire for more serious offenses.

"We have this Weiss, who is now the Special Counsel, literally let the statute of limitations run out on the most severe tax problems that the Biden family had," Mr. McCarthy said. "So why is this special treatment here?"

Mr. McCarthy said that if Mr. Weiss's special counsel investigation appears to be a pretext to block Republican congressional investigations into the Biden family, then that would further convince him to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry.

"If they use this special counsel to say that they can't provide us the information, then it just shows more politics, and it will not stop us," the House speaker explained. "Then we would move to impeachment inquiry and we would be able to still get the documents that we need as we move forward."

President Biden has distanced himself from the special counsel appointment decision.

“I have no comment on any investigation that’s going on,” he told reporters during a press conference a week after the special counsel appointment. “That’s up to the Justice Department, and that’s all I have to say.”