Republicans are planning to begin an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden in the fall, despite there being no proof of any wrongdoing on his part.
The GOP has for months accused the president and his son Hunter Biden of corruption, although they have yet to produce any actual evidence of their claims. While the farthest-right Republicans have long been clamoring to impeach Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously hedged, saying they did not have a strong enough case yet.
But many House Republicans say that the inquiry will definitely happen in the fall, and could begin as soon as next month, CNN reported Tuesday. They are worried that if they don’t try to impeach him now, it will make it look like they have cleared him and Hunter of wrongdoing.
McCarthy has begun to compare Biden to Nixon, arguing that his actions alone merit an impeachment inquiry. He says that an inquiry is different from voting on articles of impeachment, because it would merely give House Republicans greater power to get access to documents or witnesses that could prove their case. (Although if they haven’t proven their case by now, the bigger question might be whether there is anything to prove.)
“That’s exactly what was played out during the Nixon administration in Congress. They voted to have an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy told Fox News’s Sean Hannity Monday night. “I’ve raised it on this show not long ago, that because the actions of the Biden administration, withholding information, that that would rise to the level where we would need impeachment inquiry.”
“We will continue to follow the information and provide it to the American public,” McCarthy insisted. “The difference here is we don’t do it for political purposes. We follow the Constitution.”
Except, of course, all of the investigations into Biden are absolutely for political purposes. House Republicans have mobilized multiple committees to go after the Biden family. There has yet to be any proof of wrongdoing, but Republicans have used the investigations as excuses to trash Biden, attack policies they don’t like such as immigration, and share his son’s nude photos.
Supercharging those investigations via impeachment inquiry would be nothing more than Republican retaliation for Donald Trump’s two impeachments. But the move also could be highly unpopular—especially for those 18 Republicans representing districts Biden won in 2020. Several Republicans have expressed skepticism at the idea of impeachment, and CNN reported that some Republican donors are worried that an impeachment inquiry would not be a smart move.
There’s also the risk that impeachment proceedings would backfire completely. Republicans would be forced to lay out everything they have—which is really not that much.