Washington — President Joe Biden's senior White House lawyer urges House Speaker Mike Johnson to cease his chamber's impeachment operations over unverified charges that he benefited from his son and brother's business connections.
In a Friday letter to Johnson, R-La., White House attorney Ed Siskel said that House Oversight and Judiciary committee testimony and records have failed to prove wrongdoing and that Republican witnesses have rejected impeachment. A month earlier, federal prosecutors charged an ex-FBI informant who made explosive claims with lying about the Bidens and covert Russian intelligence links.
“It is obviously time to move on, Mr. Speaker,” Siskel wrote. This impeachment is over. There's too much essential work to do for the American people to waste time on this charade.” As their House majority shrinks with early departures, Republicans have reached a near-standstill in their Biden impeachment inquiry.
Johnson said “people have gotten frustrated” that the Biden review has taken so long and that it's uncertain if it will reveal impeachable charges. He insisted at a House Republican retreat in West Virginia late Wednesday that investigators intentionally take a “slow and deliberate” approach.
“Does it meet the ‘treason, high crimes and misdemeanor’ standard?” Johnson cited the Constitution's high impeachment hurdle. Everyone must evaluate the evidence when we gather it.
Republican leaders are increasingly considering criminal referrals to the Justice Department of people they believe may have committed crimes without backing from their tight ranks to impeach the Democratic president. Who they mean is unknown.
The speaker's spokeswoman said the White House's desire to end the Biden family's financial investigation is expected. “Congress decides how impeachment is resolved, not the White House,” Raj Shah stated.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer will hold a hearing next week despite Hunter Biden's absence. Instead, some former business partners of the president's son will testify. Comer has also examined proposals to tighten elected official ethics.
Without details, Johnson said the investigation found “a lot of things that we believe that violated the law.” Sending criminal referrals may be symbolic, but it might lead to Biden prosecutions in a future administration, especially since former President Donald Trump has sworn to avenge his political adversaries.
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