"McCarthy is being told by Marjorie Taylor Greene to do impeachment," White House claps back

Spokesman Ian Sams accused the House GOP of offering "red meat for the extreme rightwing" with Biden impeachment

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Staff Writer

Published September 12, 2023 2:05PM (EDT)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., takes a selife with Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at the end of the 15th vote after he received enough votes to become Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, January 7, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., takes a selife with Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at the end of the 15th vote after he received enough votes to become Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, January 7, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's announcement Tuesday that the House of Representatives will launch a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden drew a sharp rebuke from the White House, whose spokesman asserted that the California Republican is "being told by Marjorie Taylor Greene to do impeachment."

McCarthy's announcement followed House Republicans' months-long investigation into the president, who they allege benefitted from his son, Hunter Biden's, overseas business dealings, and will be led by the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees, USA Today reports. "Today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden," McCarthy said at a Tuesday news conference. "This logical next stop will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public."

Ian Sams, the White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, questioned McCarthy's assertion that the inquiry is the "'next logical step'" in a response on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The House GOP investigations have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing by POTUS," he began. "In fact, their own witnesses have testified to that, and their own documents have showed no link to POTUS."

Sams went on to reference McCarthy's appearance on Fox News late last month, in which the House Speaker said he'd move forward with impeachment if the Bidens refused to turn over requested documents. But, Sams notes, the GOP did not request any such documents from the White House, a fact that an aide for the House Oversight Committee confirmed to The Hill. "Why no mainstream accountability for that falsehood?" Sams continued.

"McCarthy is being told by Marjorie Taylor Greene to do impeachment, or else she'll shut down the government. Opening impeachment despite zero evidence of wrongdoing by POTUS is simply red meat for the extreme rightwing so they can keep baselessly attacking him," Sams concluded, citing screenshots of HuffPost and Washington Post articles that indicate Republicans wish to "tarnish President before 2024" and have linked the investigation to Biden's poll numbers, respectively, as evidence that the Republicans "admit it."