"Wild goose chase": White House says GOP report exposes impeachment push as "failed stunt"

"They only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories," Biden spox says

Published August 19, 2024 11:25AM (EDT)

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, attend the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled "Oversight of the U.S. General Services Administration," in Rayburn Building on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, attend the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled "Oversight of the U.S. General Services Administration," in Rayburn Building on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Republicans made the case for impeaching President Joe Biden on Monday, claiming that he let his family profit off corrupt business deals made by his son Hunter Biden. 

In a long awaited impeachment report released Monday, House GOP members wrote that Biden “participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family,” and called his actions “egregious.” The investigation that resulted in the impeachment report was launched last September by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

The investigation argues that much of Hunter Biden's business deals would not have happened had his father no been in office at the time. It also traced $27 million in payments from foreign entities to Biden family members

“An abuse of power may also be present even if, as some claim, the Biden family was only selling the ‘illusion’ of influence and access,” the report reads.

But the nearly 300-page document does not include any evidence that Biden engaged in corrupt or criminal activity that would warrant impeachment.

Both Biden and his son Hunter have denied that the president was involved in any of his son’s business deals and the White House has been critical of Republicans' investigation since the beginning.

“After wasting nearly two years and millions of taxpayer dollars, House Republicans have finally given up on their wild goose chase,” said White House spokesperson Sharon Yang in a statement. “This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories,” she added.

In the report, which is the result of over 30 interviews, Republicans maintain that they do not need to provide evidence that Biden personally profited from his son’s business, adding that grounds for impeachment “need not rise to the level of criminal conduct.”

“It is not necessary for the House of Representatives to show that the dealings involved a quid pro quo to rise to the level of an impeachable offense,” the report reads.

The accusation comes on the same day as the start of the Democratic National Convention, where Biden will speak Monday night.

 


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