House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden is a “natural step forward” following Republican probes into the business dealings of the president and his family.
In an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” McCarthy, R-Calif., was asked whether he plans to launch an impeachment inquiry of the president when Congress returns next month.
“So, if you look at all the information we have been able to gather so far, it is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said.
He added that an impeachment inquiry “provides Congress the apex of legal power to get all the information they need.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McCarthy’s remarks suggest that House, which Republicans lead by a slim margin, is moving closer toward an impeachment inquiry. Last week, he said the chamber could move forward with an impeachment inquiry into Biden if his administration doesn’t provide documents Republicans say they want to review.
“The thing that holds up whether we’ll do an impeachment inquiry: Provide us the documents we’re asking,” he said during a Fox Business interview. “The whole determination here is how the Bidens handle this.”
“If they provide us the documents, there wouldn’t be a need for an impeachment inquiry,” he added. “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 an impeachment inquiry when we come back into session.”
McCarthy said Republicans are seeking bank and credit card statements, but he did not specify from which members of the Biden family.
The speaker also raised allegations stemming from Republican probes into the business dealings of the Biden family during an interview on Fox News last month, which he said was “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry.”
Republicans have alleged in their probes that Biden family members received payments from foreign companies and that the Justice Department, according to IRS whistleblowers, has treated the Biden family “differently” in its investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden, McCarthy noted.
In June, the party decided to forgo an immediate vote on an impeachment resolution led by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., by sending it to the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees amid escalating internal GOP tensions.
The move came after McCarthy urged rank-and-file Republicans at a closed-door meeting to oppose Boebert’s resolution, arguing that such an important issue should go through the committee process, three GOP sources who heard the comments confirmed at the time.
McCarthy and other Republicans had argued that a quick impeachment vote would be “premature” if it took place before Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, conclude their sprawling investigations into Biden, his family and his administration.
Separate from the GOP-led investigations, Hunter Biden is also being probed by federal authorities over tax and gun charges. U.S. Attorney David Weiss this month was appointed special counsel in the ongoing probe of the president’s son after a plea deal fell apart amid confusion about a separate gun charge.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
