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House Republicans have a razor-thin majority and would need near unanimity to approve articles of impeachment against the president, which they do not have. Instead, skepticism among rank-and-file Republicans has only grown since an FBI informant was indicted on charges of lying about the Bidens, and what had previously been presented as key evidence has collapsed. .
In the absence of those votes, Comer and other members of the investigative committee shifted their focus to the possibility of criminal charges. Comer has threatened criminal charges “multiple times,” but it remains unclear whether lawmakers will formally charge President Biden with a crime and what crimes they will allege have been committed.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (RN.D.) said, “I don’t understand why they can refer the president to criminal charges but not move forward with impeachment.” “In other words, [Justice Department] I’ll never bring it up anyway. ”
Armstrong, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, added that he may pursue criminal referral for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act against several witnesses who testified before the committee. Hunter Biden, who refused to appear in court Wednesday, faces a long-running federal tax case and nine criminal charges for felony firearms.
“What’s my take on impeachment in general? This is a very high bar that they had to meet, and they had to convince their colleagues that it was the right thing to do,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-S.C. Pennsylvania) said. “If they refuse to pursue impeachment, I think that’s the right decision.”
The apparent collapse of one of House Republicans’ flagship investigations was preceded by a series of incidents in which Mr. Comer was wrongly arrested, which has been criticized even by some Republicans. Colleagues support his Fox News-centric approach The allegations against Biden and his son surfaced in the investigation before they were publicly cleared. In his opening statement Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee, called the hearing “perhaps the most spectacularly failed end to a congressional investigation in history.”
“Our colleagues now appear to be preparing to save face by ending the impeachment travesty with criminal charges,” Raskin said. “But a criminal referral requires proof of a crime. And the only crime we’ve seen comes from the Republicans’ own star witness.”
Introduction to all crimes The bill, submitted by Congress to the Justice Department, is a symbolic measure that has no legal weight in itself, and the decision on whether to pursue criminal charges will be left to prosecutors. Fee. But a criminal complaint could detail the oversight committee’s findings in the clearest terms possible, and serve as a messaging vehicle for Republicans seeking to legitimize baseless claims and theories about Biden and his family. It may function as
Some lawmakers have indicated they are willing to consider any new evidence House investigators may uncover by then, but Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) said Republicans have He pointed out that time is running out for a rematch between Trump and former President Donald Trump. And Biden faces bigger electoral challenges than the possibility of impeachment, which is doomed to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“Ultimately, the American people will vote in October or November to decide whether this president is fit to be president,” Garcia said. “He’s had enough other challenges and failures that I think impeachment probably won’t even affect the outcome of the election.”
Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, and Jason Galanis, who is serving a nearly 16-year sentence in federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama, for multiple fraud schemes, are both House Republicans. testified at Wednesday’s hearing at the request of Both men claimed that Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business activities before providing details of their limited interactions with Joe Biden to flesh out their allegations. Bobulinski cited a May 2017 interview with Joe Biden arranged by Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James as evidence that Joe Biden was aware of his son’s business dealings with foreign companies. He mentioned a meeting with.but When asked about Wednesday’s meeting, Bobulinski referred to the 45-minute meeting in Los Angeles and did not specifically mention pursuing a deal with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC.
“We talked about my background, my family’s military history, the various business ventures I had around the world, and the families I worked with. Joe took the time to talk about his family and the tragedies they had experienced. We talked about a few things,” Bobulinski said. , describing the debate with Joe Biden. I wasn’t in the office at the time.
Galanis, who testified via Zoom from prison, spoke to Biden after Hunter Biden pulled aside a small group of people, including Galanis and Russian billionaire Elena Baturina, at a party in May 2014. He also said they had a “relatively short discussion”. Her husband Yuri Lushkov and Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer called Joe Biden on speakerphone. Galanis claimed that the discussion was about Baturina and Ruzkov’s upcoming visit to Washington and that they “talked about being kind to her son.” Asked if the call was about Hunter Biden showing potential investors “access to the Biden brand,” Galanis said it was.
Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) cited inconsistencies between the Biden family’s testimony at the hearing and those of Bobulinski and Galanis as potential grounds for another criminal case, alleging lies to Congress. criticized as After the hearing, Palmer defended the oversight committee’s process and warned there was still time for members to consider articles of impeachment.
“I think we have to be very careful and very painstaking because a lot of people’s lives are at stake. … My goal is not to catch anyone, but to get to the truth,” Palmer said. he said.
The hearings were at times contentious. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) laughed when Rep. Lisa C. McClain (R-Mich.) tried to tarnish Hunter Biden’s reputation by mocking her as a “golden child.” I muttered this under my breath. She was “rich.”
“Look at your party,” Presley added. “Please let me rest.”
At one point, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) challenged Comer to introduce a motion to impeach Biden. “When are you going to tell the American people that you’re going to stop wasting money and call for an impeachment vote?” Moskowitz said.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) countered, “We don’t do instant impeachments like you do.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have embarrassed Republican lawmakers who have chosen to hold hearings for an impeachment inquiry that was launched in part on allegations that officials now say are false. Special Counsel David Weiss, who previously brought criminal charges against Hunter Biden, announced last month that he would charge an FBI informant, who Comer had claimed as foundational evidence in the impeachment inquiry, with lying to the FBI. .
Sen. Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last spring accused former confidential FBI source Alexander Smirnov of implicating Joe Biden in a 2020 bribery scheme. He subpoenaed the FBI to subpoena documents containing the unsubstantiated allegations. Smirnov’s argument. Mr. Smirnov’s claims were previously reviewed by the FBI under then-Attorney General William P. Barr, found to be unsupported by facts, and subsequently withdrawn.
But Mr. Comer and other Republicans spent months arguing that Mr. Smirnov’s claims were proof that the Bidens engaged in corrupt dealings and that the FBI was not pursuing those claims. This story received extensive media coverage. Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News aired at least 85 segments about unsubstantiated claims that Joe Biden took bribes, according to a tally by Media Matters for America.
“This entire investigation is based on blockbuster information that was in a secret room at SCIF, and inside that room were documents that directly allege a $10 million bribery scheme for President Biden,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. said Representative (D.N.Y.). ). “What happened a month ago? The FBI arrested the person who came forward with these charges for falsifying testimony to the FBI. This entire impeachment investigation is based on actual, provable individuals who lied. ing.”
“A responsible leader would rescind the investigation on that basis,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Democrats also called on Rudy Giuliani’s former colleague Lev Parnas, who was convicted in a campaign finance fraud case and appeared in court Wednesday, to track down damaging information about Joe Biden in 2018 and 2019. asked about his time working with Giuliani. A Ukrainian-American businessman accused a group of pro-Trump lawmakers of spreading misinformation about the Bidens and their activities in Ukraine.
“The only information that has been forced on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source: Russia and Russian operatives,” Parnas testified.
At the end of the hearing, Comer said he would invite the president to testify before Congress, but the White House press secretary laughed off the invitation on social media.
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