White House rejects request for Biden to testify in House Oversight impeachment inquiry

CNN
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The White House informed House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer that President Joe Biden would not accept an invitation to testify in the committee’s impeachment hearings, according to a letter first obtained by CNN. further insulting the efforts of

“Your impeachment inquiry is closed,” Richard Sauber, special counsel for the president, wrote to Comer on Monday. “I decline President Biden’s invitation to testify.”

In the letter, Sauber said the president had done “nothing wrong” and accused Comer of spreading “false and unsubstantiated claims.”

In a statement to CNN, Comer criticized Biden’s refusal to testify publicly and called on the president to answer questions that accompanied the hearing invitation. Comer’s statement did not say whether he plans to take further action now that Biden has withdrawn.

“It is unfortunate that President Biden is unwilling to answer questions in front of the American people and refuses to answer some of the very simple and straightforward questions we included in our invitation,” Comer said in a statement. Ta.

House Republicans have yet to uncover evidence of wrongdoing by the president, and given their narrowly divided majority, they currently do not have the votes to impeach him in the House. As a result, the impeachment inquiry appears to be at an impasse, with no consensus within the Republican Party on when and how to end it.

Comer had invited Biden to testify at a hearing this week, but had not formally scheduled a hearing.

Mr. Comer has single-handedly led the effort to attract the president to testify before the committee, officials said. Comer’s request to appear before the committee was co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, who led the investigation and signed several letters with Comer. There was no. Mr. Comer had announced that he would invite Mr. Biden to join House Speaker Mike Johnson’s team, but Mr. Johnson was not involved in the decision, a person familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The president’s invitation comes amid growing momentum, even among some Republicans, for an investigation that has failed to uncover evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Biden, despite dozens of witness interviews and hundreds of thousands of bank records. It was seen as a last-ditch effort to reopen.

This article has been updated with additional reporting.