Speaker Mike Johnson says he thinks he has the votes to authorize Biden impeachment inquiry

On Friday, Republicans emerging from a closed-door conference indicated that the House could vote to formally authorize its impeachment inquiry into the president as soon as next week. “That’s the plan,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R.S.C., told reporters.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who has been accusing the Biden family of engaging in shady business practices, said GOP leadership would determine the timing of the vote, but that he wants her “sooner” rather than later.

Republican support for launching the investigation solidified during the Thanksgiving break in Congress, Comer added. “I think our conference took place last week and you heard from people at Walmart, people from Main Street who wanted to find out the truth about Joe Biden’s knowledge and involvement in the shady family business.”

Then-Chairman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced in September that his party would open an impeachment inquiry into Biden, ordering the three committees to obtain bank records and other documents from the president and his son Hunter Biden.

Last month, House Republicans issued subpoenas focused on the family’s businesses, asking Hunter; James Biden, brother of the president; and Rob Walker, a Biden family associate, who will testify. The subpoenas came a day after the special prosecutor overseeing an investigation into Hunter testified before the Judiciary Committee behind closed doors.

The Oversight Committee said it obtained financial documents that it alleges show that members of the Biden family had established more than 20 shell companies, most of which were created during Joe Biden’s time as vice president. Those companies, the panel alleged, were part of an effort to conceal payments from foreign adversaries.

White House counsel Richard Sauber called the subpoenas “unwarranted” and wrote in a letter that the “requests were sent even though, after a year of investigation, voluminous records and testimony from dozens of witnesses have refuted his unfounded accusations about the president.” .”