At a first hearing on the impeachment investigation against US President Biden, the Republicans renewed their allegations. But Democrats ask: Where is the evidence? Experts also have doubts.
It all sounds familiar to Jim Jordan, the eloquent Republican from Ohio. It’s a story as old as time, Jordan said yesterday: A politician does something that brings money to his family and then tries to cover it up.
The politician Jordan is referring to is President Joe Biden. Republicans claim he abused his office to enrich his family and believe they have a “mountain of evidence,” they said yesterday.
But where is that evidence, Democrats asked. “If Republicans had a smoking gun or just a leaky water gun, they would show it today,” said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin. But they have nothing against Biden.
Biden’s son Hunter in focus
Republicans have long been claiming that the Biden family is corrupt. But since January they have had a majority in the House of Representatives and therefore more opportunities to collect evidence. Parliamentary group leader Kevin McCarthy initially launched a formal investigation in mid-September.
The first, sometimes chaotic hearing lasted around six hours yesterday. The Republicans’ main accusation is that Biden’s son Hunter and others gave foreign business partners access to Biden and made money from it.
“Joe Biden is the brand and he has shown up at least 24 times to business associates, broadcasting signals of influence and power to those willing to pay for them,” claimed James Comer, the chairman of the accountability committee.
Above all, it’s about multi-million dollar deals that his son Hunter did in Ukraine and China – while his father was Vice President of the USA. The Republicans also speak of 20 shell companies through which the Bidens are said to have received $20 million.
But, Democrats ask, where is the trail that leads to Joe Biden? The committee received 12,000 pages of bank documents. But not a single page shows a single dime (a coin worth ten cents, editor’s note) that went to Joe Biden, according to Representative Jamie Raskin.
Republicans are divided
And even the experts invited by the Republicans had their doubts. Legal expert Jonathan Turley said he did not believe the current evidence would support impeachment proceedings. However, he believed an investigation was justified.
It remains to be seen whether there will actually be impeachment proceedings in the end. This would require a majority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, but the Republicans are divided among themselves. In the end, the Senate, where the Democrats have a slim majority, would vote against it anyway.
Democrats have repeatedly emphasized that there are more pressing problems at the moment. On Sunday night, the US government could slide into a shutdown because the two parties have failed to pass a new budget. Civil servants would be sent on compulsory leave and ministries would no longer be able to work. Protecting the government and taxpayers is important, said MP Kweisi Mfume. But on Thursday there was again no agreement.