Written by Eliza Dorton
Edited by Annika Lilja
Back in December, the House of Representatives approved an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Despite the House Republican Conference’s lack of substantial evidence against the president, every Republican representative voted for the impeachment, following along party lines. The majority of their baseline accusation surrounds Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
On Wednesday, February 28, Hunter Biden testified in a close-door GOP deposition before several congressional committees. Hunter maintained that his father was not involved whatsoever in his business dealings; however, that fact has seemed to not register with House Republicans. House Democrats have remained confident in the President as well as the fact that currently there is no evidence to prosecute him for the “high crimes and misdemeanors,” as the Constitution states.
Hunter Biden is being looked into for a number of things, most notably his possible “business dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese companies,” wrote CBS News. The House GOP must prove that President Biden benefitted from these dealings, which as of now, they have yet to do. CBS also stated that there are several members of the House GOP that would not want to lose their seats in the upcoming election cycle this fall to such a “controversial vote.” According to Politico, Representative James Comer (R-KY) expressed that the next step will be a public hearing to “clear up some of the discrepancies” surrounding the trial and Hunter Biden’s testimonies.
Wednesday’s testimony did not necessarily provide a significant amount of information, stated House Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). Raskin continued that the inquiries’ testimonies have been “an absurd waste of time” (Washington Post).
Both sides of the aisle in the House seem to believe the complete opposite of the other. Republicans think that the most recent testimonies have been somewhat groundbreaking and have given them the information they need to continue with the impeachment. On the other hand, Democrats believe the testimonies only reiterated what they already knew: President Biden had nothing to do with his son’s business dealings.
However, according to the Washington Post, Representative Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told reporters that Hunter Biden’s testimony contradicted other witnesses. The entire House Republican caucus feels that the President must be impeached and held to the consequences of what they believe his actions are. In fact, they have thought this for months and even before the inquiry was confirmed by the House.
Biden’s possible impeachment parallels that of former President Trump, who currently faces an onslaught of trials, including for his alleged interference in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. Just last month, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, putting an end to their ongoing legal battle over her accusations of sexual assault and eventually the damages towards her reputation. He was also banned from practicing business in the state of New York for three years in a civil fraud case.
It is difficult to believe that in the history of the United States, only three presidents have been formally impeached, and if the House impeaches Biden, that will be four. That would mean half of the country’s impeachments would have happened in consecutive presidents, something many Americans never would have imagined before Trump’s term.
Sources:
Amiri, Farnoush. "House Approves Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden as Republicans Rally behind Investigation." Associated Press, 14 Dec. 2023, apnews.com/article/joe-biden-impeachment-inquiry-mike-johnson-94884b322da40ca9315ac5f4e73a3e86. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.
Brown, Erica, and Daniel Klaidman. "Fate of Biden Impeachment Inquiry Uncertain as Hunter Biden Testifies before House Republicans." CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-impeachment-inquiry-hunter-biden-testifies-house-republicans/.
Bump, Philip. "House Republicans Won't Take 'no Evidence' for an Answer in Impeachment Inquiry." The Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/28/hunter-biden-deposition-impeachment-inquiry/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.
Carney, Jordain. "Hunter Biden Aims for Clear Rebuke of House GOP Impeachment Inquiry." Politico, 28 Feb. 2024, www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/28/congress/hunter-speaks-house-testimony-biden-00143833. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.
Queen, Jan, and Luc Cohen. "Trump Hit with $354.9 Million Penalty, 3-year Ban in NY Civil Fraud Case." Reuters, 17 Feb. 2024, www.reuters.com/legal/judge-set-rule-trumps-370-million-civil-fraud-case-2024-02-16/.
Scannell, Kara. "Judge Affirms $83.3 Million Verdict against Donald Trump in E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case Kara Scannell." CNN Politics, 8 Feb. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/02/08/politics/e-jean-carroll-judge-affirms-verdict/index.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.