Congressional Republicans have accused Joe Biden of “egregious” behavior for which he should be impeached – despite presenting no evidence that the US president committed a crime – in a 291-page report, the impact of which has been significantly dampened by his withdrawal from the presidential race.
In what was supposed to be a central theme in the GOP’s efforts to derail Biden’s re-election bid, the report alleges that he was the architect and beneficiary of a lucrative influence peddling by his son Hunter and brother James.
The report, the culmination of a months-long impeachment inquiry by three Republican-led House committees — the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means panels — was timed to coincide with the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but it is now Kamala Harris, the vice president, at the top of the ticket, not Biden.
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The report states that “the overwhelming evidence shows that President Biden engaged in a conspiracy to monetize his public trust to enrich his family.” “President Biden’s participation in this conspiracy to enrich his family is beyond reproach.”
It added: “The corrupt practices uncovered by the committees are egregious. President Joe Biden plotted influence peddling and gerrymandering. In doing so, he abused his office and, by repeatedly lying about his position, defrauded the United States to enrich his family.”
However, the report failed to provide evidence that Biden had committed a crime and did not appear to meet the constitutional definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors” required to impeach a sitting president.
The document’s authors implicitly acknowledged those flaws, but justified them by pointing to the reasons Democrats impeached Donald Trump in 2019 after the then-president — and current Republican nominee — were accused of trying to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to seek impeachment. evidence of the Biden family in exchange for military assistance.
“Abuse of power may also be present, even if, as some argue, the Biden family was merely selling the ‘illusion’ of influence and access,” the report states.
“In 2019, House Democrats argued that prosecutable offenses do not have to rise to the level of criminal activity. Parliament can therefore impeach President Biden for non-criminal conduct that significantly undermines the political system or betrays the public trust.
The leaders of the investigation must now decide whether to force the issue to a floor vote, knowing that Biden has become a lame duck president and that they may not have enough votes to win because the political stakes have fallen.
Biden stepped aside as the Democratic presidential nominee on July 21 after a poor debate performance undermined his party’s confidence in his ability to win the presidency, meaning his impeachment now has limited political value.
Meanwhile, some Republican members of Congress are reluctant to press ahead with efforts to hold on to the party’s narrow House majority, privately admitting that the evidence against Biden is weak.
The investigation was launched under pressure from GOP hardliners last September by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by an internal Republican revolt and has since resigned from Congress. It was supported by McCarthy’s successor as speaker, Mike Johnson.
Even if Biden were to be impeached in a House vote, it would likely not result in his impeachment, which requires a two-thirds majority after a Senate trial. Democrats currently control the Senate with a majority of one.