Republicans say ‘the Biden family sold access to Joe’s power’ as FIRST impeachment hearing into Hunter’s shady deals begins with protesters and GOP releasing $24 million from abroad
- Oversight Chairman James Comer alleged Biden ‘abused his public office’ and ‘lied’ about his involvement in his son’s business dealings
- GOP witness Jonathan Turley, who defended Trump during the impeachment, said the evidence against Joe Biden does not yet amount to a criminal offense.
- Read about all the evidence the Republican Party will use against Joe Biden
Republicans began their first impeachment hearing by attacking Joe Biden and trying to tie him to his son’s business dealings, as Democrats claimed they had “no evidence” to show the president ever profited from Hunter’s influence trading.
Top Democrat Jamie Raskin filed a motion to subpoena Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas, believing they were not credible witnesses and claiming the allegations about Joe Biden’s involvement came from them.
“If this dysfunctional caucus is to continue, we must receive the testimony of Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas, the insiders who know the origins of the lie on which this sham accusation is based and are working to spread it,” Raskin said. said.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called a vote to table that motion or thwart the effort to subpoena the Trump-linked duo, which passed with a majority of Republican votes.
Comer, meanwhile, alleged that Biden “abused his public office for his family’s financial gain.” For years, President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes.”
Republicans, led by James Comer (right), kicked off their first impeachment hearing by attacking Joe Biden and trying to tie him to his son’s business dealings, while Democrats, led by Jamie Raskin, on the left claimed they had “no evidence’ to show the president ever profited from Hunter’s influence peddling
“If this dysfunctional caucus is to continue, we must receive the testimony of Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas, the insiders who know the origins of the lie on which this sham accusation is based and are working to spread it,” Raskin said. said
“Biden spoke, dined and developed relationships with his family’s foreign business targets. These business targets include foreign oligarchs who sent millions of dollars to his family,” Comer continued.
But Republican witness Jonathan Turley, who defended Trump during his impeachment trial, said the evidence against Joe Biden does not yet amount to a criminal offense.
“While I believe an impeachment inquiry is warranted, I do not believe the evidence currently meets the high crime and misdemeanor standard necessary for an article of impeachment,” Turley said in his opening statement.
Turley said that while Republicans claim Biden lied about the foreign business dealings, lying is not a criminal offense.
“Indeed, most presidents have lied to the American people.”
Comer, meanwhile, also pointed to recently released bank records showing that Chinese officials sent $250,000 to Joe Biden’s home address in 2019 while he was running for president. It is not clear whether Hunter lived there at the time, but the new evidence suggests that Joe knew Hunter was doing business with China, despite claiming his son never did so.
There are also WhatsApp messages Hunter sent to an employee claiming Joe was in the room while they discussed cases, and damning testimony from whistleblowers from the IRS and FBI.
Comer reiterated that the Oversight Committee has uncovered approximately two dozen shell companies that transferred more than $20 million to the Biden family between 2014 and 2019. Approximately nine family members appear to be receiving payments. They have yet to link the payments directly to Joe’s bank account, but text messages suggest Hunter has been paying bills for his father.
Republicans must tie Hunter’s influence directly to Joe if they want to arrest him for major crimes and misdemeanors. During this first hearing, Comer said he does not expect any new bombings, but said he wants to “re-educate” the Washington press corps based on existing evidence.
During the hearing, Republicans frequently pointed out that Joe met one of Hunter’s Chinese business partners, Jonathan Li, when he took his son on a 2013 Air Force 2 trip to China.
In all, Joe met with fifteen of Hunter’s business associates, according to White House visitor logs and First Son laptop data.