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STATEMENT: House Republicans Set to Vote On Impeachment Inquiry They Admit Has No Evidence and Is Politically Motivated

Dec 13, 2023

PRESS RELEASE         Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: December 13, 2023 

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House is set to vote on authorizing an impeachment inquiry into President Biden following an embarrassing House Rules Committee hearing yesterday which once again showed that Republicans don’t have any evidence to support impeachment. Americans have repeatedly made clear that they want their Congress to focus on the real issues impacting their lives like the economy and the cost of living and the economy rather than trying to impeach President Biden. A recent poll of Biden 17 districts showed once again that voters do not support impeaching President Biden without any evidence.

Congressional Integrity Project executive director, Kyle Herrig, issued the following statement: 

“After almost a year of investigations, Republicans are going to vote on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The problem is that they have not found a single shred of wrongdoing by the President, let alone one that rises to the level of impeachment. They’ve been openly admitting this, but they aren’t going to let pesky little facts get in the way of doing Donald Trump’s bidding and pursuing this desperate political stunt. The House is about to break for recess for the rest of 2023 and MAGA House Republicans are keeping business as usual – focusing on Trump’s personal vendetta at the expense of the issues their constituents actually care about like cost of living and access to health care.”

Right-Wing Figures Have Repeatedly Admitted There’s No Evidence To Support the Bogus Impeachment of President Biden

Throughout the bogus impeachment investigations, right-wing figures repeatedly said the quiet part out loud and admitted that the Republicans’ impeachment probe into President Biden is completely evidence-free. House Republicans wasted all year investigating the President and have failed to present a single shred of evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever. Instead of working on important issues like lowering costs for families, the MAGA House has only pursued this wild goose chase. The investigation is clearly at the hands of Trump and designed to harm President Biden ahead of the 2024 election and help Trump return to the White House, but don’t take our word for it:

ELECTED OFFICIALS

House

  • Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) Said “There’s Not Evidence to Impeach.” “Republican Main Street Caucus chair Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said on Monday that ‘there’s not evidence to impeach.’ But Johnson said the vote this week was not about whether the party would impeach the president or not. ‘I’m not an expert,’ he told reporters — and declared that ‘we have had enough political impeachments in this country.’ […] ‘But listen, if we don’t have the receipts, then that should constrain what the House does.’” [The Messenger, 12/12/23]
      • Johnson: “I Have Not Seen That Evidence” To Support Impeachment.  “There is a constitutional and legal test that you have to meet with evidence.  I have not seen that evidence, but I guess I’m not suggesting it doesn’t exist. I do think the fact that the committees continue to ask for additional documents suggests that they don’t think their evidentiary record is complete yet.” [CNN, 9/11/23]
  • When Asked If President Biden Committed High Crimes or Misdemeanors, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) Said, “Probably Not.” “‘Probably not,’ Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told reporters on Tuesday morning when asked if Biden committed high crimes or misdemeanors. ‘They’re getting millions of dollars off the Biden name … that’s not to say there was a crime by the president.’” [The Messenger, 12/12/23]
      • Bacon, Just Months Ago: “I Do Not Support An Impeachment Inquiry.” “As of right now, I do not support an impeachment inquiry. I believe that an inquiry should be based on evidence of a crime that points directly to President Biden or refusal to cooperate by not providing documents or other evidence. The focus of any impeachment inquiry needs to be on the president, not his son Hunter. We cannot use impeachment as a political weapon against every president. Speaker Pelosi lowered the threshold for impeachments and cut corners. It has set a bad precedent. Watergate demonstrated how to do this right.” [The Washington Examiner, 9/13/23]
      • “You Should Have Some Kind Of Direct Evidence.” “I think there’s corruption there, but to do an inquiry you should have some kind of direct evidence towards the president. I think that we’re close, so I’m not opposed to never doing it, but I just think we should set a high bar.” [The Hill, 9/12/23]
      • “We’ve Got To Have Some Kind Of Direct Evidence…It Shouldn’t Be Revenge Politics.” “‘We’ve got to have some kind of direct evidence of a crime that points to the President,’ Bacon tells TIME. ‘Or if the President doesn’t answer the subpoenas or provide the information that’s being requested, that would also be grounds for an inquiry.’ Until then, Bacon adds, he won’t budge: ‘We don’t want an impeachment to be this thing we do with every presidency. It shouldn’t be revenge politics. Though it feels good to have revenge, it’s not good for the country.’” [TIME, 9/8/23]
  • June 2023: Bacon Said Impeaching President Biden Was “Not Right.” During a CNN interview with Manu Raju, Bacon said of efforts to impeach President Biden, “It’s not right.” [CNN, 6/21/23, VIDEO]
  • Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): “I Don’t Believe That We Are Endeavoring Upon A Legitimate Impeachment Of Joe Biden.” “I don’t believe that we are endeavoring upon a legitimate impeachment of Joe Biden. They’re trying to engage in a, like, ‘forever war’ of impeachment.’ And like many of our forever wars, it will drag on forever and end in a bloody draw.” [NBC News, 10/6/23]
      • Gaetz: “Failure Theater.” During his speech pushing for the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, Gaetz said Jordan and Comer’s oversight efforts – including their efforts to investigate Hunter Biden: “We haven’t even sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden. So it’s hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it looks like failure theater.” [C-SPAN, 10/3/23, VIDEO]
  • Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO): “I Think It’s Pretty Clear That The Evidence…Just Isn’t There.” During a CNN interview, Buck told Anderson Cooper, “[GOP witness Jonathan] Turley is someone who carries great credibility in the House and in the Judiciary Committee, and when he says there isn’t enough to warrant an impeachment, I think it’s pretty clear that the evidence, while the investigation is ongoing, just isn’t there.” [CNN, 9/28/23, VIDEO]
      • Buck Published An Op-Ed Admonishing Republicans’ “Disgraceful Impeachment.” “The House is back in session, and Americans are getting an up-close look at Washington’s dysfunction. We are barreling toward a government shutdown without making progress on cutting our out-of-control spending. Yet Republican leadership has decided to divert attention to an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The GOP’s charge against Biden is that he personally benefited from his son’s deplorable business exploits around the globe. Without doubt, Hunter Biden’s shady business deals undermined America’s image and our anti-corruption goals, and his conduct was thoroughly reprehensible. What’s missing, despite years of investigation, is the smoking gun that connects Joe Biden to his ne’er-do-well son’s corruption. […] It’s a neat story, and one that performs well in certain media circles. But impeachment is a serious matter and should have a foundation of rock-solid facts.” [The Washington Post (Opinion), 9/15/23]
      • Buck: “Evidence Linking President Biden To A High Crime Or Misdemeanor…Doesn’t Exist Right Now.” “Marjorie filed impeachment articles of impeachment on President Biden before he was sworn into office more than two and a half years ago…The idea that she is now the expert on impeachment or that she is someone who should set the timing on impeachment is absurd…The time for impeachment is the time when there’s evidence linking President Biden, if there’s evidence linking President Biden to a high crime or misdemeanor, that doesn’t exist right now.” [MSNBC, 9/10/23, VIDEO]
      • Buck: “I’m Not Convinced That That Evidence Exists And I’m Not Supporting An Impeachment Inquiry.” [CNN, 9/6/23, VIDEO]
      • Buck: I Don’t Think Impeachment Talk Is “Responsible.” “I don’t think it’s responsible for us to talk about impeachment.” [CNN, 7/26/23, VIDEO]
  • Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): “We Don’t Have The Evidence.” McCaul admitted on Fox News that “we don’t have the evidence” to support impeaching President Biden. [Fox News, 9/17/23, VIDEO]
  • Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): The Evidence “Has Yet To Be Discovered.” “There has to be an aha moment.. The actual participation (in Hunter’s deals) by the vice president and now president – that still has to be discovered and or nailed down. […] the actual participation by the vice president and now president—that still has to be discovered and/or nailed down, either for direct participation or knowing participation or receipt of funds.” [CNN, 9/14/23]
  • Anonymous Republican Lawmaker: “There’s No Evidence…and They Can’t Impeach Without That Evidence.” “There’s no evidence that Joe Biden got money, or that Joe Biden, you know, agreed to do something so that Hunter could get money. There’s just no evidence of that. And they can’t impeach without that evidence. And I don’t– I don’t think the evidence exists.” [CNN, 8/28/23]
  • Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC): “I Acknowledge” The Lack of Proof Implicating President Biden For “Any Wrongdoing.” During an Oversight hearing in July, Edwards admitted, “I’ve heard over and over that President Biden has not been implicated or proven for any wrongdoing here, and I acknowledge that.” [C-SPAN, 7/19/23, VIDEO]

Senate

  • Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT): “There’s Been No Evidence Provided To The Public Yet Or Certainly To Me To Suggest An Impeachment Inquiry Or Impeachment Itself Is Justified.” “There may be of course evidence — I don’t know — but there’s been no evidence provided to the public yet or certainly to me to suggest an impeachment inquiry or impeachment itself is justified.” [Politico, 12/12/23]
      • Romney: I Don’t See “Any Evidence” For Impeachment. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, threw cold water on House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, saying he does not “see any evidence” that the president’s actions warrant his removal from office. Romney, who has long criticized the GOP’s direction, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that House Republicans “ought to have some evidence” of wrongdoing before opening an impeachment inquiry. “So far, there’s nothing of that nature that’s been provided,” Romney said. Were he a member in the House, he added, he would vote against the inquiry. [USA Today, 12/10/23] 
      • Romney: “I Haven’t Seen Any Evidence” For Impeachment. When asked about House Republicans’ efforts to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, Romney responded, “I haven’t seen any evidence at this stage to suggest he’s met the constitutional test for impeachment.” [HuffPost, 9/6/23]
  • Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “You’re Not Going To Have This President Impeached Based On The Evidence That We’ve Seen Come To Light.” “You’re not going to have this president impeached based on the evidence that we’ve seen come to light…Impeachment used to be taken pretty seriously. It should be taken pretty seriously. It’s like the biggest consequence possible for a sitting president…Will it drag down the president as he goes into an election year? I don’t think that that’s good for any sitting president.” [Politico, 12/12/23]
      • Murkowski: “Don’t We Have Enough On Our Plate?”  [HuffPost, 9/6/23]
  • Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV): “I Don’t See The Grounds For [Impeachment] Yet.” “‘I think they’re a long way from coming to a conclusion there…I don’t see the grounds for this yet.” [Politico, 12/12/23]
      • Capito: “I Do Not” Think That There Is Enough Evidence To Impeach President Biden At The Moment. When asked if she believed there is enough evidence to impeach President Biden at the moment, Capito replied, “I do not.” She later elaborated, “I don’t know what the evidence is.”
  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly said an impeachment inquiry into President Biden would “not be good for the country.” [Twitter, 7/26/23]

RIGHT-WING MEDIA

  • Newsmax Host Rob Finnerty: “Half of America…They Think Your Investigation Is A Joke.” “‘He’s making your investigation sound like a joke, and he’s trying to make you look like a joke,’ Finnerty told Comer during a Monday appearance on the network. ‘And then half of America sees that, and they think your investigation is a joke. How do you work around that?’” [The Daily Beast, 12/11/23]
  • Fox News Host Steve Doocy: “They Have Not Connected The Dots.” “The Republicans at this point don’t have—they’ve got a lot of ledgers and spreadsheets—but they have not connected the dots…They’ve connected the dots, the Department of Justice did, on Hunter, but they have not shown where Joe Biden, you know, did anything illegally…Ultimately, on this show, we’ve been calling for Hunter to go and sit in a chair on Capitol Hill in front of the TV cameras for the last year…Now, Hunter’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, says he will do that, but Comer and Jim Jordan say, no, it’s not negotiable, he’s got to be in private. According to Hunter Biden’s team, they don’t want to do it because of leaks and stuff like that.” [The New Republic, 12/11/23]
      • Doocy: “All The Eggs [Are] In [The Impeachment] Basket…Because They Don’t Have the Votes Right Now.” “James Comer is trying to build the impeachment case against Joe Biden separately. I was talking to somebody in Congress last night and they said that because they don’t have nearly enough Republicans on board there are moderate republicans who say ‘I don’t see the *there* there.’ They won’t take that vote of the impeachment inquiry vote on that. Instead, what they’re going to do, you know, yesterday we were talking a little bit about howRrepublicans have brought impeachment articles against the president – Lauren Boebert did it in June over the border – so apparently the House is going to take a look at which is in committee and put all the stuff, all the eggs in that basket rather than trying to get a vote because they don’t have the votes right now.” [Fox News, 9/7/23, VIDEO]
      • Doocy: Comer Has “Not Been Able To Pull Together” Evidence That “Laws Were Broken.” “The Republicans in those districts that Joe Biden won, they’ve got to be able to say, look, I voted for it because look at this. It shows that there was corruption, actual corruption, not just bank records, but things that show that laws were broken. So far, Comer and company have not been able to put that together.” [Fox News, ‘Fox & Friends’, 9/5/23, VIDEO]
      • Doocy: “[House Republicans] Need Better Investigators.” “Brian, what laws did Joe Biden break? Just answer the question. What law did he break? That’s my point! Brian. They need better investigators. […] To my earlier point, the Republicans just need to present the evidence to the American people and say, look, they have got to say okay… Brian, they’ve got to say we can prove Joe Biden broke the law by doing this. That’s all I’m saying… I said it looks terrible. We just need proof so the American public. […] I said they need better investors that can connect the dots.” [Fox News, “Fox & Friends,” 8/10/23, VIDEO]
      • Doocy: “Here’s The Problem!” “We- we’ve seen this movie a couple of times before. First step. Impeachment inquiry. Almost always it leads to an impeachment. I’ve heard from members of Congress on the Republican side, they are going to, they’re going to do the I-word of Joe Biden. That guy right there. Didn’t look too happy in that picture. And they’re going to use the 1023 form as the basis for everything. Here’s the problem! And we’ll talk to Miranda Devine about this here in about a half an hour. Is- the 1023 form makes a damning case against the Bidens, but it’s completely unverified. And in fact, there are certain critical parts of the story that have been refuted by the people in the story! So- so it’s problematic. But and so that’s why Kevin McCarthy says we need other stuff, more documents.” [Fox News, ‘Fox & Friends’, 7/26/23, VIDEO]
      • Doocy: “What Was The Crime?” During an interview with Fox News host Steve Doocy, Comer was asked, “What was the crime?” Comer responded, “Well the crime is that — trading policy for money.” When asked, “Which policy,” Comer was unable to supply a concrete answer, responding, “We’re gonna get into that.” [Fox News, 6/29/23, VIDEO]
      • Doocy: “’You Don’t Actually Have Any Facts.” “I know the Republicans said that the smoking gun were these financial records that you were able to subpoena and got your hands on and your party, the Republican investigators, say that that’s proof of influence peddling by Hunter and James [Biden]. But that’s just your suggestion. You don’t actually have any facts to that point. You’ve got some circumstantial evidence. And the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn’t profit is that — there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally.’” [Fox News, 5/11/23, VIDEO]
      • Fox News’ Peter Doocy: Republicans Lack Any “Concrete Evidence.” While Fox News stars are “eagerly shoveling Rep. James Comer’s (R-KY) slop to their viewers” on impeaching President Joe Biden, the network’s chief White House correspondent reported on Friday that Republicans still lack any “concrete evidence” that Biden benefited from his family’s foreign business dealings. [Daily Beast, 12/9/23] 
  • Fox News Host Brian Kilmeade: Impeachment Is A “Waste of Time.” “To impeach him is ridiculous. Look into it, yes; expose it, yes; impeachment, waste of time.” [The Messenger, 12/8/23]
      • Kilmeade: “Matt Gaetz Is Just Speaking Into The Wind” With Impeachment Brinkmanship. “Who would [Matt Gaetz] put there [if he were to oust Kevin McCarthy over impeachment]? Matt Gaetz is just speaking into the wind.” [Fox News, ‘Fox & Friends’, 9/6/23, VIDEO]
  • Fox News’ Neil Cavuto: “None Of The Expert Witnesses Today Presented, Yet, Any Proof For Impeachment.” “For the better part of six hours, I have been following these hearings, save an hour off to do my Fox Business show earlier today. I don’t know what was achieved over these last six plus hours […] None of the expert witnesses today presented, yet, any proof for impeachment.” [Fox News, 9/28/23]
      • Cavuto: “The Promise Of Explosive Testimony And Incontrovertible Proof Did Not Materialize Today.” “The promise of explosive testimony and incontrovertible proof did not materialize today. “Now to be fair I was off an hour today doing my Fox Business show and I might have missed it, but I went back and looked at what was said and done during the noon hour to one pm Eastern time and it turns out no such evidence was presented.” [Fox News, 9/28/23]
  • Fox News Correspondent Gillian Turner: A Smoking Gun Hasn’t Been Produced. “[D]espite nearly two years now of an investigation into the President’s son, while you have certainly unearthed a trove of evidence that the committee says proves the President’s association…there has not been produced a smoking gun – clear cut, undeniable proof of the President’s involvement with his son’s business deals…” [Fox News, 8/10/23, VIDEO]

GOP OPERATIVES

  • An Unnamed Senior Gop Aide: Comer’s Impeachment Inquiry Has Been A “Disaster Of A Press Strategy.” As Politico Playbook reported, “‘People’s perception is that Comer doesn’t really take counsel,’ a second senior GOP aide said. […] Republicans also have grumbled about what one senior GOP aide called a ‘disaster of a press strategy’ — which has been heavily reliant on feeding exclusives to Fox News that have been frequently ignored by other national outlets. Rather than catering to conservative viewers who already approve of Biden’s impeachment, Comer’s critics say investigators should be engaging more strategically to give their case credibility with a more skeptical audience. ‘The conservative press will write whatever you want them to write — why would you go there first?’ said the second GOP aide. ‘Mainstream media reporting gives credibility to the narrative.’” [Politico, 9/30/23]
  • Longtime GOP Operative: The First Impeachment Inquiry Hearing Was “An Amateurish Clownshow” That Would “Never Have Happened” Under Former Speaker Pelosi. During the House GOP’s first impeachment inquiry hearing, a reporter for the Independent tweeted: “If you were wondering how GOP types are receiving the @GOPoversight hearing today, the answer is: Not so well. One longtime operative tells me @RepJamesComer’s hearing is ‘an amateurish clownshow’ & says such a poorly-run hearing would ‘never have happened’ under @SpeakerPelosi.” [Andrew Feinberg (The Independent), Twitter, 9/28/23]
  • Senior GOP Aide: “Comer Has Lost Control.” According to Washington Post correspondent Jacqueline Alemany, “Senior GOP aide weighs in on Comer’s hearing so far: – Comer has lost control, allowing Dems to land attacks – witnesses Comer selected have disputed House GOP arguments on the impeachment inquiry – has failed to attract mainstream media attention RE more damning evidence.” [Jacqueline Alemany (The Washington Post), Twitter, 9/28/23]
  • House GOP Staffer: “Comer And Staff Botched This [First Impeachment Inquiry Hearing] Bad.” As one Congressional reporter wrote, “Another House GOP staffer tells me ‘Comer and staff botched this bad.’ Tells me the information presented by Republicans has been ‘confusing’ and Democrats are ‘on message.’ ‘How can you not be better prepared for this?’” [Stephen Neukam (The Messenger), Twitter, 9/28/23]
  • Longtime Aide To Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “This Is A New Abnormal Psychosis.” “How is it that one of our preeminent political parties can bring a case for impeachment with no evidence against the president and with some in the party acknowledging they have none? […] This is a new abnormal psychosis.” [The Messenger (Opinion), 9/27/23]
  • Republican Strategist Susan Del Percio: “It’s stupid. It’s completely made up. They don’t have anything. This is not about impeachment for cause. This is a political stunt. And I have a feeling it’s going to go very badly for Republicans.” [Raw Story, 9/7/23]

Congressional Republicans Are Openly Admitting Political Motivations Behind Sham Oversight & Investigations

Since June 2022, Congressional Republicans have been plotting a series of politically-contrived investigations designed to hurt President Biden and bolster former President Trump. Instead of working on the issues like inflation, lower costs for families, or our economic strength, newly empowered MAGA elected officials are only planning to investigate, impeach, and impede progress while the rest of the country grapples with the real issues facing Americans.

Congressional Republicans Are Openly Admitting Their Investigations Are a Sham Revenge Tour. Trump and his MAGA allies have made investigations into the Biden Administration, Department of Justice, and so much more their number one priority – and they are already openly admitting these investigations are designed to target political opponents and influence public opinion for the 2024 elections:

  • Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) bragged that the impeachment inquiry is impacting polling numbers for the 2024 presidential election: “I think all that together is why you see the [polling] numbers where they are at.” [Fox Business, ‘Varney & Co’, 12/12/23, VIDEO]
      • Jordan: Biden Investigations “Will Help Frame Up The 2024 Race…We Need To Make Sure That [President Trump] Wins.”
      •  “So, all these things need to be investigated just so you have the truth, plus that will help frame up the 2024 race, when I hope and I think President Trump is going to run again and we need to make sure that he wins…” [Politico, 8/10/22]
  • Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who represents a district President Biden won in 2020, switched his position to support an impeachment inquiry after months of rejecting the evidence as insufficient: “‘The president is saying he isn’t going to provide information until we get an inquiry, so I went from a no to a yes,’ Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), one of the House’s most outspoken GOP centrists, said in an interview. ‘My view of it is, let’s just get the information so the voters have it [in November].’” [Politico, 12/11/23]
  • Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) reportedly said “he wants to give Trump ‘a little bit of ammo to fire back’ and say Biden has also been impeached.” [USA Today, 12/4/23]
  • Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) emphasized former President Trump’s polling shortly after unilaterally announcing the impeachment inquiry: “President Trump is beating Biden right now in the polls. He’s stronger than he has ever been in this process.” [Spectrum News NY1, 9/18/23]
  • Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) conceded that impeachment will likely fail, demonstrating that it’s just another partisan stunt: “I will concede that the votes that I have called for will likely fail — term limits, balanced budgets, maybe even impeachment — I am prepared for that eventuality because at least if we take votes, the American people get to see who is fighting for them.” [C-SPAN, 9/12/23, VIDEO]
      • Gaetz admitted that the Republicans’ bogus impeachment of President Biden is about politics and the 2024 election – not any actual wrongdoing: “The purpose of the impeachment to me is to use the Senate as the stage, but they’re not the jury. The jury is the American people… it will not result in a conviction, but the true verdict can still be rendered by the American people.” [HuffPost, 9/6/23]
  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) admitted that the impeachment inquiry is a nakedly political scheme to ensure Democrats “lose big” at the next presidential election: “We are going to drag Biden and everyone who covered up his crimes through the headlines day after day, month after month, and prove to the country the entire Democrat party is corrupt and can’t be trusted.” [The Independent (UK), 9/15/23] [X, 9/14/23]
      • Greene all but admitted that MAGA impeachment efforts are politically motivated, tweeting: “We will not win in 2024 if we do not inspire the base and many people who won’t vote for Republicans because R’s are not addressing the two biggest issues in the country. Impeach criminals and protect kids if you want voters to flood the polls and vote Republican.” [Twitter, 6/21/23]
  • Oversight Chair  James Comer (R-KY) has suggested that the “GOP is targeting Biden as retaliation for Trump impeachments.”
      • In May, Comer told Fox News in May that his investigations were responsible for Trump’s improving poll numbers against Biden: “You look at the polling, and right now Donald Trump is 7 points ahead of Joe Biden and trending upward, Joe Biden’s trending downward. And I believe that the media is looking around, scratching their head, and they’re realizing that the American people are keeping up with our investigation.” [HuffPost, 5/22/23]
      • In October 2022, Comer told Fox News, “There are a lot of factors that are going to prevent Joe Biden from running. His age, the results of the midterm elections in two weeks. But also his son. Look, this Biden family investigation’s only going to ramp up in a Republican majority.” [“Fox and Friends,” Fox News, 10/26/22] 
  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted “Any GOP Member growing weak on this will sorely disappoint our country,” linking to a story about the expected GOP push for impeaching Biden. Weeks prior, she told reporters: “There’s going to be a lot of investigations, I’ve talked with a lot of members about this.” [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Twitter, 11/2/22; New York Times Magazine, 10/17/22]
  • Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) predicted House Republicans would “impeach Biden ‘whether it’s justified or not’ because ‘the Democrats weaponized impeachment’ when they twice formally accused Trump of wrongdoing.” [The Washington Post, 1/12/22] 

Rolling Stone: Trump Is Calling Republicans to Ask ‘How Many’ Times They’ll Impeach Biden.  “Donald Trump is calling his top allies in Congress to push for details on their plans for impeaching President Joe Biden and top administration officials, two sources with knowledge of the conversations tell Rolling Stone. Specifically, Trump in recent months has repeatedly asked “how many’ times Republicans plan to impeach the president if they take control of the House, the sources said. He has also, the sources said, asked about what they would do to impeach certain high-ranking Biden administration officials. Trump’s questions have touched on potential timelines for any potential impeachment inquiries, as well as on how much support impeachment has in the Republican conference. […] Trump’s ongoing discussions with Capitol Hill allies reveal his ongoing influence over the GOP caucus, as well as the power he’ll wield if Republicans win enough seats in Tuesday’s midterm elections to take over the House. But his interest in impeachment sets up a potential point of tension between him and GOP leadership in Congress, as top Republican lawmakers have reservations about the political wisdom of attempting to put Biden on trial.” [Rolling Stone, 11/6/22]

Congressional Republicans Have Been Planning Partisan Investigations All Along

January 2022: Washington Post: Sen. Ted Cruz Says Republicans Are Likely To Impeach Biden If They Retake House.   “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) predicted Republicans would move to impeach President Biden “whether it’s justified or not” if they retake the House in this year’s midterm elections. The White House responded Tuesday by calling on Cruz to work with Democrats toward bipartisan agreement on policy matters instead of “name-calling” and making political predictions. […] …the senator was asked whether he thinks there is any chance a Republican House would impeach Biden, given that Democrats had twice impeached President Donald Trump. ‘Yeah, I do think there’s a chance of that,’ Cruz said. ‘And whether it’s justified or not, as we talked about when ‘Verdict’ launched…’” [The Washington Post, 1/4/22]

Washington Post: Republicans Rally Around A 2022 Message: Revenge. “Republicans, their eyes on retaking one or both chambers of Congress come November, have yet to unite behind a slate of specific policies they’ll enact if they beat Democrats this year. But there is one thing a growing chorus of GOP voices is loudly promising: revenge. […] Republicans have introduced at least six impeachment resolutions targeting Biden, some citing his withdrawal from Afghanistan, others the border, where Trump faced just one at this point in his presidency. They’ve predictably gone nowhere in the Democrat-controlled chamber.” [The Washington Post, 1/12/22]

CNN: House Republicans Plot Investigative Revenge On January 6 Panel As Trump Itches For Payback.  “House Republicans are plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, as the GOP weighs a broader effort to re-litigate some of Donald Trump’s biggest election grievances if it recaptures the House majority. The former President has been itching for payback and leaning heavily on his Capitol Hill allies to defend him against a recent slew of damaging revelations about his role in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. Now, as Republicans search for ways to undermine those findings, their party has started to lay the groundwork to investigate the select committee itself. Republicans have already asked the January 6 panel to preserve a broad range of documents in its possession – a signal they’re preparing to force those records to be turned over should they wield powerful committee gavels next year.” [CNN, 7/15/22]

August 2022: Bloomberg: GOP Vows Revenge for Trump Probes If They Win Congress “Republicans vow they will waste no time tearing into the FBI search of Donald Trump’s home and other investigations of the former president if the GOP wins control of Congress in November, signaling a protracted fight with the Biden administration. Party leaders and committee chairmen-in-waiting have already pledged to hold aggressive hearings and issue subpoenas in the wake of Monday’s unprecedented search of the former president’s Florida home.” [Bloomberg, 8/10/22]

November 2022: Media Matters: Ahead Of The Midterms, Right-Wing Media Issue Marching Orders For Potential Congressional Investigations.  “In the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections, Fox News figures, right-wing personalities, and their guests are anticipating the return of a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and issuing marching orders to the potential GOP majority. Despite a history of condemning supposed ‘show trials’ held by Democrats, conservative commentators and personalities have assembled a lengthy list of baseless grievances for potential congressional investigations, should they come to pass. The targets of the investigations range from the Biden family to Attorney General Merrick Garland to a ‘general attack on liberty.’” [Media Matters for America, 11/4/22] 

CNN: After Election Season, An Investigation Season Could Split The Country.  “If American voters trade in Democrats for a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, everyone will be hearing a lot more about Hunter Biden, the current president’s troubled son. The House January 6 committee will be shut down, and the public inquisition Republicans have been pursuing for years against President Joe Biden’s son will go into public overdrive. GOP lawmakers do not have a detailed inflation plan, the issue driving many voters to the polls. But after years on the case of investigating Hunter Biden, who has struggled with substance abuse and made a career dealing with foreign nationals, they have prepared a 1,000-page road map they plan to present to the FBI and Department of Justice. Hunter Biden is already the subject of a two-pronged federal investigation in Delaware but has not been charged with any crime. It’s false to equate GOP efforts to investigate Hunter Biden’s business activities with the January 6 committee’s efforts to document the insurrection and Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. But it’s with a lingering taste of the January 6 hearings and also two Trump impeachment efforts – one of which was kicked off by Trump’s attempts to get Ukraine to investigate none other than Hunter Biden – that Republicans are planning to use the subpoena power of the House majority.” [CNN, 11/4/22]