In a long-awaited study, Republicans accuse Biden of actions that warrant impeachment

House Republican investigators claim that President Biden engaged in conduct worthy of impeachment, focusing primarily on the business activities of his family members, including his son, Hunter Biden, as outlined in a long-awaited impeachment inquiry report released on Monday.

The report suggests that it is "unbelievable" that Biden was unaware of his family members allegedly using his position as vice president to enhance their business deals in Ukraine, China, and other countries. The allegations are heavily based on disputed or contradicted testimony.

Additionally, the report accuses Biden of "participating in a scheme to profit from his public office to benefit his family," which it argues constitutes an abuse of power.

It also claims that Biden obstructed the Republicans' investigations, stating that "the President could be impeached for the actions of subordinate officials."

This nearly 300-page report is the result of a yearlong, extensive investigation into the president by the House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees. The investigation included over 30 transcribed interviews and depositions, including with Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden; more than 30 subpoenas; "millions" of pages of documents and bank records; and several hearings and markups.

However, the report does not show that President Biden directly received money from his family’s business dealings or that he altered U.S. policies to benefit his family.

Despite the report’s strong language, it stops short of recommending impeachment articles or calling for an impeachment vote, reflecting waning GOP support for the investigation.

The White House has consistently maintained that the president did not engage in any improper activity, and committee Democrats argue that Republicans have failed to directly link him to any of his family members' business activities. Both view the impeachment inquiry as a partisan attack against a political opponent.

"After wasting nearly two years and millions of taxpayer dollars, House Republicans have finally abandoned their wild goose chase. This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from, as they only managed to uncover evidence that contradicted their false and baseless conspiracy theories," said Sharon Yang, White House spokesperson for oversight investigations, in a statement.

"The American people deserve better from House Republicans."

House Democrats released a 72-page counter memo on Monday, asserting that the GOP has not only failed to show any wrongdoing by President Biden, but has inadvertently confirmed his innocence. This report comes as Democrats gather in Chicago for their national convention, where Vice President Harris is set to lead the ticket following President Biden's withdrawal from the reelection race last month—a development that caught the GOP off guard as they launched the impeachment inquiry.

The memo strongly criticizes Biden, accusing him of corruption. It claims that President Joe Biden engaged in influence peddling and used his position to benefit his family financially, while also misleading the American public. The report heavily relies on testimonies from Biden's business associates, who either denied his involvement or whose claims were contradicted by other witnesses.

One section of the report highlights Biden's attendance at a birthday dinner for his son Hunter, where several of Hunter's business partners were present. It also mentions instances where Hunter Biden allegedly put his father on speakerphone during meetings with foreign business partners, which supposedly helped secure certain deals. However, Devon Archer, a former associate of Hunter's, testified that these conversations were merely polite exchanges. Jason Galanis, a convicted felon who testified from prison, suggested that one call appeared to be staged to impress Russian investors. Despite Hunter Biden's claim of only meeting Galanis once for 30 minutes, the report places significant emphasis on Galanis's testimony.

The report also revisits the claim that Biden, as Vice President, used his influence to secure favorable outcomes for his son's business interests. This includes the controversial allegation that Biden pushed for the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin to benefit Burisma, an energy company where Hunter Biden was a board member. This claim, which has been a focal point of GOP criticism for years, was central to the 2019 impeachment of former President Trump, who had pressured Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. However, State Department emails reviewed by The Hill indicate that the U.S. policy to withhold financial aid from Ukraine was consistent with the broader international stance on corruption.

The report references a Washington Post article that cited an unnamed source who remembered that Biden made a last-minute choice to link a loan guarantee with the firing of a prosecutor during his 2015 trip to Ukraine, rather than addressing the firing separately. However, the report overlooks the subsequent paragraph in the Post story, where other unnamed officials recalled a more organized policy process before the trip, which resulted in a consensus to connect the firing with the loan.

Last year, Republicans released notes from an FBI informant who alleged that Biden accepted a bribe in connection with these actions, fueling GOP investigations. However, the informant was later arrested by the FBI for fabricating bribery allegations, and the report does not mention bribery.

GOP investigators claim they sought various drafts of Biden’s speech from the National Archives but accused the White House of blocking the release. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, stated that the GOP report’s inability to link any wrongdoing directly to President Biden essentially cleared him of any accusations.

Raskin described the 20-month impeachment effort as a failure, calling it a "complete exoneration" of President Biden and criticizing the Republicans for their repeated, discredited accusations. He argued that the attacks on Biden had backfired, making the Republicans appear incompetent and absurd.

The report also alleges that the Biden family and associates received $27 million from foreign business ventures. However, the only financial connection to President Biden mentioned is a loan repayment from his brother, James Biden, which was funded by income from various businesses. Although the report claims James Biden provided no proof of the loan’s origin, records reviewed by The Hill show that President Biden’s bank accounts transferred money to his brother, which was repaid shortly afterward.

The report heavily relies on unverified testimony from Tony Bobulinski, who briefly worked with Hunter Biden on an unsuccessful Chinese investment deal. Bobulinski, who later aligned with Trump supporters, claimed the Bidens’ business dealings involved a “complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability” for the then-vice president. Photos of WhatsApp messages on Bobulinski’s cracked phone screen are included in the report. Hunter Biden’s attorney has requested prosecutors to investigate Bobulinski for allegedly lying to the FBI about their business relationship.

The report highlights accusations of obstruction, centering on testimonies from two IRS whistleblowers who claimed that Justice Department officials deliberately slowed down their investigation into Hunter Biden, possibly due to political considerations. This included dissatisfaction over the failure to bring tax charges against Hunter Biden for the period during which he worked for Burisma, and the initial reluctance of prosecutor David Weiss to file charges in states where the whistleblowers identified the most serious offenses.

Following pressure from Republicans, a plea agreement in the case was abandoned, and Weiss was appointed as a special counsel, leading to the filing of tax charges in California and gun charges in Delaware. Hunter Biden was convicted on the gun charges and is scheduled for trial next month on the tax charges.

The report also accuses President Biden of obstructing the Republican-led investigation into his handling of classified documents, noting that they were unable to interview five key witnesses. However, special counsel Robert Hur, who led the documents investigation, did not make this accusation, stating that he conducted a thorough investigation and found insufficient evidence to charge the president, although he criticized Biden's management of classified materials.

The committees had requested to speak with the witnesses before Hur's report was finalized and also argue that Biden obstructed Congress by claiming executive privilege over an audio recording of his conversation with Hur. Although the committee has a transcript of the conversation, Democrats accused Republicans of seeking the audio for potential use in campaign ads. Earlier this year, the House voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress over the audio, and House Republicans have also filed a lawsuit to obtain it.

As for the future, the report's impact remains uncertain, but it seems unlikely that the House will pursue impeachment against the now lame-duck president, especially as attention shifts to the upcoming general election. Even before Biden withdrew his reelection bid due to pressure from his party and concerns about his mental sharpness, there were enough skeptical Republicans to prevent impeachment articles from passing in the narrowly GOP-controlled House. Even if they did pass, the Democratic-controlled Senate would almost certainly dismiss the charges.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have shifted their focus to the current Democratic ticket, launching investigations into Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Although this report represents the culmination of the impeachment inquiry's work thus far, the investigation is not over: "The inquiry continues as the Committees develop evidence and obtain access to information," it stated, noting that "subpoenas to various entities remain outstanding."

This site uses Google AdSense ad intent links. AdSense automatically generates these links and they may help creators earn money.