The US House of Representatives approved an impeachment investigation against Biden

Republicans accuse Biden of involvement in his son’s controversial foreign dealings and officially agree to conduct an investigation with the aim of removing him. Impeachment of US President Joe Biden is considered impossible.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has officially approved the investigation currently underway into the impeachment of President Joe Biden. A similar resolution was passed on the floor of Congress on Wednesday by a vote of 221 to 212. Republicans accuse Biden of involvement in his son’s controversial foreign dealings. The president rejects this, and on Wednesday accused Republicans of political maneuvering.

“Instead of doing their job on the important work that needs to be done, they (Republicans) are wasting time with this political stunt,” Biden said. Even Republicans in Congress acknowledge that there is no factual basis for these claims.

Then-Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had already ordered an “formal impeachment inquiry” into Biden on September 12. However, there was no vote on this at the council’s plenary session.

Another majority is needed for impeachment proceedings

Now Republicans have made up for it. They want to advance the ongoing investigations and place them on a more stable legal footing, among other things with a view to possible legal conflicts when calling witnesses and requesting documents. Republicans voted unanimously in favor of formalizing the ongoing investigation, while Democrats voted against it.

This is not yet what is called an impeachment – in a sense, an impeachment in the impeachment process. This will require a renewed majority in the plenary session of the House of Representatives once the ongoing investigations are completed. That would lead to an impeachment trial in the Senate.

A two-thirds majority in the Senate would then be needed for actual impeachment. Biden’s dismissal is considered impossible, especially since his Democrats constitute the majority in the Senate.

In retaliation for Trump’s impeachment proceedings

Democrats see the Republicans’ actions as retaliation by the conservative party for the impeachment of Donald Trump during his presidency – and an attempt to politically damage Biden ahead of the presidential election in November next year.

Even many Republicans acknowledge that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden. At the president’s first impeachment hearing at the end of September, experts invited by Republicans also said they currently saw no basis for impeachment.

In the history of the United States, only four impeachment proceedings have been initiated against presidents: in 1868 against Andrew Johnson, in 1998 against Bill Clinton, and in 2019 and 2021 against Trump, in which right-wing populists participated first over the so-called Ukraine issue and then thereafter. Due to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Republican Richard Nixon thwarted his impeachment in the wake of the 1974 Watergate wiretapping scandal by resigning. No president has ever been impeached.

It targeted Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine

Biden could now become the fourth president to be impeached. Republicans accuse his son of having in the past exploited his father’s important position as Vice President Barack Obama (2009 to 2017) for business in Ukraine and China. They also accuse the current president of being involved in these deals, profiting from them, and lying to the public.

Hunter Biden has become a popular target for Republicans in recent years — and is also facing legal troubles. The 53-year-old lawyer, businessman and former lobbyist was charged by the federal judiciary in mid-September with illegal possession of weapons. Another tax fraud indictment followed last week.

“My father was not involved in my work.”

Before the vote in the House of Representatives, the president’s son spoke to the press in the US Congress. “My father was not financially involved in my business,” he said. It is true that he himself made “mistakes” in his life; However, right-wing hardliners among Republicans will launch a smear campaign against him in order to “hurt my father.”

In fact, Republicans summoned Hunter Biden for questioning behind closed doors on Wednesday. But the president’s son refused, and demanded a public hearing, which the Republicans in turn rejected. (Abba)