Washington— House Republicans called President Joe Biden to testify on Thursday in a last-ditch bid to finish their months-long impeachment investigation into the Biden family businesses.
House Oversight Committee head Rep. James Comer wrote to the Democratic president, calling him to a public hearing to “explain, under oath,” his role in the Biden family companies. Biden's misbehavior in office has not been proven by the GOP-led investigation.
The Kentucky Republican wrote, “In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House’s obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from Members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do
Comer said that presidents have testified before Congress, but Biden is unlikely to agree. Comer noted that presidents had testified before congressional panels, notably President Ford's 1974 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Criminal Justice.
The offer comes as Republicans concede that the conference lacks the political will to impeach Biden after months of investigation. After months of probing the Biden family and its worldwide financial operations, politicians like Comer are under political pressure to deliver.
The White House has frequently told Republicans to “move on” and handle “real issues” Americans care about. In a social media post last week, spokesman Ian Sams called this a sad stunt after a dead impeachment. Call it a day, pal.”
For a year, the committee has claimed that the Bidens traded on the family name, an alleged influence-peddling scheme in which Republicans are trying to link a handful of phone calls or dinner meetings between Joe Biden, vice president or out of office, and Hunter Biden and his business associates.
Republicans have spent countless resources and interviewed dozens of witnesses, including the president's son Hunter Biden and his brother James Biden, but they have found no evidence that Joe Biden was directly involved or benefited from his family's businesses while in office.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on Oversight, has urged his GOP counterpart to halt the investigation without proof. “The GOP impeachment inquiry has been a circus,” Oversight Democrats stated on Twitter X. “Fold the tent.”
Asking the president for testimony might end the investigation. Late last year, Republicans controlling the inquiry informally proposed voting on articles of impeachment in the new year, but party criticism prompted a change. Comer is considering symbolic criminal referrals of the family to the Justice Department, which is unlikely to be pursued.
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