House GOP pushes to impeach Biden administration officials

Months after promising Republicans would not play politics with the impeachment process, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is threatening to begin impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland. Members of his caucus have also introduced articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden and other members of his administration.

On Monday, McCarthy (R-CA) appeared on Fox News and was asked about an unproven claim by Internal Revenue Service employees that the Justice Department hindered an investigation by U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Biden’s son Hunter. Garland has refuted the allegation, and Weiss recently reached a plea agreement with Hunter Biden over a pair of misdemeanor tax violations.

“You apparently don’t follow me on Twitter,” McCarthy answered, “because yesterday I laid out very clearly, by July 6, because of the allegation from the IRS, because of the whistleblowers and the DOJ, Garland, what he is saying and what David Weiss are saying privately are two different things. And if it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we’re going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general.”

McCarthy’s June 23 tweet treated the allegations as fact: 

Here’s what we just learned from IRS whistleblower testimony:

– The IRS gave Hunter Biden’s tax case preferential treatment
– The DOJ interfered with the investigation at every turn
– The IRS retaliated against those very whistleblowers for telling the truth

Our committees will continue to follow every lead into the Biden family’s shady business dealings and the weaponized Biden DOJ. The American people deserve answers and accountability.

Even before this allegation, House Republicans have been eager to go after the attorney general.

On May 17, Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a resolution to impeach Garland “for facilitating the weaponization and politicization of the United States justice system against the American people.” Six of her GOP colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors.

A dozen House Republicans have sponsored or co-sponsored at least one of four competing impeachment resolutions alleging “high crimes and misdemeanors” by Biden since the start of the current Congress in January.

Three of those have also proposed impeaching Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming she has “demonstrated extraordinary incompetence in the execution of her duties and responsibilities and an indifference to Americans suffering as a result of America’s ongoing southern border crisis.”

Scores of House Republicans back at least one resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Greene has also introduced impeachment resolutions targeting FBI Director Christoper Wray, a Trump appointee, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.

In 2019, the House impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after he tried to pressure the Ukrainian government to dig up supposed dirt on the Biden family. House Republicans dismissed the impeachment as a “waste of time” and unanimously voted against both charges.

“This whole sham is a waste of time and money,” tweeted McCarthy that November. “We’re less than a year away from an election, and Democrats will do anything to keep @realDonaldTrump from being on the ballot.”

Last September, McCarthy promised that if his party won back the House majority, it would not use impeachment as a political tool:

We just went through four years of watching a political impeachment. We watched four years where we learned even today that Adam Schiff first lies to the American public, now we find out he went to freshmen, to those Democrats to write that article, because they knew Nancy Pelosi would move for impeachment and it was all predetermined. We will uphold the law. We will not play politics with it. But we’ll do whatever in the nature that the rules and facts take us to.

Several members of his caucus made it clear that they hoped to use a GOP House majority to impeach Biden and his team.

“On Day One, my colleagues and I will be looking to impeach President Joe Biden, Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Attorney General Merrick Garland,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) tweeted on Sept. 1, 2022. “All three are in dereliction of their duties. We have the resolutions ready to go.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.