United States—The Republican party in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday called two former associates of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and asked the witnesses questions regarding their opinion on impeachment proceedings.
White House Denounces Investigation
House Republicans claim the US president, as well as his family, might have gained personal benefits through policy choices made by Biden during the years 2009-2017, during which Biden held the position of vice president as before.
However, they have sustained their investments to present the case that it is not the president’s direct benefit from the actions of the family. The White House claims that the investigation is fabricated and is the result of a political frame-up, as reported by Reuters.
“It is obviously time to move on, Mr. Speaker. This impeachment is over. There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade,” White House counsel Edward Siskel wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, last week.
Hunter’s Associates
The House Oversight Committee called two of Hunter Biden’s former business cohorts, i.e., Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis.
Galanis, who is in prison as the punishment for fraud, was supposed to appear in court through a videoconferencing platform. Both have been personally questioned by the panel for the closed-door examinations already.
Both of them, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer, the business associate, were invited by the panel but refused to come. During a very long session of back-and-forth with the committee, Hunter Biden finally agreed to be interviewed, but that was only after repeatedly requesting a public hearing.
Democratic Response
Democrats on the House committee had invited Lev Parnas to the hearing earlier.
Before the 2020 election, in which Biden defeated Trump, a Republican, a businessman named Parnas was working with former President Donald Trump’s then-lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to attempt to uncover evidence of improper and ill deeds allegedly committed by Biden and his family in Ukraine.
There were many doubts when House Republicans would finally reach their decision on how to proceed. James Comes, Oversight Committee chair, was exposed after a public statement that he was thinking of drafting criminal referrals instead of articles of impeachment but has not yet declared the offense they might target as of now.
Uncertainty Surrounding Impeachment Prospects
The prospects of impeachment are dimmed by the minuscule Republican edge in the House. The chamber held a second vote for impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas, the official at the highest level of the administration in border affairs after the first vote failed, as reported by Reuters.
The majority Democratic Senate has not considered the matter, and when it does, it will almost certainly vote for Mayorkas’s acquittal.