Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
September 12, 2023
Today, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) announced impeachment proceeding against President Joe Biden is not unexpected. It is McCarthy’s payback time: he has promised impeachment in exchange of support for his speakership in January 2023. For some die-hard Republicans, it is also payback time for the Democratic controlled house impeached former President Trump, twice.
We understand bipartisan politics and personal vendetta, it is human. But this is really a foolish political show that no one with the right mind thinks Biden will be impeached now based on his record as Vice President to President Obama. His beloved son, Hunter Biden, may have to go to jail but it is Hunter’s behavior/activity.
The house impeachment attempt may actually boost Biden’s reelection bid in 2024. It is for all to see that the greatest democracy in the world will have to select a president from two impeached aging presidents. One of them will go around the world and try to play the global leader for the US.
It is a big waste of time and taxpayers’ money to go through this “dry exercise.” We would like to suggest that, if the impeachment failed, then all the congressmen voted for the impeachment should not get paid for their time working on the impeachment.
A better use of the Congress’ time is to pass an age limited candidacy law that will exclude Biden for his age in 2024 and another law to disqualify Trump for his criminal records. But US politicians do not have the balls to deal with real issues.
God bless America!
Speaker McCarthy announces Biden impeachment inquiry
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Tuesday after extensive investigations uncovered corruption involving the president and his family.
“I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Over the past several months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct—a culture of corruption,” McCarthy posted on X, formerly Twitter.
In remarks made on Capitol Hill, McCarthy said House Republicans have “uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct.”
“Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption. Here’s what we know so far. Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings. Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions and dinners that resulted in cars and millions of dollars,” McCarthy said.
“I do not make this decision lightly. Regardless of you party or who you voted for, these facts should concern all Americans. The American people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family,” McCarthy later added.
McCarthy vowed to go “wherever the evidence takes us” and urged the president and his associates to fully cooperate with the inquiry “in the interest of transparency.”
Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight Republicans released an FD-1023 form showing a confidential informant provided the FBI with details on Biden’s alleged involvement in a bribery scheme while he was vice president.
Based on information included in the document, the confidential informant told the FBI that Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky bribed the Biden family with $10 million in an attempt to have the former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired.
If verified, the FBI form indicates that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”
Even GOP Senators Are Clowning on McCarthy’s Biden Impeachment Inquiry
AJ McDougall
Tue, September 12, 2023 at 2:34 PM PDT
The call is coming from inside the House—and the Senate.
Though it was hardly a surprise that the launching of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden would be received icily by Democrats, it seems Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his allies will also have to contend with discontented lawmakers within their own ranks.
A number of Senate Republicans who spoke to The Hill on Tuesday did not mince words about the announcement, with one anonymous legislator labeling it “a fool’s errand.”
“It’s a waste of time,” that senator said, explaining that, even if the House could force through a vote to impeach Biden, the Democrat-controlled Senate would never allow it to go through.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) full-throatedly criticized the choice to move forward with an inquiry. “The bar for impeachment seems to get lower and lower every year,” she said, according to Reuters. She told other reporters that the process would distract from Congress’ ability to pass the dozen-odd bills needed to avert a shutdown.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the minority whip, was diplomatic in his response, telling reporters that he didn’t think “it’d be advantageous if this thing went further, with all the other things we have to do.”
Other Republican senators were less than enthusiastic about possible impeachment proceedings.
“I’m not for going through another damn trial to be honest with you,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told CNN on Monday.
Tuberville said he didn’t believe House Republicans had “enough time” to see an impeachment through, given that 2024 is an election year.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) called the move “frustrating,” sounding resigned as she pointed out to The Hill that she hadn’t seen any actual evidence of impeachable offenses.
The mood was similarly tepid in the other congressional chamber. Even members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, the body to which McCarthy was widely seen as capitulating in announcing the inquiry, weren’t satisfied. Mere minutes after the speaker’s announcement, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) slammed McCarthy for not having gone far enough.
“This is a baby step following weeks of pressure from House conservatives to do more. We must move faster,” he said from the House floor. Gaetz also shoehorned in a now daily threat that he would begin the process of attempting to oust McCarthy if he was not brought into “immediate total compliance” with the caucus’ demands.
Among the senators who did express support for the inquiry were Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT).
“It’s clear President Biden and his son have engaged in corruption,” Daines said, per Reuters. “I’ll let the House do its job, but I’ll be ready to be a juror if there’s an impeachment.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the only Republican to vote to convict Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial, voiced cautious approval for a probe into Biden’s activities as president.
“The fact that the White House has been singularly silent and has coddled Hunter Biden suggests that an inquiry is not inappropriate,” he said. “That’s very different from an impeachment. Actual impeachment would require the evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor. That has not been alleged.”
Democrats, on the other hand, roundly and predictably denounced the inquiry. The best reaction of the day undoubtedly came from Sen. John Fetterman, who wiggled his fingers and made spooky noises when asked about it.
“Oh my God, really?” he wailed, his hands on his temples. “Oh my gosh. Oh, it’s devastating. Ooooh, don’t do it, please don’t do it. Oh no, oh no.”