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Biden impeachment inquiry: What we know about the case What we know about the Biden impeachment inquiry
(4 months later)
Months of investigation have yet to uncover evidence of misconduct by Joe BidenMonths of investigation have yet to uncover evidence of misconduct by Joe Biden
Senior Republican Kevin McCarthy has announced a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden claiming they have unearthed a "culture of corruption" surrounding the president. The Republican-led US House of Representatives has formally backed an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The inquiry will focus on accusations of improper business dealings on the part of the president's son, Hunter Biden, and on whether the president benefited from his son's business dealings. Lawmakers voted 221 to 212 - entirely along party lines - on Wednesday to authorise a resolution that accuses the president of bribery, corruption and influence-peddling off his "brand".
Months of Republican investigations, however, have yet to unearth any concrete evidence of misconduct by Mr Biden, and the allegations have been widely panned by Democrats. Months of investigation have yet to uncover any concrete evidence of misconduct by Mr Biden, and the allegations have been panned by Democrats and even some Republicans.
Here's what we know about the specific claims that the inquiry is likely to focus on. But Republican party leaders have built support for the inquiry by arguing that the administration is "stonewalling" and that investigators need more authority to gather evidence.
Alleged payments to Biden Family The White House has condemned the investigation as a "political stunt" designed to hurt the president's re-election bid.
In a memorandum released in early August, the House Oversight Committee claimed that evidence suggested that the Biden family and their business associates had received more than $20m (£16m) in payments from foreign sources in countries including China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia and Romania. Voting to authorise an inquiry is not the same as voting for impeachment, but it advances the likelihood the House will seek to impeach Mr Biden early next year.
The committee's chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer, has said - without substantial evidence - that Hunter Biden "sold" his father - then Barack Obama's vice-president - as a "brand" to "reap millions from oligarchs". The House has ultimately opted to impeach three of the last four times this step was taken.
Why do Republicans want to impeach Joe Biden now? Why do Republicans want to impeach Biden now?
But in a 9 August statement, Mr Comer said that "it appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself". He also said that the elder Mr Biden dined at a fashionable Washington DC restaurant "with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son". Impeachment inquiry 'based on lies' - White House
Three separate memos based on bank records obtained by the committee, however, have failed to identify any specific payments made to President Biden or provided evidence that he benefited from them directly. What is the inquiry about?
An analysis of the evidence published by the Washington Post in August found that only $7m went to Biden family members - mostly Hunter - while the rest went to "associates". Mr Comer and other Republican lawmakers had suggested that the entire sum of $20m went to the Biden family. Ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched the inquiry in September claiming Republicans had unearthed a "culture of corruption" surrounding Mr Biden.
Joe Biden as 'the brand' But at the inquiry's first hearing later that month, two of the party's own expert witnesses told lawmakers they did not believe there was enough evidence to warrant impeachment.
Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, has said that the elder Mr Biden was put on speaker phone with potential business associates - including foreign nationals - "maybe 20 times" over the span of 10 years. Since then, the House oversight committee has issued a flurry of legal summonses, demanding testimony from several members of the president's family, including his son and his brother.
House Republicans have said the calls contradict Joe Biden's claims that he had never discussed business deals with his son. On Wednesday morning, Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena to testify behind closed doors to lawmakers. He told reporters at Capitol Hill he would only give evidence in a public setting and called Republican investigators "shameless".
Mr Archer testified that the phone calls were "casual conversations" that never delved into Hunter Biden's business dealings, and "never once spoke about any business dealings". Many of the claims revolve around Hunter Biden's business dealings abroad and his father's alleged involvement in them
A report from the Congressional Integrity Project, a Democrat-aligned watchdog group, has said that Mr Archer's testimony "failed to produce a shred of evidence" of any conflict of interest of Mr Biden working on behalf of his son's business ventures. Senior Republicans have claimed that the White House is rebuffing their information requests, withholding thousands of documents from the National Archives and blocking key witnesses from testifying.
The struggles and scandals of Hunter Biden In a USA Today opinion piece, current House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote that evidence was mounting "and the pushback from the White House and others must be addressed".
House of Representatives to open Biden impeachment inquiry "We have no choice," he said at a Tuesday news conference. "We have to take the next step. We're not making a political decision. It's not. It's a legal decision."
Voting to formalise an inquiry places Republicans in "the strongest legal standing to pursue needed information and enforce subpoenas", Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole said in a statement on Tuesday.
Several of his colleagues, including impeachment sceptics, have been careful in arguing that backing an impeachment inquiry does not mean they are impeaching Mr Biden.
But the steps taken this week raise the odds that Mr Biden could be impeached in the House early next year - though he is all but certain to avoid conviction in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
So what are the specific claims the inquiry will likely focus on?
'The Biden brand'
The oversight committee says the Biden family and its business associates received more than $24m (£19m) from foreign sources in China, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Ukraine between 2014 and 2019.
There is, however, no substantive evidence of any specific payments made to the then-vice-president or that he benefited directly from the payments.
But committee chairman James Comer has argued Hunter and other relatives "sold" Mr Biden - who at the time served as Barack Obama's vice-president - as a "brand" to reap millions from corrupt business schemes.
He has also said that "it appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself".
Last week, the Kentucky Republican released bank records he claimed showed direct payments from Hunter to Joe Biden through a company he owned that received payments from China.
But lawyers for Hunter Biden quickly noted Mr Comer had mischaracterised payments between father and son that were already in the public record and happened almost two years after Mr Biden left office.
"The truth is Hunter's father helped him when he was struggling financially due to his addiction and could not secure credit to finance a truck," lead attorney Abbe Lowell said.
"When Hunter was able to, he paid his father back and took over the payments himself."
Lies about business dealings
The elder Mr Biden has said his son "has not made money" in China or elsewhere. He has also repeatedly said he never spoke to his son about his business dealings.
But Republicans say the evidence they've uncovered refutes both those claims.
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has been accused by the White House of repeatedly mischaracterising evidence during the impeachment hearings
Mr Comer has alleged that the president "spoke, dined, and developed relationships with" his son's foreign business targets nearly two dozen times.
It is unclear, however, whether the existence or substance of any of these meetings rises to the level of an impeachable offence.
In August, Devon Archer, an ex-business partner of Hunter Biden, testified to the House that Mr Biden was put on speaker phone with potential business associates "maybe 20 times" over the span of 10 years.
But he told lawmakers the phone calls were "casual conversations" that never delved into business, contradicting Republican claims of bribes, conflicts of interest or any material involvement by the president in his son's foreign ventures.
Alleged bribery schemeAlleged bribery scheme
Republicans have also focused on an unverified tip to the FBI that said Joe Biden pressured Ukraine's government to fire a top prominent prosecutor to halt an investigation into Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, where Hunter Biden was on the board. The claim first emerged in 2019, during then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment. A key element of the inquiry has been claims Republicans have recently resurfaced after they first emerged in 2019 during former President Donald Trump's first impeachment.
An FBI document detailing the claim was obtained and released by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in July. According to the document, former Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky reportedly said that he paid $5m to both Joe and Hunter Biden. An unverified tip to the FBI claimed Joe Biden pressured Ukraine's government to fire its top prosecutor to halt an investigation into the local Burisma energy firm, where Hunter Biden was on the board.
The justice department investigated the claim for eight months during the Trump administration, but ultimately abandoned its probe due to "insufficient evidence". An FBI document detailing the claim - in which an ex-Burisma CEO says he paid $5m to both Joe and Hunter Biden - was obtained and released by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley this July.
Mr Zlochevsky later rebutted the claim and said that he had had no contact with Joe Biden or any of his staff members and that Mr Biden had never helped him or the company while serving as vice-president, according to a transcript of an interview released by Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin. The justice department had investigated the claim for eight months during the Trump administration, but ultimately abandoned its probe due to "insufficient evidence".
In his testimony, Mr Archer also said that he was unaware of any such payments. The former executive, Mykola Zlochevsky, also later rebutted the claim, according to a transcript of an interview released by Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin.
Many of the claims revolve around Hunter Biden's business dealings abroad and his father's involvement in them He said he had had no contact with Joe Biden or any of his staff members and that Mr Biden had never helped him or the company while serving as vice-president,
In his testimony, Mr Archer too said that he was unaware of any such payments.
Preferential treatment of Hunter BidenPreferential treatment of Hunter Biden
Citing testimony from two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers, House Republicans have also suggested that the justice department intentionally interfered in a multi-year investigation into Hunter Biden's tax return. House Republicans have alleged that the justice department "impeded, delayed, and obstructed" an ongoing multi-year criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
In testimony given earlier this year, the two IRS agents said the justice department was "slow-walking" and blocking investigative steps. This appears to have been confirmed in part by testimony from two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers, who said the government was "slow-walking" and blocking investigative steps.
House Republicans have said that the testimony is evidence that the justice department worked on behalf of Mr Biden to prosecute Donald Trump, while at the same time being lenient when looking into allegations against the president's son. The department has denied these claims. Other witnesses called by Republicans in July testified that neither President Biden nor Attorney General Merrick Garland interfered in the investigation.
The department has denied the claims. Other witnesses called by Republican representatives in July testified that neither President Biden nor Attorney General Merrick Garland interfered in the investigation. But Republicans, who have claimed a broad "weaponisation" of the justice system under President Biden, have sought to contrast ongoing efforts to prosecute former President Trump with what they said was leniency toward the president's son.
'Collusion' on Burisma inquiries They pointed to a "sweetheart deal" reached between Hunter Biden and prosecutors earlier this year that would have seen him admit to criminal offences and avoid jail time.
During his announcement of the impeachment inquiry, Mr McCarthy also referenced alleged communications between Joe Biden's staff members and Hunter Biden's team. But that plea agreement has since fallen apart, and the younger Mr Biden now faces federal charges over tax-related and gun-related misconduct.
While Mr McCarthy offered no specifics, the reference is similar to claims made by the House Oversight Committee that the Office of the Vice President and a business associate of Hunter Biden "colluded" to co-ordinate responses to media questions regarding corruption at Burisma.
The committee cited a December 2015 email from Eric Schwerin, a Biden family business associate, to Office of the Vice President staff member Kate Bedingfield in which he provided "quotes the White House should use in response to media outreach regarding Hunter Biden's role in Burisma".
According to the committee, Ms Bedingfield responded saying that Vice-President Biden "signed off on this".
White House spokesman Ian Sams said the Burisma allegations were part of a "months-long effort to waste time and taxpayer resources on an evidence-free wild goose chase".
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Hunter BidenHunter Biden
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Joe BidenJoe Biden