House Republicans unite behind impeachment inquiry

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said that Republican lawmakers did not raise objections to the impeachment inquiry into President Biden when the conference met to discuss the probe on Thursday.

According to Mr. Comer, his GOP colleagues wanted to learn more about how an impeachment inquiry empowers both panels during their investigation into how the President’s son allegedly used his father’s political influence to cut lucrative deals in foreign countries.

“We talked about precedents in the past, where an impeachment inquiry had been utilized,” he said. “There wasn’t a concern.”

The Kentucky Republican added: “We had a big line of people at an open mic, and I don’t think anyone expressed a single concern about the … the impeachment inquiry, about our steps moving forward or lack evidence or anything like that.”

Republicans representing swing districts where they may face tough reelection races and criticism about the impeachment inquiry also told reporters the inquiry is necessary.

“At this point, the speaker’s decision to move forward in the way that we’ve moved forward is certainly acceptable to me,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican in a New York district that tilts Democrat. “At the end of the day, it is our responsibility to identify whether or not these acts of impropriety rise to the level of actual corruption.”

Rep. Nick Lalota, another Republican from a swing district in New York, said he sees it as a duty Congress has to fulfill to pursue the facts.

“It seems evident that the president’s family have taken tens of millions of dollars in foreign entities from organizations in jobs in which they had no experience,” he said. “That requires the Congress to understand if that reached the commander in chief, what, if anything, did America have to give away? I think we have a responsibility to follow those facts.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched the impeachment inquiry Tuesday and said it was necessary to provide Congress with enhanced powers to obtain hard-to-get records from Mr. Biden.

The Oversight panel will conduct the probe in coordination with the House Judiciary and Ways and Means committees. The two panels have interviewed IRS and FBI whistleblowers who say they were blocked from pursuing evidence that may have shown Mr. Biden’s involvement in his son’s business pacts.

The House will launch its impeachment inquiry this month with a hearing that lays out evidence of Biden family actions that Republicans say point to corruption.

The White House and congressional Democrats have pushed back saying Republicans have no evidence that connects the president directly to his son Hunter Biden’s or brother James Biden’s overseas business deals that raked in huge profits for the Biden family.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, called the impeachment inquiry a “kangaroo court, fishing expedition and conspiracy theater rolled into one.”

“This is an illegitimate impeachment inquiry, period. Full stop. It’s a waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Jeffries said.

Mr. Comer said that they were just following the money.