{"id":2049048,"date":"2023-09-29T03:40:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T07:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry\/"},"modified":"2023-09-29T03:42:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T07:42:51","slug":"house-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP, Dems Clash Over Biden Impeachment Evidence, Inquiry Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2049048&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>House Republicans and \u2063Democrats Clash Over Evidence for Biden Impeachment, Purpose of Inquiry<\/h2>\n<p>House Republicans and\u2063 Democrats remained sharply divided on Thursday, following a House Oversight\u2062 Committee hearing to discuss the basis for the ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. Members \u2062of both parties \u200coffered widely diverging views on \u200dthe purpose of an impeachment inquiry\u2064 as well as whether any evidence exists to support \u2063impeachment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>Thursday&#8217;s hearing marked the first\u2062 time House lawmakers\u2063 met to discuss the basis for the impeachment inquiry \u2063into the president since\u200b House Speaker Kevin McCarthy formally announced the inquiry on Sept. 12. The inquiry follows allegations\u200d by House Republicans that President Biden leveraged his influence \u2064throughout his career as a public servant to \u200dbenefit himself or his family members in their various business dealings.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The House Oversight Committee heard from three witnesses selected by the Republican majority and \u2063one witness from the Democrat minority.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tesla-data-breach-impacting-75000-employees-blamed-on-insider-wrongdoing\/\" title=\"Tesla data breach affecting 75k employees attributed to 'insider misconduct'.\">border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md<\/a>:float-left&#8221; id=&#8221;in_article_related_stories&#8221;><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/h2>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/congress-holds-first-hearing-on-biden-impeachment-inquiry-amid-looming-government-shutdown-5500587?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3>Congress Holds First Hearing on Biden Impeachment Inquiry Amid Looming Government Shutdown<\/h3>\n<p>            <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/28\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/congress-holds-first-hearing-on-biden-impeachment-inquiry-amid-looming-government-shutdown-5500587?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/gop-has-long-way-to-go-in-probe-of-biden-family-dealings-witnesses-suggest-in-hearing-on-impeachment-basis-5500590?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3>GOP Has\u200c Long Way\u2064 to Go in Probe of Biden Family Dealings, Witnesses Suggest in Hearing on\u2063 Impeachment Basis<\/h3>\n<p>            <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/28\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/gop-has-long-way-to-go-in-probe-of-biden-family-dealings-witnesses-suggest-in-hearing-on-impeachment-basis-5500590?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry\/\" title=\"GOP, Dems Clash Over Biden Impeachment Evidence, Inquiry Purpose\">majority witnesses included career forensic accountant<\/a> and certified fraud\u2062 examiner Bruce Dubinsky; former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and head of the Department\u200c of Justice&#8217;s Tax Division Eileen O&#8217;Connor; and George Washington University \u200dLaw School professor Jonathan Turley.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>University of North Carolina\u2013Chapel Hill law\u2063 professor Michael Gerhardt served as the\u2062 minority witness.<\/p>\n<h2>Democrats Say There&#8217;s Little to No Evidence\u2064 for Impeachment<\/h2>\n<p>One major dividing line in Thursday&#8217;s hearing was whether prior efforts to investigate \u200dPresident Biden had already \u2064cleared him of wrongdoing, or whether those findings spell \u200dout a need for a more thorough investigation. Many Democrats contended that the investigative efforts so far \u2062have shown little to no evidence for\u200b an impeachment\u2064 case.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty much of a sham hearing. There&#8217;s nothing \u2062there. There&#8217;s no there there,&#8221; Eleanor Holmes Norton, a \u200bnon-voting Democrat delegate for the District of Columbia on the House Oversight Committee, told NTD.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.),\u200d who is not a member of the Oversight Committee, cast the\u200d Republican investigative efforts so far as political \u200btheater.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Everybody has to be\u2014follow the law, which I, my Democratic colleagues and \u2062I, believe in.\u2063 But there has to be some \u2063evidence at some point,&#8221; Mr. DeSaulnier told NTD. &#8220;So the political theater may serve some purposes, but doesn&#8217;t serve the Constitution of the United States, in my view.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Republicans \u2062on the House Oversight Committee have pushed back on \u2062these claims that they\u2064 have no evidence. Republican investigative efforts have noted \u200dinstances in which President Biden had ended up \u200con \u200bbusiness calls and at in-person events involving his son Hunter Biden&#8217;s business partners. The investigators have also identified millions in payments from foreign business deals that went\u200c to Biden family members and their associates throughout President Biden&#8217;s time in public office.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is galling to hear the Democrats say there is no\u2064 evidence to link the\u200b president \u2062to this,&#8221; \u2063Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.),\u2064 a member of the Oversight Committee, told NTD.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what she found to be\u2062 the\u200b most compelling aspect of the Republican impeachment case, Ms. Foxx did not\u200c specify any one particular piece of evidence, but \u2064said, &#8220;You&#8217;re seeing a puzzle come together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Warren \u200dDavidson (R-Ohio) also defended \u200cthe Republican basis for\u200d the investigation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s\u2062 clear that Hunter Biden was on the \u2062board of Burisma. It&#8217;s clear he \u200bwasn&#8217;t really qualified to be on the board of Burisma. \u2062It&#8217;s clear that while\u200c he was on the board, \u200dthey asked him\u2062 to get some \u200bassistance to get the prosecutor to stop going after Burisma. \u200bAnd then you got all kinds of evidence that \u200bJoe Biden, while vice president, actively interfered \u200dto get the investigation against Burisma\u200b dropped and the prosecutor fired, withholding funds until\u2063 it happened,&#8221;\u200c said Mr. Davidson.<\/p>\n<h2>Republicans Say Inquiry Is Part of Evidence-Gathering Process<\/h2>\n<p>Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), like other\u2063 members of his party, argued that there&#8217;s no evidence for impeachment. Mr. Garcia even went \u200bso far as to claim one of the Republican\u2064 witnesses had undermined the case for impeachment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;This is a total farce and really a clown show going on in there,&#8221; Mr. Garcia told NTD. &#8220;The Republican star witness, Jonathan Turley, basically said that there&#8217;s no evidence to impeach President\u2064 Biden.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>However, Mr. Turley did not say there is &#8220;no evidence&#8221; for impeachment. \u200dRather, the legal scholar \u200dsaid in his prepared opening remarks (<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/GO\/GO00\/20230928\/116415\/HHRG-118-GO00-Wstate-TurleyP-20230928.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>),\u2063 &#8220;I do not believe that \u200dthe evidence currently meets \u2062the \u2062standard \u2063of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment.&#8221; Mr.\u2064 Turley then immediately added, &#8220;I do believe that, after months of investigation,\u2062 the House has passed the threshold\u2062 for \u2062an\u2062 inquiry into whether President Joe Biden was directly involved or benefited from the corrupt practices of his son, Hunter, and others.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I believe that the record has developed to the point that the House needs to answer \u200btroubling questions surrounding the President,&#8221; Mr. \u200cTurley continued in his opening remarks.<\/p>\n<p>He noted he also supported the start of the 2019 impeachment inquiry \u200dagainst \u200cPresident Donald Trump but opposed &#8220;the premature issuance \u2064of articles of impeachment&#8221; arising in that case.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The witnesses definitely believe that\u2062 we should continue to go down the line of our investigation,&#8221; said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a member of the\u2063 Oversight Committee. \u200b&#8221;I believe we set the predicate\u200d for being able to get more financial records\u2062 to then finally\u2063 answer \u200bthe question: Was Joe Biden benefiting\u200b from\u2063 the money coming from foreign interest, and was his son the go-between in order to do \u2064that? And I believe the answer is yes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. McCarthy and other Republicans have insisted that the impeachment inquiry is\u200d part of the evidence-gathering \u200dprocess\u2062 and is a separate issue from actually filing impeachment \u2062articles<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is not an impeachment, but it&#8217;s \u200bthe inquiry,&#8221;\u200b Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told NTD.\u200b &#8220;We just have to follow the facts and then come\u2062 to conclusions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Van Drew argued that the impeachment inquiry is a sensible step for \u2063enabling investigations to proceed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Democrats Look to Other Issues<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to questioning the evidence for impeachment, Democrats argued that Thursday&#8217;s \u2062hearing served as little more than a distraction from other matters \u200bbefore Congress, such \u2063as deciding on government \u2062spending for fiscal year 2024.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The timing is really unfortunate,&#8221; said Mr. Garcia. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got millions of Americans that are dependent on a paycheck, they&#8217;re dependent on their work. And the MAGA Republicans want to shut [the government] down and\u200c are\u2063 more interested in this kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/missing-hiker-has-one-mans-very-weird-hobby-to-thank-for-saving-his-life\/\" title=\"Missing Hiker Has One Man\u2019s \u2018Very Weird Hobby\u2019 To Thank For Saving His Life\">wild goose chase<\/a>, where there&#8217;s no evidence. I just think it&#8217;s really shameful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Hank\u2062 Johnson (D-Ga.) also argued that more attention should\u2063 go \u2063toward the government spending debate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Again, no evidence whatsoever, not a \u2063smidgen of evidence that President Biden has committed a high crime or misdemeanor or acted in a way that\u200d is inappropriate,&#8221; Mr. Johnson said. &#8220;And\u200b so, you know, they are empowered because they have the gavel, they can investigate until the cows come home, but\u2063 meanwhile, we need to pass a spending\u200d bill.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. \u2064Lisa McClain \u200d(R-Mich.) said her Democrat counterparts were merely attempting to &#8220;deflect&#8221; from the topic at hand in the Thursday hearing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Quite frankly, they kind of look foolish because they&#8217;re talking about everything but the evidence,&#8221; she\u200d said. &#8220;So we&#8217;re just \u200dgoing to continue \u200cto do what we&#8217;re doing \u200cand following the evidence. I mean, we have the bank records, we have the transcripts, we have the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-staff-told-us-he-misspoke-joe-biden-confuses-his-agenda-in-60-minutes-interview-so-his-staff-steps-in-to-correct-the-record-video\/\" title=\"\"Biden's Staff Told Us He Misspoke\" - Joe Biden Confuses His Agenda in 60 Minutes Interview so His Staff Steps in to Correct the Record (VIDEO)\">text messages<\/a>, the WhatsApps. I mean, it&#8217;s pretty damning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n    <em>From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntd.com\/house-republicans-democrats-clash-over-evidence-for-biden-impeachment-purpose-of-inquiry_944704.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NTD News<\/a><\/em>\n  <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u200cWhat \u2063are \u200bthe potential implications for the Biden administration if substantial evidence of wrongdoing \u2063is uncovered<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ss=&#8221;border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left&#8221; \u2062id=&#8221;in_article_related_videos&#8221;><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Videos<\/h2>\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap mb-4 gap-y-[20px]\">\n<div class=\"w-full md:w-1\/2 lg:w-[270px] xl:w-1\/2 pr-4 pb-4 md:flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/epochtv\/congress-holds-first-hearing-on-biden-impeachment-inquiry_5511825?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_videos\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">Sep 28, 2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Republicans Argue\u2063 for Further\u2062 Investigation<\/h2>\n<p>On the other\u2062 hand, Republicans on the committee maintained that there is significant \u2062evidence to warrant a more in-depth investigation into President Biden&#8217;s alleged wrongdoings. They argued that previous investigations had not been exhaustive\u2062 enough and\u2064 that additional evidence must \u2063be uncovered.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We need to do\u200c our job and follow the evidence wherever it may \u2063lead,&#8221; declared North Carolina Republican Representative Mark Meadows,\u2062 according to NTD. &#8220;And so I think\u200c we&#8217;ve got to continue moving \u2064forward with the investigation.&#8221;\u2061<\/p>\n<h2>Implications for the Biden Administration<\/h2>\n<p>The ongoing impeachment inquiry has significant implications for the Biden administration. If any substantial evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered, it could damage President Biden&#8217;s credibility and hinder his ability to effectively\u2062 govern.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-articles\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"pb-3\">\n<p>        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/congress-holds-first-hearing-on-biden-impeachment-inquiry-amid-looming-government-shutdown-5500587?ea_src=author_manual\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>a clear division between House Republicans and Democrats. The House Oversight Committee discussed the ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, with both parties presenting contrasting opinions on its purpose and the existence of evidence to support impeachment. This hearing highlighted the deep divide between the two sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1759,"featured_media":2049049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1759"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}