The House of Representatives is slowly warming to the idea of an impeachment inquiry into the actions of Joe Biden after layers of evidence piled one on top of another in the form of bank records, informant interviews and more, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-North Carolina) said on Washington Watch Monday.
Last week, Biden was asked about an Associated Press poll in November that said almost 70% of Americans – including 40% of Democrats – believe Biden has acted unethically or illegally in business dealings.
Biden responded with, "I did not, and it's just a bunch of lies."
Reporters did not relent. Biden was asked again about reports of his interactions with the associates of his embattled son, Hunter Biden, and those of his brother, James Biden.
The President responded, "I did not. They're lies."
The sad history of Joe Biden and the truth
Sadly, history suggests the President himself is no beacon of truth. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability in August found Biden lied at least 16 times about his family's business schemes. Murphy told show host Tony Perkins that 16 is a conservative estimate.
"It's about two dozen just about this particular issue," Murphy admitted.
Which begs the question: Why has the House moved so slowly on the impeachment process?
"Our founders wanted impeachment to be for a grave, grave offense, not anything to be tossed around just because of political partisanship. So, we're actually trying as Republicans to do it the right way," explained Murphy, noting that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's impeachment of former President Donad Trump lacked due process.
"When Pelosi threw this on Trump twice, it had no judicial proceedings," Murphy noted.
As evidence has mounted, more House Republicans have begun to favor beginning an impeachment inquiry, said the North Carolina Republican. An inquiry includes subpoena power for the committee. Its findings could lead to formal impeachment proceedings which could end with Biden's removal as president.
"If we have an inquiry by the entire House, giving a subpoena to people at the [Department of Justice], they can't turn that down. It's going to be a much greater [tool] to force them to come back and speak to the entire House and answer the real questions," Murphy said.
Murphy argued that the time is right for an inquiry to move forward.
The Oversight Committee has found a vast web of shell companies created while Joe Biden was vice president through which Biden family members received more than $10 million from foreign nationals. Joe Biden, says the committee, communicated through fake email accounts and received 10% of the cut of laundered money from a government-linked Chinese energy company.
"We know that Hunter Biden [helped create] over 20 shell companies that had absolutely no purpose other than to receive money from nefarious places such as China, Ukraine, Russia. We've also found out that President Biden had multiple alias email addresses that he was connecting and discussing with Hunter Biden's associates.
"The circle will be complete, and we will show that Joe Biden sold his vice presidency. That should be treasonous in the eyes of the American people," Murphy said.
Evidence is one thing, removal is another
Removing a sitting president is no small task, particularly with a shrinking Republican majority in the House. With the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-New York) earlier this month, Republicans have only a three-vote majority in the House. So small a number requires near-complete unity, something for which the GOP in this 118th Congress is not known.
If a Biden inquiry leads to formal impeachment proceedings, Murphy makes no predictions.
"It's almost hard to guess these days because sometimes we seem to be our own worst enemy. Some of the Republicans who are voting the way that they're voting … I hope that they'll at least vote for an inquiry that we can agree to establish to look into these very mind-boggling findings.
"Again, not putting the cart before the horse, as they say, but surely, everything sure leads to the fact that Biden is compromised," Murphy concluded.
