Biden Administration Challenges Validity Of Impeachment Inquiry

On Friday, the White House challenged the validity of an impeachment inquiry run by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives into President Joe Biden’s son’s business dealings.

White House special counsel Dick Sauber questioned the validity of the GOP-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Friday in a scathing letter sent to House Oversight Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. https://t.co/7OvUUae0zJ

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 17, 2023

From the Washington Post:

In the four-page letter, Sauber demanded that Comer and Jordan withdraw their subpoenas and requests for interviews with members of the Biden family and aides, arguing that since the House did not hold a floor vote on the impeachment inquiry, it has not been formally authorized by the legislative body as required by the Constitution.

“In fact, both of you previously supported the position that moving forward with an impeachment inquiry without a vote of the House ‘represents an abuse of power and brings discredit to the House of Representatives,’ ” Sauber wrote, quoting a 2019 resolution disapproving of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to unilaterally initiate an impeachment inquiry into former president Donald Trump.

Further, Sauber argued, subpoenas and requests most recently issued by Comer and Jordan related to the special counsel investigation into the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s private office and Delaware home are part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation and outside of the scope of their purported impeachment inquiry.

The letter comes ahead of a Monday deadline provided to White House aides to respond to requests for congressional testimony related to the investigation into Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. Sauber also called requests made earlier this month to members of Biden’s family — including the president’s deceased son’s widow and her sister — “unjustified.”

“Both of you have publicly admitted that your investigation is driven by the partisan political goal to hurt the President, raising additional serious concerns that you are improperly weaponizing the oversight powers of Congress,” he wrote. “Speaker Johnson joined you in admitting that partisan political concerns were guiding the House’s decision-making in this process,” Sauber added, referencing reporting by The Washington Post last week of Johnson’s message to moderate House Republicans in a closed-door meeting.

The House Oversight Committee confirmed receiving the letter on X, formerly Twitter.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

We just received a letter from the Special Counsel to the President making it clear the White House intends to continue obstructing our investigation.

If President Biden has nothing to hide, then he should make his current and former staff available to testify…

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) November 17, 2023

Comer responded in a post on the social media site, challenging Biden to make his staff available to testify if he has nothing to hide.

🚨STATEMENT🚨

If President Biden has nothing to hide, then he should make his current and former staff available to testify before Congress about his mishandling of classified documents.

Read👇 https://t.co/Sn4QxRsf4A

— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) November 17, 2023