Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan came up short recently in his push to become the speaker of the U.S. House. But he remains focused on what he called “one of his top priorities” — holding President Joe Biden accountable.
Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that Republicans will decide early next year whether they will begin the process of impeaching Biden.
Jordan said that the GOP’s impeachment investigation still needs some finishing touches, but many of his supporters already think there is enough evidence to impeach.
“I believe we will get the depositions and the interviews done in this calendar year and then make a decision early next year whether the actual evidence warrants going to articles of impeachment and moving to that stage of the investigation,” Jordan said.
The Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer (R-La. ), who was in charge of the investigation, issued about a dozen subpoenas and requests for interviews last week. Most notably, the investigation called for testimony from Hunter Biden, the first son of the president and brother of the president, and James Biden. It also asked business partners and important people involved in the family’s dealings to testify.
Last week, before he did this, Comer went on “Sunday Morning Futures” and said that Joe Biden should be removed from office, but he didn’t say when.
The Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees in the House all worked together on the investigation. It was set up in September and is looking into the president’s family business dealings and alleged schemes to buy votes.
In the White House, people who support President Biden have criticized the impeachment investigation, saying that Republicans are playing partisan games.
The person in charge of the case against Hunter Biden, Special Counsel David Weiss, spoke to the Judiciary Committee last week behind closed doors.
Reports say that he confirmed that he asked to be a special counsel in June 2022 for his investigation into the first son.
Weiss insisted, “I would have always been able to get it if I had asked for it,” even though he wasn’t given that status until August, according to Jordan, who told reporters last week that the special counsel’s testimony was inconsistent.
Behind closed doors, Weiss also avoided many questions by saying that his work was ongoing. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the tax and gun charges that Weiss’ team brought against him.
For Jordan, one of the most important things is that Weiss asked to work with US prosecutors in the Southern California and Washington, DC, districts, but they said no.
“Guess what that charge was going to be? It was going to be the tax year that dealt with the Burisma income,” Jordan said, referring to Hunter’s alleged shady dealings with the Ukrainian gas company.
“That to me is hugely significant because the Burisma years were all that income coming into Hunter Biden. That statute of limitations — they let it expire. And I think it expired because if they go there, that takes them right back to the White House, right back to Joe Biden.”
At one point, host Maria Bartiromo was worried about when an impeachment might happen. She said, “We have an election next year; President Trump is facing four indictments, and you’ve got this dereliction of duty.”
In response, Jordan used a quote from Donald Trump, the former president, who is facing 91 criminal counts.
“He said they come after him because he’s fighting for us,” Jordan said of Trump. “That is true. That’s what the Swamp does. They’re going after President Trump because he kept his word, and he’s fighting for us.”
