Republicans launch impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden

Joe Biden is now in the crosshairs of a formal inquiry to boot him from office after Donald Trump lobbied for the high-stakes tit-for-tat hit on his successor.

Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, accusing him of corruption in a high-stakes tit-for-tat manoeuvre that will shape next year’s election.

The formal probe, announced by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, all but guarantees the Republicans will seek to impeach Mr Biden ahead of his likely rematch with Donald Trump in 2024.

Only three US presidents have been impeached – Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Mr Trump in 2019 and 2021 – in what is the Congress’s strongest power to take action against federal officials accused of “high crimes and misdemeanours”.

President Joe Biden earlier this year with his son Hunter. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump has been demanding his party go after his successor, as he fights off four separate sets of criminal charges while campaigning to return to the White House.

Last month, he posted on his social media platform: “Either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!”

But Republicans have been divided over impeaching Mr Biden, who has faced mounting pressure over his knowledge and involvement in his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

In a sign of the split, Mr McCarthy announced the inquiry without seeking a vote in the House of Representatives, having previously said failure to do so would “create a process completely devoid of any merit or legitimacy”.

The Speaker maintained that stance even a fortnight ago, saying an impeachment inquiry would not happen “through a declaration by one person”, but he changed his tune on Wednesday as hard-right Republicans threatened to force him out of his job.

“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption,” Mr McCarthy said.

Mr Biden’s spokesman Ian Sams lashed the move as “extreme politics at its worst”.

“House Republicans have been investigating the President for nine months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” he said.

To impeach Mr Biden, Mr McCarthy needs a majority vote in the House of Representatives, where his party has a narrow grip on power.

But convicting the President and removing him from office – which requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate where the Democrats hold sway – would be impossible and has never happened before.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (AFP)

The Speaker, in outlining the case against Mr Biden, alleged that he lied about his knowledge of Hunter’s business and that his administration gave his son “special treatment” amid a lengthy investigation into his affairs that led to tax and gun charges.

Witnesses have confirmed Mr Biden – who has claimed he never spoke to his son about his business dealings – was involved in calls and dinners with Hunter and his foreign partners.

However, Republicans have so far produced no evidence to show Mr Biden benefited from his son’s commercial endeavours or improperly used his government authority to support them.

The party’s hard right members indicated they were still dissatisfied with Mr McCarthy, who is also trying to negotiate temporary spending laws to prevent the US government shutting down at the end of September.

Republican congressman Matt Gaetz called the inquiry a “baby step” and vowed to seek his removal from the speakership if he did not live up to the deal he struck in January to claim power.

A Wall Street Journal poll last month found 52 per cent of voters opposed impeaching Mr Biden while 41 per cent supported the move.

Originally published as Republicans launch impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden