From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2 hours ago, updated 2 hours ago
US President Joe Biden. EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Portal
This investigation has almost no chance of success, but could become a headache for the White House ahead of the 2024 presidential election in which Joe Biden is running.
Republicans will begin their impeachment trial against Joe Biden on Thursday, September 28, over his son’s controversial affairs abroad, which Democrats view as completely unfounded. Conservatives, who have held the majority in the House of Representatives since January, are accusing the Democratic leader of “lying” to the American people about Hunter Biden’s business dealings. This investigation has almost no chance of success, but could become a headache for the White House ahead of the 2024 presidential election in which Joe Biden is running.
The chairman of the House Investigations Committee, James Comer, assured that he had found “an overwhelming amount of evidence showing that President Joe Biden abused his public office to financially benefit his family.” “Given all of these elements, Congress has a duty to initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s corruption,” he reasoned in a press release. The first parliamentary hearing on this inquiry is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT). “Complete nonsense,” says White House spokesman Ian Sams, accusing Republicans of organizing this hearing to distract from the budget crisis the country is heading toward.
Hunter Biden, favorite target of the right
The president’s youngest son, Hunter Biden, a 53-year-old former businessman, has become the right’s main target. Elected officials particularly criticize him for conducting questionable business dealings in Ukraine and China, exploiting his father’s name and networks, during Joe Biden’s tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017).
The U.S. Constitution provides that Congress may impeach the president for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The procedure takes place in two steps. After completing its investigation, the House of Representatives votes by a simple majority on articles of impeachment detailing the facts alleged against the president: this is known in English as “impeachment.” If impeached, the Senate, the upper house of Congress, puts the president on trial. Then he would most likely be acquitted since Joe Biden’s party would have the majority in that chamber.
I get up every day (…) without focusing on the impeachment. I have a job to do. I have to deal with the issues affecting the American people every day. »
Joe Biden
The 80-year-old president has always publicly supported his son, who has a history of addiction problems, has also struggled with the law and been accused of illegally possessing a firearm. “I get up every day (…) without focusing on impeachment. I have a job to do. “I have to deal with the issues that affect the American people every day,” he said in September.
Impeachment proceedings have been called for for months by the Trumpist wing of the Republican Party, with whom House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to make numerous compromises in January to gain access to office.
No president has ever been impeached in American history. Three were indicted: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. But all were ultimately acquitted. Richard Nixon chose to resign in 1974 to avoid certain impeachment by Congress due to the Watergate scandal.