(Dan Tri) – The US House of Representatives voted to formalize the impeachment investigation into incumbent President Joe Biden at a time when the presidential campaign is heating up.
US President Joe Biden (Photo: Reuters).
With a vote of 221 votes in favor and 212 votes against, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on December 13 formalized the impeachment investigation against incumbent President Joe Biden.
The decision to vote was made in the context that House Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican colleagues were under pressure to promote a nearly year-long investigation into Mr. Biden’s family business.
Just a few hours before the vote, Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, refused the request to testify under a subpoena from the House investigative committee.
What is an impeachment inquiry?
An impeachment inquiry is an investigation into wrongdoing by an official of the federal government, such as the president, a cabinet official, or a judge.
According to the US constitution, impeachment investigation is the maximum power that Congress is allowed to apply to the executive branch.
The power to impeach lies with the House of Representatives and the power to convict and remove an individual from office belongs to the Senate.
(From left to right) Former US President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson (Photo: AP).
Mr. Joe Biden is the 8th US president to face an impeachment investigation.
The reason for the investigation
The US House of Representatives initiated the investigation in September. However, the White House’s top lawyer declared the investigation illegal because the House of Representatives has not yet formalized the impeachment investigation through a vote.
The Republican Party accused the current President and his family of profiteering from 2009 to 2017, when he held the position of Vice President under President Barack Obama.
Conservatives accused Mr. Hunter Biden of `exploiting his family’s reputation` to serve his personal business in Ukraine and China.
Burisma is a Ukrainian energy company of which Hunter Biden is a member of the board of directors.
This bribery allegation is related to another accusation that President Joe Biden’s Republican party pressured Ukraine to fire the country’s top prosecutor to stop the investigation into Burisma.
Mykola Zlochevsky, head of Burisma, said that no one from this company has contact with Mr. Joe Biden or his assistant, nor does Mr. Biden `back` Burisma.
This investigation ended after 8 months of investigation when Donald Trump was in power.
US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden (Photo: NBC).
However, the Republicans still did not give up.
Many of Mr. Hunter Biden’s partners said the main responsibility lies with him for constantly `bragging to his partners about his father’s ability to intervene.
In July, Devon Archer, a business associate of Mr. Hunter Biden, told congressional investigators that Mr. Hunter persuaded foreign customers with his father’s position.
Initially, most Republicans were quite reluctant to support an impeachment investigation of President Biden due to lack of specific evidence.
A team of congressional investigators then collected nearly 40,000 pages of bank records and statements from key witnesses.
For his part, Mr. Hunter affirmed that Mr. Joe Biden was never directly involved in their financial transactions.
It is difficult for the Republican Party to impeach Mr. Biden
`Mr. Joe Biden has not been impeached. This vote is only to continue the impeachment investigation process,` House Speaker Mike Johnson affirmed after the vote to formalize the investigation.
Analysts say that the Republican effort to remove Joe Biden from office through impeachment will almost certainly fail.
However, the impeachment investigation process can help Republicans highlight unfavorable allegations against Joe Biden throughout the 2024 election campaign. It will also allow three House committees and judges to
Commenting on the vote in the House of Representatives, President Joe Biden said on December 13: `Instead of working to make Americans’ lives better, they focus on attacking me with lies.
