Biden impeachment inquiry: What is happening, how has the US President responded

While the White House had, earlier, dismissed the move as unsupported by evidence, the inquiry was supported by Donald Trump — the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in next year’s US presidential election — who was also impeached twice during his time in the House.

What is the case against Biden and his son?

The Republicans have alleged that the President’s son Hunter Biden had been profiting in business dealings with foreign entities by managing access to the then-Vice President and his father Biden, who also, allegedly, profited from the same.

Moreover, Hunter Biden is already facing criminal charges in two other cases — one, he is charged with firearm counts in Delaware, allegedly for breaking laws against drug users possessing guns in the year 2018, a period when he had acknowledged struggling with addiction, and the other by United States Special Counsel David Weiss, alleging he failed to pay about $1.4 million in taxes over three years.

What is the evidence?

According to Republicans, a US government document shows an informant referring to the head of Burisma — a Ukrainian company for which Hunter Biden sat on the Board of Directors. The document, referring to alleged payments to the two members of the Biden family, says: “It cost 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden.”

According to AP news, an associate of Hunter Biden, in an interview with congressional investigators, had said that he was not aware of any such payments.

The head of Burisma said he did not have any contact with Joe Biden or his staff, and that Biden did not help him or the company while he was the Vice President, AP quoted a transcript of an interview released by Jamie Raskin — the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

The associate also told the investigators that Hunter Biden had put his father over the phone with foreign investors or associates “maybe 20 times” over the course of about ten years. He said that Biden’s son had sought to create “an illusion of access to his father,” but that those conversations did not involve any sort of business dealings, and that he was not aware of any wrongdoing by the elder Biden.

What is an impeachment inquiry, and what does it lead to?

The impeachment inquiry is a formal step to impeach federal officials including the president for treason, bribery and “other high crimes and misdemeanors,” according to the United States Constitution.

The impeachment inquiry could lead ultimately to penalty for a president — a punishment for the “high crimes and misdemeanors” leading to removal from the office if convicted in a Senate trial.

What has Biden said on the inquiry? What do the Democrats say?

Biden, following the 221-212 vote in the House, questioned the priorities and ethicality, as no evidence has so far emerged that Biden acted in a corrupt manner or accepted bribes during his time in the office. According to the Associated Press, he said, “Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies.” “Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.”

Biden, in an address outside the Capitol, said, “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say.” “What are they afraid of? I am here.”

Democrats in the House stood in united opposition to the inquiry resolution and called it a “farce” perpetrated by the Republicans to move attention away from the two impeachments against former President Trump.

Defending President Biden, Democrats said that they have made a massive number of documents available. The investigators, according to AP news, have obtained “nearly 40,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records and dozens of hours of testimony from key witnesses, including several high-ranking Justice Department officials currently tasked with investigating the president’s son.”

The GOP leaders have too issued a clarity that the inquiry is a step in the process, and not impeachment itself. “As we have said numerous times before, voting in favor of an impeachment inquiry does not equal impeachment,” Rep. Tom Emmer, a member of the GOP leadership team, announced at a press conference, AP reported.