First Biden impeachment inquiry sees sparks fly between GOP, Dems

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during the House Oversight Committee impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Chairman James Comer concluded his remarks in the hearing by outling the next steps in the investigation, and summarizing the day's marathon hearing.

"The bottom line is that the committee has shown the Bidens alone brought in over $15 million in their foreign influence peddling, over $24 million if you account for their associate's earnings from the schemes."

"We have established in the first phase of this investigation where this money has come from: Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, it didn't come from selling anything legitimate. It largely went unreported to the IRS. It was funneled through shell companies and third parties to hide the Biden's fingerprints," he said.

"This deserves investigation. This deserves accountability. The American people expect this committee to investigate public corruption."

He then outlines the next steps the committee will take after the evidence today was presented.

"Now we know much of the money goes -- Hunter Biden, Haley Biden, James Biden, Sarah Biden, other Biden family members and their business entities. What we need to understand is where it goes next. That is the question this committee to answer. And the evidence supports that next step," he said.

Specifically, he said he will be subpoenaing the bank records of Hunter Biden, James Biden and their affiliated companies.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., seated right, talks with Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., before the House Oversight Committee begins an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democrats vehemently decried the first House Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Thursday as a "waste of time" and "illegitimate" as Congress simultaneously races against the clock to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) deal and prevent a looming government shutdown before Saturday’s deadline.

"Republican extremism is rearing its ugly head," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday morning. "They are wasting time and taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate Impeachment Inquiry when we're about 48 hours away or so from an extreme MAGA, republican government shutdown — and this is what they're focused on, an illegitimate impeachment inquiry as opposed to doing the business of the American people."

Other Democrats followed suit on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding their own criticisms of the hearing."

The government shuts down in TWO DAYS, and House Republicans are… wasting time today holding a sham impeachment hearing??? Stop playing political games. Do your jobs. Fund the government," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., posted to X. The congresswoman previously voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2021. 

California state Democrat and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said on X: "We are going to hit back on every lie and conspiracy theory." 

"We are ready to push back on a sham impeachment inquiry," Garcia posted Wednesday evening.

Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar called the impeachment hearing "baseless."

"My job is to defend the truth, while extremist Republicans try to defend Trump through their fact-free inquiry against President Biden," Casar posted to X.

A House Democrat was rebuffed in his line of questioning when he quizzed a legal witness about whether an impeachment requires a clear criminal action -- before he quickly moved on.

Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-NY, asked Professor Jonathan Turley, who was a witness invited by Republicans, if he had said during the 2019 impeachment of former President Donald Trump that "impeachment requires a clear criminal act."

Turley, however, said that was not the testimony he gave.

"No, in fact in the Trump impeachment I said repeatedly you can impeach someone for non-criminal conduct, what I said then and I'm saying now is that i strongly encourage you to look at criminal activity..."

"Ok well that testimony is there," he interrupted.

Turley then asked if he could finish his point.

"No you can't, because I have 10 seconds left."

Goldman asked if he would acknowledge that there must be an "official act connected to some sort of benefit." But Turley said it was not a yes or no question, and Goldman's time had then expired.

Texas Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett quipped that she and the others at the hearing would be "drunk by now" if they were playing a "drinking game" about how many times the GOP used the word "if."

During her line of questioning, Crockett asked UNC law professor Michael Gerhardt how many "ifs" he has counted from the GOP lawmakers and witnesses at Thursday's impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.

Gerhardt said he had tallied "more than 35 times" the GOP lawmakers and witnesses "have used the word 'if.'"

"Thank you so much for that," Crockett responded. "Because, honestly, if they would continue to say 'if' or 'Hunter' and we were playing a drinking game, I would be drunk by now."

Rep. Summer Lee speaks at the House Oversight Committee hearing on Sept. 28, 2023 (Screenshot)

Tensions are boiling over between Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., repeated claims by Democrats that Republicans have no evidence with which to impeach President Biden.

"If my Republican colleagues had a so-called smoking gun, they would have presented it by now and would have talked about it non-stop," she said.

Chairman James Comer pointed to the stash of documents and other materials that they say is evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden related to his business dealings.

"Can the gentlelady read a bank statement, an email, a text message?" Comer responded.

Lee ignored the chairman: "Instead we're sitting here with no fact witnesses and no evidence in this sham so-called impeachment to distract from their inability to fulfill their basic duty."

Democrats have been pointing to the looming government shutdown, which could come this weekend if a spending bill is not agreed to, as a sign Congress should be focused on other issues.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks during the Biden impeachment inquiry hearing Thursday

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly sought to refocus the attention on former President Donald Trump during the Republican-led impeachment inquiry hearing on President Biden Thursday.

The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., held its first impeachment inquiry public hearing, where members presented evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, while examining "the value" of the inquiry.

Committee Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of taking cues from Trump in launching the inquiry and used the opportunity to highlight the former president’s myriad legal issues.

"President Trump has gone on his social media account and said we should be impeaching President Biden," Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. "Kevin McCarthy said we have an impeachment inquiry. You draw the conclusion. Directly or indirectly, this impeachment inquiry was a result of President Trump's pressure."

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused the Republicans of trying to "distract" and "deflect" before launching into a guessing game with the only Democrat-appointed witness, law professor Michael Gerhardt, in which he inserted Biden's name for Trump's in order to try to illustrate that Trump, not Biden, should be investigated.

"So, Professor Gerhardt, I've heard concern about branding, so shouldn't we be concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the United States?" Connolly said, knowingly alluding to Trump Towers located in cities across the globe.

"I think we are talking about Mr. Trump," Gerhardt responded.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., mused that the former president "lives free in the Democrats’ heads."

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., slammed the House Republican-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden as a "continuation of the [Jan. 6] insurrection' during an interview Sunday. 

"Many of [Kevin] McCarthy's folks go to the January 6 prisoners and visit them to give them comfort and aid, and so they've never accepted President Biden as a legitimate president," Swalwell said to MSNBC host Jen Psaki. "And this week, even as we are hurtling toward a shutdown, they'll hold impeachment proceedings, which is just a continuation of the insurrection — and so this is all about just putting Donald Trump in charge."

Psaki asked Swalwell — who sat on the Jan. 6 House committee — what he thinks of former President Trump’s purported role in the House’s decisions. The Democrat congressman said, "Donald Trump and McCarthy and the other pro-insurrection Republicans have never accepted Joe Biden as the president."

"The House, unfortunately, has become a law firm with just one client, Donald Trump," he said.

The House is probing Biden’s foreign business ties with his son, Hunter, in Ukraine and China. Republicans hope to unearth bribery negotiations that suggest Biden leveraged his position as then-vice president under former President Obama for personal gain.

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered FBI and IRS investigators involved in the Hunter Biden probe to "remove any reference" to President Biden in a search warrant related to a Foreign Agents Registration Act probe, documents released by the House Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday revealed.

Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a vote Wednesday to release new documents provided by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that "corroborate their initial testimony to the Committee and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues."

"The Biden Administration — including top officials at the Justice Department — lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself," the committee said.

One document released Wednesday was an August 2020 email sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf in which she ordered investigators to remove any reference to "Political Figure 1" from a search warrant. Subsequent documents released Wednesday revealed that President Biden is "Political Figure 1."

"As a priority, someone needs to redraft attachment B," Wolf writes in the email. "I am not sure what this is cut and pasted from but other than the attribution location, and identity stuff at the end, none of it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant." 

Wolf adds: "Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here." 

A document released Wednesday and reviewed by Fox News Digital states that "Political Figure 1" is "Former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr."

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, attends a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2023. Tuberville and other Republican senators have expressed doubts about the House GOP impeachment effort against Biden. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., recently said House Republicans must "not waste time" and deliver an "ironclad" case to impeach President Biden for the effort to succeed in the Senate. 

Tuberville earlier this month joined a growing chorus of Republican senators who are skeptical of the House GOP impeachment inquiry. He said the Senate "couldn't get the votes" to convict Biden in an impeachment trial but hoped the House at least would get to the truth concerning the abuse of power and corruption allegations made against the president.

"You don’t bring a vote to the floor unless you are pretty sure that you can get the amount of votes that you need," Tuberville said on NBC's "Meet the Press NOW." "I know that wouldn’t make it to anywhere over here in the Senate. That probably wouldn’t even — wouldn’t even let it make it to the floor. But again, this is all up to the House. We got enough problems going on right now."

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., announced the impeachment inquiry into President Biden on Sept. 12. He said House Republicans have "uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct" that will serve as the basis of an impeachment inquiry. 

The allegations against Biden concern the president's role in his son Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings and whether the Biden family used Joe Biden's public office for personal profit. The speaker said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry in coordination with House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo. 

As House Republicans move forward with impeachment, several Republican senators have expressed doubts about the effort. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has said she does not believe there is enough evidence to impeach Biden. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., similarly questioned whether their House counterparts have alleged high crimes or misdemeanors against Biden specifically, Axios reported.

Tuberville said the impeachment case against Biden must be "ironclad."

"I’m not for impeachment unless it is ironclad," he said. "As I said about President Trump, if you’re gonna come after a former president or president, let’s not waste time. Let’s know the truth. Let’s be able to bring it out. Let the American people know."

"We got enough problems up here right now without going through an impeachment process, but they’ll do the right thing," he added, referring to the House. "Hopefully we just find out what’s going on and, and American people get the truth."

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, one of the leaders of the impeachment inquiry, wants Special Counsel David Weiss and other federal prosecutors involved in the Hunter Biden investigation to testify before his committee in October.

Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this month requesting documents and testimony as part of his investigation into the alleged politicization of the Justice Department under his leadership. 

Jordan requested that Weiss appear for his transcribed interview on Oct. 11, and added that he hopes for a public hearing with Weiss on Oct. 18. 

Further, Jordan requested Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, who allegedly told investigators to limit questioning about "dad" and "the big guy," to appear for her interview on Sept. 29; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves on Oct. 2; U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California E. Martin Estrada on Oct. 3; criminal chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware Shawn Weede on Oct. 6; and assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Shannon Hanson on Oct. 10. 

Jordan gave the Justice Department a Sept. 27 deadline to confirm the interviews, which was yesterday. 

Garland appointed Weiss special counsel amid Republican allegations that politicization was impacting prosecutorial decisions against Hunter Biden. Whether President Biden placed his thumb on the scales in those decisions is an issue in the GOP-led impeachment inquiry. 

Among Weiss' first actions as special counsel was to charge Hunter Biden with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

The president's son pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Fox News' Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this post.

A director with the IRS' criminal investigations division told House lawmakers that he was frustrated that the Justice Department did not charge Hunter Biden for failing to pay federal income tax in 2014 and 2015.

The IRS official, Michael Batdorf, testified to the House Ways & Means Committee on Sept. 12 as part of the panel's investigation into the Hunter Biden probe. Allegations that President Biden politicized the investigations into his son Hunter will be scrutinized in the House's impeachment inquiry. 

Shapley, who led the IRS' portion of the probe, said that Hunter Biden should have been charged with tax evasion for 2014, and for filing false tax returns for 2018 and 2019. With regard to the 2014 tax returns, Shapley said Hunter Biden did not report income from Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. 

Batdorf was asked whether the tax years for 2014 and 2015 were included in a special agent report form from the IRS’ Criminal Investigations division dated February 2022.

"That is correct," he said, confirming that it included a recommendation of "at least one felony count."

Batdorf said it is "correct" that he agreed with the IRS recommendation for charges, but was "surprised" when he learned that prosecutors would not charge for those tax years.

"Based on my supporting of the case all the way through, yes, I was surprised," Batdorf said.

When asked if he was frustrated, he replied, "Yeah. Of course there was some level of frustration, yes."

Fox News Digital first reported in December 2020 that Hunter Biden did not report "approximately $400,000" in income he collected from his position on the board of Burisma Holdings when he joined in 2014. 

Batdorf also testified that agents met with defense counsel for Hunter Biden multiple times.

When asked if that was typical during a tax investigation, Batdorf testified: "No."

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this post.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., used some spicy language to call out Democrats on the committee for their dismissal of Republican criticism of President Biden's conduct related to his family's business dealings.

Mace pointed to a 2017 deal with Chinese company CEFC, alleging the deal involved making millions "off of granting access to Joe Biden."

"Hunter even arranged for Joe Biden to share office space with the CCP aligned company CEFC," she said. 

"My Democrat colleagues say none of this is relevant because Joe Biden wasn't vice president while his family did these shady deals," she said. "Turns out that's complete and total bulls---. It's a lie."

"Biden referred to access his father as the keys to his family's only asset. Those words are going to come back and haunt Hunter Biden and his family forever," she said.

It's the latest moment in a fiery hearing that has seen Democrats and Republicans trade barbs over the impeachment inquiry -- with Democrats accusing Republicans of a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing from Biden.

Republicans, meanwhile, have said GOP-led investigations have uncovered how the Biden family created over 20 shell companies that raked in more than $20 million between 2014 and 2019.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - AUGUST 23: Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media after leaving the Fulton County jail on August 23, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Giuliani is one of 19, including former President Donald Trump, facing felony charges in the indictment related to tampering with the 2020 election in Georgia who have been ordered to turn themselves in by August 25. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

House Democrats have repeatedly mentioned Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for President Donald Trump, at the impeachment inquiry hearing. 

Democrats say Giuliani promoted a "big lie" that then-Vice President Joe Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was threatening to investigate Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter Biden served on. 

Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said this was the "opposite of the truth," and that Biden led a "coordinated global effort" to remove Shokin because he was corrupt. He asserted that Giuliani twisted the facts to accuse Biden of corruption  — an accusation repeatedly made by Trump — and quoted Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, who said there was "no evidence that Shokin was engaged in an investigation of Burisma or that Joe Biden's role in his firing was in any way connected to Burisma." 

Raskin later pointed to a letter Giuliani associate Lev Parnas sent to Congress urging Republicans to drop their Burisma investigation, calling it a "wild goose chase." 

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., demanded to know why Giuliani was not testifying at the hearing, since Trump sent Giuliani to Ukraine to urge the government there to open investigations into the Biden family. The pressure Trump exerted on Ukraine to investigate Biden ultimately became the basis for the first impeachment effort led by Democrats against Trump, of which the former president was acquitted. 

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - DECEMBER 19, 2019: A woman reads the front page of the December 19, 2019 New York Times with its headline reporting the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump by the U.S. House of Representatives. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

President Biden is among a small minority of U.S presidents who have faced impeachment by the House of Representatives. 

Only three U.S. presidents have been formally impeached by Congress — Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Of those three, Trump was impeached twice in a single term in an effort led by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

No U.S. president has ever been convicted by the Senate on impeachment charges and removed from office.

One other president, Richard Nixon, faced an impeachment inquiry but Nixon resigned from office before charges were brought against him. 

The Constitution sets a high bar for impeachment. The Founding Fathers intentionally made the process difficult to discourage lawmakers from bringing up frivolous charges against a president they didn't like.

Article II, Section 4 states: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." 

Today's hearing is to investigate evidence Republicans say shows how Biden committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" which would fuel impeachment charges.

President Joe Biden arrives at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The White House is counting down to a looming government shutdown as part of its efforts to provide counterprogramming to the House Oversight Committee's impeachment inquiry.

"There are 60 hours and 55 minutes until the government shuts down because of extreme House Republicans’ chaos and inability to govern," the White House said in a statement. "The consequences for the American people will be very damaging – from lost jobs, to troops working without pay, to jeopardizing important efforts to fight fentanyl, provide food assistance, and more.

"Nothing can distract from that," they said.

It is similar to earlier statements the White House has issued, but with an updated countdown clock.

The government is on course to shut down unless funding is provided by Congress by a weekend deadline. The White House has warned of the potential damage that could cause across government agencies and to the American people.

Meanwhile, Republicans on the committee are outlining the scope of their inquiry into Hunter Biden's business dealings and President Biden's potential involvement in them -- as well as the key questions Republicans seek to answer with their inquiry.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said Republicans have received "a mountain of evidence" implicating President Biden in allegedly corrupt business dealings in his opening statement.

"President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family's corrupt business schemes. At least ten times. Joe Biden lied to the American people that he never spoke to his family about their business dealings," Comer said. 

At today's impeachment inquiry hearing, Republicans will present evidence they say shows Biden committed offenses for which he should be impeached. 

Comer said GOP-led investigations have uncovered how the Biden family created over 20 shell companies that raked in more than $20 million between 2014 and 2019. "Now what were the Bidens selling to make all this money? Joe Biden himself," Comer stated. 

"Joe Biden is the brand and Joe Biden showed up at least two dozen times with business targets and associates, sending signals of access, influence and power to those prepared to pay for it. The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption." 

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., seated right, talks with Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., before the House Oversight Committee begins an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A motion by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin to subpoena "key figures" Rudy Giuliani and associate Lev Parnas to appear before the committee.

The motion had drawn some confusion from Chairman James Comer, who asked: "Key figures for what?"

Republicans responded by proposing a motion to table Raskin's motion, which succeeded 20-19 -- killing Raskin's effort.

It marks the latest in a fiery opening to the hearing, where Republicans have outlined the scope of their impeachment inquiry into whether President Biden has committed wrongdoing in relation to his family's business dealings.

Meanwhile, Democrats and the White House have dismissed the effort as politically-motivated and baseless, while pointing to the looming government shutdown that could come as soon as this weekend.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), left, speaks as Rep. James Comer (R-Ky), chairman of the House Oversight Committee listens during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 28, 2023. The hearing is the first formal hearing regarding the US House impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Oversight Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., tore into the impeachment inquiry against President Biden in his opening statement, throwing criticisms from Republican impeachment skeptics right back at GOP lawmakers.

Raskin said Republicans "don't have a shred of evidence against President Biden for an impeachable offense." 

"And you think I'm being harsh? Here's what some Republicans have had to say over the last week about the actions of the Republicans as they watch up close, 'the dysfunction caucus at work,'" Raskin said, quoting Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who criticized the impeachment drive. 

Raskin rattled off derisive remarks from other Republicans who have condemned the investigations led by Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo.

"'Clown show', 'foolishness,' terribly misguided', 'stupidity', 'failure to lead,' 'lunatics,' 'disgraceful,' 'new low,' 'pathetic,'" Raskin read, while his staff held up signs quoting various GOP lawmakers.

"These are Republicans talking about Republicans," the Maryland lawmaker said. "So let's be clear: This isn't partizan warfare America is seeing today. It's chaotic infighting between Republicans and Republicans. It's MAGA versus extreme MAGA, as if anybody in the real world could tell the difference between the two. What a staggering failure of leadership."

President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden arrive at Fort McNair, June 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

The White House is taking aim at House Republicans over the looming government shutdown, just as they launch into an impeachment effort against President Biden.

"There are 61 hours and 55 minutes until the government shuts down because of extreme House Republicans’ chaos and inability to govern," a White House spokesperson said in a statement.

"The consequences for the American people will be very damaging – from lost jobs, to troops working without pay, to jeopardizing important efforts to fight fentanyl, deliver disaster relief, provide food assistance, and more. Nothing can distract from that."

That statement was echoed by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, who made the same connection in the hearing itself.

"We're 62 hours away from shutting down the government of the United States of America. And Republicans are launching an impeachment drive based on a long debunked and discredited lie," he said.

Earlier this month, President Biden told attendees at a campaign reception in McLean, Virginia, that the House GOP impeachment effort was happening because Republicans "want to shut down the government." 

According to the official White House transcript of the event on Sept. 13, Biden said, "Look, before I close, I want to say a word about impeachment," as those in attendance laughed.

"It was pointed out to me today that [Republican Georgia Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene, the first day she was elected, said, ‘First thing we want to do is impeach Biden.’ Well, I tell you what, I don't know quite why, but they just knew they wanted to impeach me. And now, the best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government," he said.

"Everybody always asks about impeachment. I get up every day — not a joke — not focused on impeachment. I've got a job to do. I've got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day," the president continued. 

"And a couple of years ago, I met my Cabinet; and I met them again when I appointed them; and I met them today in the Cabinet Room, focusing on how we end cancer as we know it as a country. And I'm focused on these things," he added.

Fox News' Brandon Gillespie, Jacqui Heinrich and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: In this screenshot taken from a congress.gov webcast, Senate votes 57-43 to acquit on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers had argued that Trump was “singularly responsible” for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from ever holding public office again. (Photo by congress.gov via Getty Images)

The United States Constitution grants Congress the power to impeach the president, vice president, and any federal civil officer and remove them from office. The Founding Fathers intended the impeachment power to serve as a powerful check on overreach by members of the Executive Branch.

Both current and former presidents can face impeachment charges. The formal impeachment process starts in the House of Representatives but is ultimately decided when the Senate votes on whether to convict the president of wrongdoing. 

Removing a president from office is difficult and it has never been done.

The Constitution says a president may be impeached for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." First, Congress must begin an impeachment inquiry to evaluate whether articles of impeachment are warranted. Today's hearing is the first step in that inquiry. 

Then, the House must vote to bring articles of impeachment that clearly state the grounds for impeachment. A simple majority, which Republicans currently have, is all that is needed to charge the president.

After the president is impeached, the Senate must hold an impeachment trial overseen by the United States chief justice to determine whether the president should be removed from office based on the grounds for impeachment. To convict the president, a supermajority of two-thirds of those present must vote to convict. 

If two-thirds of senators vote to convict, the president is removed from office and disqualified from holding elected office in the future.  

Fox News' Phillip Nieto contributed to this post.

House Republicans are holding their first impeachment inquiry hearing on Capitol Hill to determine whether President Biden should be impeached. Republicans will detail their investigation into the Biden family's business dealings, while Democrats are expected to defend the president and contest allegations of wrongdoing.

Hunter Biden (Julia Nikhinson/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hunter Biden traveled on Air Force Two to Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and Mexico after co-founding Rosemont Seneca Partners.

Video footage, which first aired on "Jesse Watters Primetime," along with Secret Service records and messages previously reported from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, show that Hunter, who co-founded Rosemont Seneca in 2009 with Devon Archer and Christopher Heinz, accompanied then-Vice President Joe Biden during official trips to Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and Mexico.

In April 2010, Hunter proposed meeting state officials in Serbia with his business associate Mark Doyle, who was a registered foreign agent for Serbia at the time, saying he could "catch a ride" with his father — "JRB" — during an official trip to Belgium and Spain.

"How about we go over around May 10th," Hunter wrote in an email to Doyle. "JRB will be in Madrid and I can catch a ride with him and fly over to Serbia and back with you."

Hunter requested Secret Service protection in Belgium during the time Biden was visiting from May 5 to May 7, 2010, according to records first published in a September 2020 report from Senate Republicans.

Years later, Biden ended up traveling to Serbia, and Hunter was scheduled to ride in the vice president’s limo upon their arrival in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Aug. 16, 2016, according to emails.

Two days earlier, on Aug. 14, Hunter informed his associate, Serbian diplomat Vuk Jeremic, in an email that he would be in Belgrade and even invited him in the vice president’s motorcade.

Fox News' Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.

President Biden has repeatedly defended his son Hunter amid a wave of legal troubles, saying multiple times that his son has done "nothing wrong" and that he is "confident" of that prior to the Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to further investigate the matter. (George Frey, Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A recently released tranche of archived Obama-era White House communications revealed that Hunter Biden's firm Rosemont Seneca exchanged more than 1,000 emails with his father then-Vice President Joe Biden's office.

The revelation that Hunter's private business activity appears to have crossed paths with his father's vice presidency comes after Biden has insisted on multiple occasions to have never had knowledge of his son's dealings.

"These records provide even more evidence that no daylight existed between Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the Office of the Vice President during the Obama Administration," Gene Hamilton, the vice president and general counsel of America First Legal, said in a statement. "The evidence accumulating against the Biden family’s malfeasance is staggering."

"We will continue to put the pieces of this puzzle together and expose the truth to the American people," he added.

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 14: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 14, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith R-Mo., on Wednesday night released a memo outlining the scope of the House Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The memo comes just ahead of the House Oversight Committee impeachment inquiry hearing at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

The memo largely goes over the facts Republicans have already collected about Hunter Biden's business dealings and President Biden's potential involvement in them. But it also outlines the key questions Republicans seek to answer with their inquiry, and emphasizes that the time frame the committees are investigating will not only include Biden's presidency and vice presidency, but also the time between when he held those offices. 

The key questions outlined in the memo are: 

1. "First, did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President, take any official action or effect any change in government policy because of money or other things of value provided to his family or him from foreign interests?"

2. "Second, did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President, abuse his office of public trust by providing foreign interests with access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him?"

3. "Third, did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President, abuse his office of public trust by knowingly participating in a scheme to enrich himself or his family by giving foreign interests the impression that they would receive access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him?" 

4. "Fourth, did Joe Biden abuse his power as President to impede, obstruct, or otherwise hinder investigations (including Congressional investigations)188 or the prosecution of Hunter Biden?"

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Sept. 17 that lawmakers will call Hunter Biden to testify in their impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden, at "the appropriate time." 

When asked by FOX News' Maria Bartiromo if House Republicans will subpoena Hunter Biden, McCarthy said when the timing is right.

"The one thing the American public has to understand is there's a strategy behind everything. We only follow facts. Hunter Biden will get subpoenaed, but when's the appropriate time? Do you do it because television wants it, or do you do it around the facts and the timing?" he said.

"I think we should have the bank statements to actually know where did the money go, so you would know the questions to ask Hunter Biden. To just subpoena Hunter Biden because you want to fundraise, or you want to do something… that's not how we're going to run an investigation."

Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this post.

MILWAUKEE, WI - AUGUST 20: In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, addresses the virtual convention on August 20, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images)

Hunter Biden received wires that originated in Beijing for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds, Fox News Digital learned from a congressional committee.

As part of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's investigation, he subpoenaed financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners.

The first wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin. There is a Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated Aug. 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng — also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners — and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." in Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for President Biden.

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 14: Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the Capitol on Thursday, September 14, 2023. The caucus meeting was held to discuss the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The House Oversight Committee will livestream the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.

The hearing, titled, "The Basis for an Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.," will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public and the press. The public can watch online at FoxNews.com and FoxBusiness.com.

House Republicans released a memo Wednesday detailing the scope of their impeachment inquiry. For months, the House Oversight Committee, Ways and Means Committee and the Judiciary Committee have led investigations into the president focusing on foreign money allegedly received by the Biden family, the president's involvement with his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and allegations that the Biden administration has politicized the criminal investigations into his son to shield him. 

Thursday's hearing will review the findings from these investigations, including GOP claims that the Biden family and their business associates received over $24 million from foreign sources; that Biden was personally involved in his son's business and that those arrangements "intersected with his official duties;" and that the president lied about his involvement. 

President Biden has denied any wrongdoing.

Republican lawmakers erupted in July after learning about a 2015 email chain that predated President Biden’s infamous 2015 trip to Ukraine, when a Burisma Holdings executive revealed the "ultimate purpose" of Hunter Biden’s involvement with the Ukrainian energy company.

"The sequence of events that led to the firing of Viktor Shokin, and the subsequent comments by then-Vice President Biden, raise serious concerns as to what machinations were really at play — and were purposefully concealed from the American people," Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, told Fox News Digital. "No matter how you slice Hunter Biden’s involvement, it screams public corruption at the highest levels and must be fully investigated."

"The calm, judicious, steady reveal of incredibly condemning evidence that clearly incriminates the Biden crime family will eventually alarm even the most ardent supporters of this WH occupier," said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., also a committee member. "Our President is compromised, he should resign and be forever condemned, and the Democrat Party should begin rebuilding itself." 

"I don't think Biden had Shokin fired because he was too lax on corruption," said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. "I think Biden had him fired to cover his own tail when it comes to the Biden family's shady business dealings in Ukraine and because Shokin was looking into Zlochevsky very seriously. It's not a coincidence that this email came a month before his visit to Kyiv. Our work on the Oversight Committee isn't finished."

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.

President Biden's niece emailed Hunter Biden and the president of his company information about China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s largest sovereign wealth fund, when she was serving in the U.S. Treasury Department during the Obama-Biden administration.

Casey Owens was serving as a special assistant for the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the Treasury Department when she discussed the CIC, which is state-owned and manages part of the Chinese government’s foreign exchange reserves, with Hunter and his longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin.

At the time, Hunter’s now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Advisors, where Schwerin served as president, was courting the CIC for potential investments.

On April 12, 2010, Owens emailed Hunter and Schwerin a schedule from a CIC investment conference that took place a couple of weeks earlier.

"FYI on recent CIC investment conference at a resort in Sanya, on Hainan Island, over the weekend of March 27-28," Owens wrote.

A Thornton Group press release dated that same day – April 12, 2010 – said the company’s chairman, James Bulger, and Hunter visited Beijing just three days earlier and met with CIC Chief Investment Officer Gao Xiqing, among others, according to the Republican Senate report released in September 2020.

Fox News' Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.

Antony Blinken (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting with Hunter Biden at the State Department in July 2015 when he was serving as the deputy secretary of state in the Obama-Biden administration and Hunter was on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, according to emails reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital.

Emails from the infamous abandoned laptop that Blinken sought to discredit show that Hunter has ties to Blinken and his wife, Evan Ryan, dating back over a decade, having scheduled meetings with him while he was on the board of Burisma and Blinken was deputy secretary of state.

In an email on May 22, 2015, Hunter tried to schedule a meeting with Blinken, so he could get the deputy secretary of state’s "advice" on some things.

"Have a few minutes next week to grab a cup of coffee?" Hunter asked. "I know you are impossibly busy, but would like to get your advice on a couple of things."

"Absolutely," Blinken replied. "I'm just about to land in Tokyo en route back DC from Burma. I'll be in office from Tuesday on. Copying Linda in my office to find a good time. Look forward to seeing you. Tony."

Hunter then forwarded Blinken's response to his business partner and fellow Burisma board member, Devon Archer.

"Roger," Archer responded.

Fox News' Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.

Schwerin, Joe and Hunter Biden split image (Fox News)

Fox News Digital reported on April 13, 2023 that while Joe Biden was VP to Barack Obama, four business partners, a vice president and two assistants at Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners visited the White House more than 80 times.

Eric Schwerin, the former president of Hunter’s Rosemont Seneca Partners, "managed almost every aspect" of the financial life of the Bidens, according to Hunter's ex-wife, and he visited the White House when Biden was vice president at least 27 times.

House Democrats acknowledged on Sept. 14 that Schwerin, handled Joe's finances for the duration of his vice presidency.

Biden met with Schwerin and former Colombia President Andrés Pastrana Arango, another Hunter business associate, at Biden’s vice presidential residence on March 2, 2012, according to an entry in Hunter’s personal calendar first reported by the New York Post.

Schwerin met with Anne Marie Person, a former Hunter Biden assistant, at least three times at the White House between February and June 2016, a Fox News Digital review found. Steve Ricchetti, who currently serves as Biden's White House counselor, also met with Schwerin at least twice in 2016.

Fox News' Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.

Devon Archer (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Joe Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter Biden’s business associates from the U.S., Mexico, Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan while he was vice president to Barack Obama. The meetings cast further doubt on the president’s repeated claims that he had no knowledge of his son’s foreign business dealings. 

"I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings," Biden said in 2019.

Two of Hunter’s Mexican business associates, Miguel Aleman Velasco and Miguel Aleman Magnani visited the West Wing on Feb. 26, 2014, according to the Obama White House visitor logs, and Joe was later photographed with Hunter giving Velasco and Magnani a tour of the White House Brady Press Briefing room.

"Do you have pictures from the lunch I had in dad's office (I think on 2/26) with Miguel Alleman [sic] Sr. And Jr. And Jeff Cooper? If so let me know and I can send someone to pick them up. Thanks. How was Kiev?" Hunter wrote in an April 2014 email to David Lienemann, Biden's official photographer during his 8 years as vice president.

Devon Archer, a former best friend and business associate of Hunter Biden in Ukraine, told congressional investigators that Hunter Biden used then-Vice President Joe Biden as "defensive leverage" to send "the right signals" to his foreign business partners, while selling him as "the brand" that offered "capabilities and reach," as well as a "unique understanding of D.C."

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Lawrence Richard contributed to this update.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with members of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities at the Roosevelt Room of the White House on September 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. President Biden has dedicated this week as the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, calling on all Americans to observe this week to honor the contributions those institutions and their alumni have made to our country. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The White House hammered House Republicans for scheduling their first impeachment inquiry hearing days before a possible government shutdown.

In a scathing statement to Fox News, White House spokesman Ian Sams characterized the hearing is a distraction, calling it an "evidence-free" probe and a "political stunt." 

"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country," Sams said. 

"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," he added.

Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown. If the government does run out of funding, the White House signaled to Fox News Digital it would blame Republicans.

"Their shutdown would hurt our economy and national security, furlough thousands of federal workers, and jeopardize everything from troop pay to disaster relief to efforts to fight fentanyl," Sams said.

"They are clearly hoping they can use their baseless, evidence-free impeachment stunt to try to divert attention away from the consequences of their extreme agenda, including their current funding proposal to slash tens of thousands of preschool slots nationwide and eliminate thousands of law enforcement jobs," he continued. "The president has been very clear: He is going to remain focused on the issues that matter to the American people, including preventing the devastating and harmful cuts proposed by House Republicans that are hurtling us toward a government shutdown."

Sams added: "House Republicans should drop these silly political Washington games and actually do their job to prevent a government shutdown."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this post.

House Republicans on Thursday morning are set to present all evidence uncovered to date as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings while examining "the value" of an impeachment inquiry.

"The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has uncovered a mountain of evidence revealing how Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," Comer is expected to say in his opening statement. "For years, President Biden has lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes." 

"Evidence reveals that then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke, dined, and developed relationships with his family’s foreign business targets. These business targets include foreign oligarchs who sent millions of dollars to his family," Comer is expected to say. "It also includes a Chinese national who wired a quarter of a million dollars to his son." 

Comer was referring to subpoenaed Hunter Biden financial records, which revealed he received two wires originating from Beijing and linked to BHR Partners in 2019. 

Fox News Digital first reported that Hunter Biden received the wire payments, which originated in Beijing, for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019 — wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds.

The White House declined to comment.

"To date, the House Oversight Committee has uncovered how the Bidens and their associates created over 20 shell companies and raked in over $24 million dollars," Comer will say, adding that the committee has also "identified nine members of the Biden family who have participated in or benefited from these business schemes." 

"What were the Bidens selling to make all this money? Joe Biden himself," Comer will say. "The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption." 

Comer is expected to say that the American people "demand to know how these schemes have compromised President Biden and threaten our national security," and "demand safeguards to be put in place to prevent public officials from selling access to their public office for private gain.." 

"Today, the House Oversight Committee will examine over two dozen pieces of evidence revealing Joe Biden’s corruption and abuse of public office," Comer will explain. "This includes e-mails, text messages, bank records, and testimony of Biden business associates."

The witnesses who will testify at the hearing include Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting, and who the committee says has testified in over 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud.

Former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor, who served in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, and law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

Turley, a Fox News contributor, has previously said Congress is obligated to launch an impeachment inquiry hearing against President Biden because he "clearly lied" to Americans about his involvement in his son Hunter's business deals. 

"We often talk about the powers of Congress and not its obligations. What is the House supposed to do? You know, you have a president who has clearly lied, lied for years, lied to the American people, lied through his representatives at the White House during his presidency. He obviously did know about these deals. He had involvement with some of these meetings. There was money that went to China. And then you've got IRS agents saying that the fix was in, that this case was actively managed to avoid serious charges for the president's son," Turley told "The Faulkner Focus" in July. 

He continued: "You have millions of dollars moving through a labyrinth of accounts. You have a trusted source saying that there was a bribery allegation. The crime that is the second one mentioned in the impeachment clause. So what are you supposed to do about that? And the answer is you have to investigate. And an impeachment inquiry gives the House that ability. It doesn't mean they're going to impeach. It means they're taking the responsibility seriously no matter what the administration may want out of this. The one thing the House cannot allow is for these questions to go unanswered." 

According to the office of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., Thursday's hearing "will examine the value of an impeachment inquiry," and will present all evidence to date uncovered by the committee in its investigation into the Biden family finances.

"Since January, House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," Comer said in a statement.

"Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family," he said. 

Comer's statement said that Congress had a duty to open the impeachment inquiry into Biden's alleged corruption, and that Americans "demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office."

"This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests," he added.

Fox News' Brandon Gillespie and Brooke Singman contributed to this update.

Joe Biden (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier in September said House Republicans have "uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct" that will serve as the basis of an impeachment inquiry.

The first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden will be held on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

"Today, I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden," McCarthy announced in a statement at the Capitol on Sept. 12 "This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public." 

McCarthy said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry in coordination with House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

McCarthy spoke for only a few minutes and did not take questions from reporters. He made no mention of holding a floor vote before opening the impeachment inquiry, despite telling Breitbart earlier this month it would happen "through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person."