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On Thursday morning, the House Oversight Committee began the first impeachment inquiry hearing into Joe Biden, capping off months of investigation by House members who have worked diligently to uncover information and testimony related to the Biden family’s allegedly dirty foreign business dealings.
As Democrats and Republicans faced off while questioning witnesses, Joe Biden’s actions as vice president during the Obama administration were the focus of the morning.
The witnesses who sat for questioning on Thursday included Eileen O’Connor, the former assistant U.S. Attorney General, Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law, and Bruce Dubinsky, the founder of Dubinsky Consulting. According to The Hill, there was an additional fourth witness, Michael J. Gerhardt, a professor of Jurisprudence at UNC.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Oversight Committee chairman, noted that the committee had subpoenaed numerous bank records and reports related to the Bidens based on suspicious activity reports (SARs).
Rep. Comer gave an example of a $250,000 wire sent to an account listing Joe Biden’s home as a beneficiary address. “Vice President had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing,” Comer stated, referring to the man who wired the money.
Comer added, “The Bidens had nothing to sell except the brand, which was Joe Biden.”
The chairman also pointed out that there were 47 House members present for Thursday’s impeachment inquiry hearing, noting that they would stick to a five-minute time limit for speakers.
During the hearing, the matter of Joe Biden’s classified documents surfaced. It was revealed in late 2022 and early 2023 that Biden had classified documents in his home, among other locations, from his time as vice president.
Professor Turley stated of the reportedly classified material, “I’m not too sure if the documents matter will become relevant to an impeachment inquiry…they ended up being distributed to different sources, it appears. That they went to different locations…it’s not clear to me if that would amount to an impeachable offense or not.”
Later, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., presented an organizational chart of the Bidens’ many alleged business enterprises, asking Mr. Dubinsky his thoughts about what he saw.
Donalds added that he had a background in “community banking,” so he was “comfortable looking at organizational charts.” He pointed out that the structure of the Biden family’s business affairs resembled something you might seem from real estate developers. However, he added, “…There is no real estate, none at all!”
Dubinsky agreed that the organization of the Bidens’ businesses was “very complicated” and “interrelated.”
During the hearing, the House Judiciary Committee released a fact sheet of the Biden family’s foreign business dealings on X, detailing allegations between 2014 and 2019. They stated, “President Biden was personally involved in his family’s foreign business dealings, and those business arrangements intersected with his official duties.”
The House Oversight Committee posted a full timeline of “The Bidens’ Influence Peddling” here.
