HUFFPOST
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he is launching an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, yielding to mounting pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies in what’s shaping up as an election-year clash between Congress and the White House.
In a statement Tuesday, McCarthy said the House investigations into the Biden family this year have uncovered a “culture of corruption” that demands deeper review.
“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he will direct the chairmen of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees to lead the impeachment inquiry. The panels have been working together for months on various probes related to the Biden family and have yet to directly connect the president to any of it.
The White House called the effort “extreme politics at its worst.”
“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson said in a statement. “His own Republican members have said so.”
Here’s a look at what happens next as House Republicans inch closer to possible impeachment charges against Biden:
WHAT IS AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY?
An impeachment inquiry is an investigation of possible wrongdoing by a federal official, such as the president of the United States, Cabinet officials or judges. The process is written into the Constitution and is the most powerful check that Congress has on the executive branch.
While the House of Representatives wields the power to impeach a federal official, only the Senate has the ability to convict and remove an individual from office.
To date, no president has ever been forced from the White House through impeachment. But former Republican President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 as the House was preparing to take a vote on impeachment articles against him.
WHY ARE REPUBLICANS PURSUING IT AGAINST BIDEN?
Since gaining the House majority in January, House Republicans have aggressively investigated Biden and his son, claiming without evidence that they engaged in an influence-peddling scheme. The allegations echo those that former President Donald Trump has made for years against Biden and his family.
Republicans have focused much attention on an unverified tip to the FBI that alleged a bribery scheme involving Biden when he was vice president. The bribery claim, which emerged in 2019 and was part of Trump’s first impeachment, relates to the allegation that Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor in order to stop an investigation into Burisma, the oil-and-gas company where Hunter Biden was on the board.
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