Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
House Republicans held the first public hearing of their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Thursday (September 28).
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said President Biden lied to the American people when he claimed he never spoke to his family about their business dealings during his time as Vice President and President.
"He lied by telling the American people that there was an absolute wall between his official government duties and his personal life," Comer said during his opening remarks.
"The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption," Comer continued. "They demand to know how these schemes have compromised President Biden and threaten our national security. They demand safeguards to be put in place to prevent public officials from selling access to their public office for private gain."
Meanwhile, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee's ranking member, blasted the impeachment inquiry and said Republicans should be focused on preventing a government shutdown.
"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," Raskin said.
He then unveiled several posterboards with quotes from Republicans attacking the impeachment inquiry.
"'Clown show,' 'foolishness,' terribly misguided,' 'stupidity,' 'failure to lead,' 'lunatics,' 'disgraceful,' 'new low,' 'pathetic,'" Raskin said.
"These are Republicans talking about Republicans," Raskin continued. "So let's be clear: This isn't partisan 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.?"
The Republicans called several witnesses, including George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who said that while he supports the impeachment inquiry, he does not support filing articles of impeachment against Biden.
"I want to emphasize what it is that we're here today for," Turley explained. "This is a question of an impeachment inquiry. It is not a vote on articles of impeachment. In fact, I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment. That is something that inquiry has to establish."
Democrats on the committee forced a voice vote to subpoena Rudy Giuliani, citing his efforts to dig up dirt on the Biden family. The vote failed 18-20.
Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant, also testified that he does not believe there is enough evidence to impeach Biden.
“I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud, or wrongdoing,” Dubinsky said. “More information needs to be gathered before I can make such an assessment.”
Former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor is also slated to testify to the committee.