March 28 (UPI) — Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, on Thursday formally invited President Joe Biden to testify in the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
In a letter Thursday, Comer asked Biden to appear before the committee on April 16, alleging evidence that contradicts the president’s statement regarding his involvement in his son, Hunter Biden’s, business activities.
“In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the committee, as well as the White House’s obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do so,” the letter read.
In the letter, Comer noted it is not unprecedented for a sitting president to testify before congressional committees. President Gerald Ford in 1974 testified over his decision to pardon former President Richard Nixon.
Former business associates of Hunter Biden, Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, testified last week that Biden participated in alleged schemes to help his son’s businesses, which the White House denies.
Ukrainian businessman Lev Parnas testified during the same hearing that the Russian government had peddled false claims of Biden family corruption involving Ukraine and the Republicans involved were “pushing the same Russian narrative and propaganda.”
Hunter Biden was invited to testify at last weeks hearing, as well, but declined.
“Your blatant planned-for-media event is not a proper proceeding but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended,” his lawyer said.
The president is unlikely to accept the invite, as well. White House spokesperson Ian Sams in a post on X told Comer to “call it a day, pal.”
“Comer knows 20+ witnesses have testified that POTUS did nothing wrong. He knows that the hundreds of thousands of pages of records he’s received have refuted his false allegations,” the post read.
The Republican-led House impeachment inquiry stems from allegations that Biden profited off of family members’ foreign business dealings while he was vice president, but the probe has so far failed to turn up anything substantial.
The inquiry hit a roadblock in February when former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, whose claims played a major role in fueling the investigation, was indicted for lying to the FBI about the Bidens’ involvement in Ukrainian business dealings during the 2020 presidential election.
