If anyone asks you why there is a Biden impeachment inquiry, this will equip you
When Speaker Kevin McCarthy called for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden’s various corrupt actions, several reporters called me.
Every one of them began their questions with the assumption that there was no evidence of Biden wrong-doing, and the inquiry was a purely partisan exercise.
None of them seemed to understand what an impeachment inquiry is. The point of any inquiry is to question if there might be evidence of crimes large enough to justify impeachment.
The inquiry is a prelude – not an act of impeachment. If sufficient proof is found during the inquiry, the next stage is an impeachment. If a thorough review of the information does not indicate any serious wrong-doing, the matter is dropped.
The question at this stage is whether there are enough suspicious facts and knowledgeable witnesses to raise questions that need answering.
Three U.S. House committees – Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means – have been uncovering information about then-Vice President and now-President Biden’s activities and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Chairman James Comer and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability alone have produced a series of facts and witnesses that more than justify an impeachment inquiry. In fact, they provided 22 examples of President Biden’s involvement in business dealings with Hunter and foreign clients (recall President Biden has repeated claimed he had no knowledge of his son’s foreign business deals).
The committee answered skeptics with a solid list of facts. It also provided a substantial amount of detailed testimony.
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Here are some key parts of the Committee’s report. If anyone asks you why there is an impeachment inquiry, this will equip you with an authoritative and factual answer.
As you read these examples, remember that they concern business dealings involving Russia, China, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan – while Biden was vice president.
The key questions are: First, whether Joe Biden was actively helping his son make money while in office; and second, did Joe Biden get significant money for his help.
Since item 22 is a personal text from Hunter to his daughter in which he wrote, "unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary," it seems to me there is a pretty good case that Joe Biden was benefiting directly from Hunter’s business activities.
One of the inquiry’s goals must be to analyze the bank accounts, credit cards, and multiple layers of Biden family shell companies to determine how much "half" of Hunter’s money was, if it really was going to Joe Biden, and in what forms (for example, paying for houses, phones, concealed cash, etc.).
Another inquiry goal must be finding out whether Hunter Biden reimbursed the federal government for the business trips in which he and his associates flew on Air Force Two. If Hunter Biden visited more than 15 countries on the vice presidential plane, how much were taxpayers subsidizing his business development? Who paid for his hotel rooms when he traveled with his father, etcetera?
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We the American people deserve to know the truth about foreign influence peddling by the then-vice president and his family – and how taxpayer assets were used to enrich the Biden family.
We already know Joe Biden has lied about all this. We will only get the truth if we persist in demanding the facts and connecting the details.
During a 2019 CBSN Boston interview, President Biden said, " There is not a single solitary thing anyone said that was done wrong, I don’t discuss business with my son. … I don’t discuss things with my son or my family because I don’t want to have any knowledge of any, I don’t want to be accused of ‘well you talked with your son,’ or ‘you talked with your whoever.’ And so, the fact is so everyone has looked at that he did nothing wrong. Zero. Period."
During a 2019 interview with 60 Minutes, he said, "I never discussed my business or their business with my sons or daughters…he did not do a single thing wrong as everybody’s investigated."
During the second Presidential Debate on Oct. 22, 2020, debate moderator Kristen Welker asked about Hunter Biden's work in China and Ukraine. Joe Biden answered, "Nothing was unethical. … My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what are you talking about, China. …"
When Donald Trump charged that, "Once you became vice president he [Hunter Biden] made a fortune in Ukraine, in China, in Moscow and various other places."
Biden clearly answered, "That is not true."
In each of these cases, we know Biden was lying. Given the scale of Biden’s falsehoods it is essential that we get at the facts.
The impeachment inquiry is going to produce a lot more material. These 22 items are only the beginning. Much of this came directly from the Committee on Oversight, with some of my own commentary.
1. On July 20, 2023 Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, testified that "Joe Biden was "The Brand" and was used to send "signals" of power, access, and influence to enrich the Biden family from foreign sources."
2. Archer testified that then Vice President Biden was on a speakerphone over 20 times to prove Hunter had access to power.
3. "In February 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from Russia and Kazakhstan who funneled millions of dollars to Hunter Biden and his business associates." That dinner occurred at Café Milano and no one questions that it happened.
4. "In April 2015, then-Vice President Biden dined with Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates, including Ukrainian Burisma executive Vadym Pozharsky. Burisma was then being investigated by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin for corruption."
5. "Then-Vice President Biden had coffee with Hunter Biden’s Chinese business associate, Jonathan Li of BHR, in Beijing and wrote a college letter of recommendation for his daughter."
6. "In 2015, then-Vice President Biden hosted Hunter Biden and Devon Archer and other business associates at the official residence of the Vice President. The topic of discussion was filling the top seat at the United Nations. The Kazakhstani government official who wanted the U.N. position attended both dinners at Café Milano with then-Vice President Biden."
7. "Using the pseudonym "Robert L. Peters," Vice President Biden was informed by his staff of a call in 2016 with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. Copied on that official email? Hunter Biden, who was sitting on the board of the Ukrainian company Burisma."
8. "On December 4, 2015, Biden business associate Eric Schwerin wrote to Kate Bedingfield in the Office of the Vice President providing quotes to use in response to media outreach regarding Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. Later that day, Ms. Bedingfield responded to Mr. Schwerin saying, "VP signed off on this[.]" According to Devon Archer, after a Burisma board of directors meeting in Dubai on the evening of December 4, 2015, Hunter Biden "called D.C." to discuss pressure that Burisma asked him to relieve."
9. "In May 2017, James Gilliar, a Biden family associate, emailed Hunter Biden and other associates to formalize how they would divide the profit from their deal with CEFC, a Chinese Communist Party linked energy company. Gilliar indicated Joe Biden would receive 10 percent, which has been confirmed by former Biden family associate, Tony Bobulinski.
10. "On May 20, 2017, James Gilliar told Tony Bobulinksi, another business associate, "Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u are face to face[.] I know u know that but they are paranoid[.]"
11. "In a September 21, 2017, email, Hunter Biden wrote that Joe Biden is his business partner and provided Joe Biden’s personal cell phone if the recipient seeks confirmation. Emails also show that Hunter Biden, CEFC officials, and Joe Biden would share offices under the Hudson West/CEFC/Biden Foundation name."
12. "On July 30, 2017, Hunter Biden demanded money from Chinese business associates and threatened that Joe Biden was sitting next to him: "if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you….I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction."
13. "On August 3, 2017, Hunter Biden claimed "The Biden’s are the best I know at doing exactly what the Chairman wants from this partnership[.] Please let’s not quibble over peanuts." The Chairman is Ye Jianming is a Chinese billionaire tied to a CCP-intelligence gathering agency. Ye stated that CEFC China’s vision "is to obtain overseas resources and serve the national strategy."
14. "During Rob Walker’s recorded interview with the FBI in December 2020, he told agents that Joe Biden attended a CEFC meeting."
15. "As Vice President, Joe Biden allowed his son to travel on Air Force Two with him to court business around the world. Vice President Biden brought Hunter Biden along to at least 15 countries where he sold "The Brand" to enrich the Biden family."
16. "Hunter Biden’s business associates reportedly visited the White House more than 80 times when Joe Biden was Vice President."
17. "In February 2014, a report indicates then-Vice President Biden met with two of Hunter’s Mexican business associates at the White House."
18. "In October 2015, a report says that Hunter Biden arranged a video call with his father and Mexican business partners. The next month, then-Vice President Biden hosted Mexican business partners and a Biden associate, Jeff Cooper at the Vice President’s official residence."
19. "In February 2016, then-Vice President Biden allowed his son and Biden associate, Jeffrey Cooper, to fly to Mexico on Air Force 2 to meet with business partners."
20. "The FBI’s June 30, 2020 FD-1023 form contains allegations that then-Vice President Joe Biden allegedly engaged in an extortion scheme where he was paid $5 million in exchange for certain actions."
21. "Hunter’s pitch to Chinese investors was access to his father, Joe Biden. In September 2011, while his father was Vice President, Hunter wrote in an email that his value to Chinese investors "has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my last name."
22. "In 2019, Hunter Biden texted his daughter, claiming that, "unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary."
Clearly there must be an inquiry – and we must get the facts.
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Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995-1999 and a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He is chairman of Gingrich 360.