The White House, Democrats, and their allied media outlets have been pushing outright disinformation by claiming there is “no evidence” to support an impeachment inquiry into Democrat President Joe Biden, contradicting mounds of evidence uncovered by House Republicans and already in the public sphere.
The left’s message since the launch of the impeachment inquiry into Biden seems clear and coordinated: several media outlets, Democrats, and the White House itself have all used phrases such as “without evidence,” “no evidence,” or “no direct evidence” to describe the House GOP effort that Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced earlier this week. But their claims are, quite simply, disinformation and easily disproven as the House Republicans have actually amassed quite a bit of evidence this year before proceeding to the next stage of the ongoing investigation — a massive escalation — with an impeachment inquiry.
WATCH — “President Biden Did Lie”: McCarthy Announces Impeachment Inquiry into Joe Biden:
Speaker Kevin McCarthy / FacebookIt is important to note an impeachment inquiry is not the consideration of article of impeachment. That could — or might not — come later. But an impeachment inquiry is simply that: an inquiry. It is an expansion, acceleration, and coordination of several committees’ ongoing investigative work and may end up leading to an impeachment — or it might not. That remains unclear. While McCarthy launched it with a public comment and directive to the members of his conference and the committees that will lead it, McCarthy’s comments also do not preclude an eventual possible vote formally authorizing such an inquiry down the road. That’s exactly what House Democrats did under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump in 2019 — she made an announcement and then five weeks later the House formally voted on the authorization. That could very well happen here.
Nonetheless, given the expansion and acceleration of the ongoing investigations into the president and his conduct, and with the announcement of the now-commenced impeachment inquiry, House Republicans have already amassed lots of evidence against Biden.
The evidence pointing towards Joe Biden’s involvement in the family business includes but is not limited to photos, texts, video, bank records, an audio recording, alleged bribes, along with IRS and former business partner whistleblower testimonies. In addition, the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday unleashed a 20 point memo that details “Evidence of Joe Biden’s Involvement in His Family’s Influence Peddling Schemes.” In addition, a letter from Joe Biden to Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner, during his vice presidency was made public after Archer’s interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Archer’s Carlson interview came after testimony he gave to Congress. Both his testimony and the letter in question are evidence against the president. What’s more, testimony from an IRS special agent turned whistleblower and handwritten notes he took that were made public this week are further pieces of evidence.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), for instance, noted this point in calling out the Associated Press for claiming there is no evidence against Biden. Sure, the Associated Press could disagree with the Republicans’ characterization of the evidence, or it could think the testimony Republicans have collected from career special agents is inaccurate, but it cannot deny the existence of the evidence in question because Republicans have made this evidence public:
There are eye witnesses testifying on the record.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) September 12, 2023
Maybe you think they’re lying? Fine. Agree to disagree.
But “without evidence” from the AP is an actual embarrassment. https://t.co/bNjej95jan
Yahoo News also used the false phraseology, along with the New York Times, NBC News, the Hill, Newsweek, and the Dallas Morning News.
“Republicans have claimed, without evidence, that Mr Biden profited while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017 from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business ventures,” Yahoo News alleged.
“The poll shows deep skepticism of proceeding with impeachment in those key 18 Biden districts without evidence he engaged in bribery or corruption, which reflects the GOP lawmakers’ same unease,” NBC News claimed.
“Republicans have provided no evidence that the elder Mr. Biden was involved in landing that business or participated in it in any way,” the Times wrote. “There’s no direct evidence Mr. Biden won business for his son.”
“McCarthy contends there is a ‘culture of corruption’ around the Biden family, despite the fact that no direct evidence of wrongdoing by the president has emerged,” the Hill wrote.
WATCH — Maher: There’s “Real Corruption” in Hunter Biden Scandal and “a Lot of the Left-Wing Media Will Not Cover” It:
Media outlets are not alone. Biden’s Democrat defenders are also spreading the disinformation. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), for instance, used the inaccurate phrase.
“The fact that he [Kevin McCarthy] doesn’t have the moral authority with his members, doesn’t have control over his conference, and is beholden to the most extreme elements who want an impeachment of Joe Biden — an impeachment without evidence,” he told CNN.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said something similar too. “The evidence shows no wrongdoing by President Biden, but the GOP is obviously forced to launch an impeachment inquiry regardless of the facts,” Raskin said in a statement Tuesday.
The disinformation seems to stem from the White House, which of course has a political interest in spreading it to protect its principal — President Joe Biden. “House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” White House spokesman Ian Sams posted on X.
Vance was not the only Republican to notice the repetitive use of the inaccurate language to support Biden.
“So, the modifier ‘direct’ is how they’re getting around the mountain of evidence we’ve got but I want to tell you how the statement ‘there is no direct evidence’ is a lie,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) explained on his podcast. “And anytime a Democrat says at any time the media says that, you know, they’re lying.”
Tommy Pigott, strategic communications director of the Republican National Committee, questioned how the media ignored all the evidence.
“Without evidence?” he questioned. “There are emails, bank records, text messages, a voicemail, on-the-record accounts, photos, visitors logs, and favors Biden did for Hunter’s associates all indicating an influence peddling scheme. Hunter’s own business partner said the ‘brand’ was Joe Biden.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
