Recently elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) indicated on Sunday that committees under GOP control might issue subpoenas to secure the testimony of Hunter Biden as part of their ongoing inquiries into questionable foreign business dealings involving him and his father.
During an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News, Johnson discussed the possibility of issuing subpoenas to Hunter Biden.
“I’m looking at that. I think that desperate times call for desperate measures, and perhaps that is overdue,” he said.
While pointing out his own experience as an attorney, Johnson said he is currently discussing the matter with congressional lawyers and that a “full decision” has not been made on the matter.
“We’re trying to move forward on some of this very aggressively,” Johnson told Bartiromo [see video below]. “I think the American people are owed these answers. And I think our suspicions about all this, the evidence that we have gathered so far, as you know, is affirming what many of us feared may be the worst.”
The Hill added:
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced last month he was moving to launch an official impeachment inquiry into Biden following House Republicans’ widespread investigations into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Investigations from House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have probed into Hunter Biden’s time on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was vice president. Those spearheading the investigations allege Biden and members of his family, including Hunter, benefited financially from foreign business dealings as a result of Biden’s status as a leader.
Johnson didn’t make any firm commitments when Bartiromo inquired whether the GOP’s impeachment inquiry would ultimately lead to the impeachment of President Biden.
“We’ll see, Maria,” Johnson responded. “I worked on the committees of jurisdiction, and the judiciary is one of those. I think our chairmen have done an exceptional job. You have spoken to all of them, Jamie Comer and Jim Jordan and [Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.)], on Oversight and Judiciary and Ways and Means [committees].”
Maintaining he is “encouraging” these investigations, the Speaker added that there is a “constitutional responsibility to follow this truth where it leads.”
WATCH:
“It is ‘very likely’ that President Biden has committed impeachable offenses, according to Speaker Mike Johnson, who was elected to the office on Wednesday,” Newsweek reported on Saturday.
McCarthy initiated a previous impeachment inquiry into President Biden in September as several Republican-led House committees started investigating whether the president had been influenced by his son Hunter Biden’s and his brother James Biden’s business dealings.
Testimonies from witnesses before these committees indicated that both James and Hunter were involved in promoting the “Biden brand” to foreign governments and businesses, raising concerns among Republicans that the president could be compromised.
McCarthy cited “allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption” as reasons for further investigation.
During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, his first after being elected Speaker, Johnson (R-La.) hinted at possible impeachable offenses by President Biden but emphasized allowing due process to take its course.
“The reason we shifted to the impeachment inquiry stage on the president himself was that if, in fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it will, that’s very likely impeachable offenses,” he said.
“That’s listed as a cause for impeachment in the Constitution—bribery and other crimes and misdemeanors. Bribery’s listed there, and it looks and smells a lot like that. We’re going to follow the truth wherever it leads. We’re going to engage in due process because, again, we’re the rule of law party,” Johnson added.
“I know people are getting anxious, and they’re getting restless, and they just want somebody to be impeached, but we don’t do that like the other team. We have to base it on the evidence,” Johnson said.
