Matt Gaetz Condemns Joe Biden Impeachment Inquiry as a 'Smokescreen'
Amid a pitched power struggle among House Republicans after the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his son, Hunter’s, business dealings is on the back burner for now but has not completely been forgotten. Rep. Matt Gaetz recently remarked on the inquiry, which began last week, expressing his disapproval.
During a fundraiser, Gaetz indicated that the impeachment inquiry was not “legitimate” and intimated that it would not go anywhere.
Days before Rep. Matt Gaetz led an effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, Gaetz and Rep. Matt Rosendale, a fellow Freedom Caucus member, denounced as a political stunt Republicans’ high-stakes effort to impeach President Joe Biden, according to a video obtained by NBC News.
At an invitation-only fundraiser held over Zoom last week, Gaetz, R-Fla., and Rosendale, who is said to be plotting another Senate run next year, heaped skepticism on the probe.
“I don’t believe that we are endeavoring upon a legitimate impeachment of Joe Biden,” Gaetz told Steve Bannon, a podcaster and onetime political adviser to former President Donald Trump, who was moderating the discussion.
“They’re trying to engage in a, like, ‘forever war’ of impeachment,” Gaetz said. “And like many of our forever wars, it will drag on forever and end in a bloody draw.”
Rosendale concurred with Gaetz’s assessment, comparing it to the gun charges against Hunter Biden, which some claim are a “smokescreen” intended to distract from actual serious crimes he is alleged to have committed. “They’re doing the exact same thing,” he said.
The conversation came as the factional struggle between the moderate and conservative factions of the Republican Party started to reach its nadir, which resulted in the removal of McCarthy, who agreed to the impeachment inquiry after much cajoling from other Republicans, as Speaker.
“I just don’t get the sense that it’s for the sake of impeachment. I think it’s for the sake of having another bad thing to say about Joe Biden,” Gaetz said.
Nevertheless, while there are some dissenters, the rest of the party appears unified in pursuing the inquiry. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who has thrown his hat into the ring to become the next Speaker, has been fully on board with the effort to push toward impeaching President Biden. Despite being aligned with Jordan, Gaetz argued that if the effort was serious, “we would have sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden.”
Last month, McCarthy announced that House Republicans would be issuing a subpoena for Hunter to appear before Congress, but that subpoena has not been issued.
As the GOP prepares to choose its next speaker, a possible impeachment will continue to loom large over the party, whose officials have promised constituents that they would take action against Biden over a myriad of issues. While McCarthy was hesitant to pursue such an undertaking, the idea had, and still has, much support among House Republicans and the conservative base. It is not yet know when the second impeachment inquiry hearing is set to happen.
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