As the House Republican caucus continues its informal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, the White House continues to stonewall investigations into alleged wrongdoing by the Biden family, frustrating House investigators at every turn. On Saturday, Speaker Mike Johnson said he's had enough.
During an appearance on "Fox & Friends Weekend," Johnson and House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, (R-N.Y.), spoke about several issues, with the question of whether a floor vote on a formal impeachment investigation would be forthcoming. Johnson made his intentions clear.
It's become a necessary step. Elise and I both served on the impeachment defense team of Donald Trump twice when the Democrats used it for brazen, partisan political purposes. We decried that use of it. This is very different. Remember, we are the rule of law team. We have to do it very methodically.
"Rule of law team," or not, the reality is only a simple majority vote is required to formalize an impeachment investigation — and the Republicans have that simple majority, so...
Johnson said the White House has withheld thousands of pages of evidence.
Our three committees of jurisdiction — Judiciary, Oversight, Ways and Means — have been doing an extraordinary job following the evidence where it leads. But now we're being stonewalled by the White House, because they're preventing at least two to three DOJ witnesses from coming forward, a former White House counsel, the National Archives . . . the White House has withheld thousands of pages of evidence.
The Speaker's point about the White House stonewalling was correct; it's happened multiple times. Here's one example.
Johnson's seemingly newfound sense of urgency as he spoke came one day after multiple House Republicans said on Friday, that a vote to formalize the Biden impeachment inquiry is likely to come before the House breaks for the December recess after the Dec. 14 session.
Johnson told Fox News that a "formal impeachment inquiry vote on the floor will allow [Republicans] to take it to the next necessary step," adding: "I think it's something we have to do at this juncture."
Yes, Mr. Speaker, it's been "something [you] have to do at this juncture" for some time. So, just do it.
The White House Continues to Give the Liberal Media Lapdogs Their Marching Orders
In addition to stonewalling House Republican impeachment inquiry investigators, the Biden White House has been aggressive in its efforts to control the impeachment narrative in the media.
As we reported in September, the White House sent a letter to various members of the media demanding "scrutiny" of the Biden impeachment inquiry. Newsmax National Correspondent Logan posted a copy of the letter on X.
The White House sent this letter to media organizations yesterday, telling them: "It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies."
Imagine for a nanosecond the outcry on the left if the Trump administration had sent a similar letter to Fox News.
Moreover, the Biden White House efforts got worse. The White House also sent out a "talking points" memo to multiple members of the media. The memo read, in part:
It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies. 'Impeachment is grave, rare, and historic. The Constitution requires “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.' But House Republicans are publicly stating they have uncovered none of these things.
Oh, please. Besides, can someone point me to evidence of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by Donald Trump? No. Yet Nancy Pelosi's stooges impeached Trump twice.
The Bottom Line
The Democrat impeachments of Trump were little more than show trials — yet Pelosi and Co. were successful in both cases. In the case of Joe Biden, the ever-mounting pile of evidence is overwhelming — yet here we still sit.
Yes, Johnson's Saturday comments on "Fox & Friends Weekend" were encouraging, but words without action are worse than no words at all. It's past time that all House Republicans grow spines — and get the hell off the dime.