OPINION
The wheels of justice in Washington, as I’ve said before, grind exceedingly slow: witness the decade-plus, glacial progress of the Mark Steyn–Michael Mann trial. The machinery of justice grinds even slower when you’ve got a virtual one-party state with its hands on all the levers, from Democrat-appointed judges to Soros-funded DAs, and a Deep State that regards itself as a kind of secretive Praetorian Guard.
Which is why, in contrast to the breakneck flurry of show-trial indictments of former president Donald Trump – when you try to drain a swamp, as humourist Scott Adams pointed out, you just make the snakes and alligators mad and you get mud on your pants – the investigations into Biden Inc are inching along at a pace that would have a sloth on Xanax looking at its watch.
After failing to sneak past a judge a plea deal which would have made fortunate son Hunter Biden immune to prosecution for just about anything for the rest of his life, the world’s most prodigal crackhead is finally facing tax evasion charges. Which, come to think of it, is what they finally nailed Al Capone with.
As for the Big Guy, with the inexorability of continental drift, the spectre of impeachment is looming larger and larger.
The House on Wednesday authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, with every Republican rallying behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president.
Sure… just so long as you ignore Hunter’s emails detailing just how assiduously the Biden family peddled the Big Guy’s ‘brand’ in return for kickbacks from foreign entities, the multiple testimonies of witnesses to influence peddling and, of course, Biden’s own, on-camera bragging about interfering in Ukrainian domestic policies to protect his son’s business partners.
Apart from all that…
The 221-212 party-line vote put the entire House Republican conference on record in support of an impeachment process that can lead to the ultimate penalty for a president: punishment for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which can lead to removal from office if convicted in a Senate trial.
It must borne in mind, of course, that this is just another inching step on what is necessarily a long and tortuous road. So far, all that’s been decided is that there’s enough of a whiff of smoke to go looking for a possible, maybe, who knows, fire.
Because, firstly, impeachment should be a long and deliberate process, rather than the frantic scattergun it became under the Democrats.
Secondly, because impeachment is always intensely political – and the Republicans want to drag it out as long into next year’s election as they possibly can.
Authorizing the monthslong inquiry ensures that the impeachment investigation extends well into 2024, when Biden will be running for reelection and seems likely to be squaring off against former President Donald Trump – who was twice impeached during his time in the White House. Trump has pushed his GOP allies in Congress to move swiftly on impeaching Biden, part of his broader calls for vengeance and retribution against his political enemies.
The decision to hold a vote came as Speaker Mike Johnson and his team faced growing pressure to show progress in what has become a nearly yearlong probe centered around the business dealings of Biden’s family members.
Naturally, the Democrats are huffing and puffing that it’s all a desperate attempt to take down a democratically elected president. Well, they’d know: they wrote the book on that.
But even jelly-backed RINO Republicans have been dragged, kicking and screaming, into confessing that there’s just something smelly about the Biden family – and it’s not Joe’s Depends.
Some House Republicans, particularly those hailing from politically divided districts, had been hesitant in recent weeks to take any vote on Biden’s impeachment, fearing a significant political cost. But GOP leaders have made the case in recent weeks that the resolution is only a step in the process, not a decision to impeach Biden. That message seems to have won over skeptics.
“As we have said numerous times before, voting in favor of an impeachment inquiry does not equal impeachment,” Rep Tom Emmer, a member of the GOP leadership team, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Emmer said Republicans “will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead, and if they uncover evidence of treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, then and only then will the next steps towards impeachment proceedings be considered.”
Meanwhile, the investigation has its work cut out for it. If there’s one thing the Bidens have aplenty, besides a mountain of ill-gotten cash, it’s rat-cunning. Forensic accountants are going to have their work cut out for them.
Congressional investigators have obtained nearly 40,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records and dozens of hours of testimony from key witnesses, including several high-ranking Justice Department officials currently tasked with investigating the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
While Republicans say their inquiry is ultimately focused on the president himself, they have taken particular interest in Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, from which they accuse the president of personally benefiting. Republicans have also focused a large part of their investigation on whistleblower allegations of interference in the long-running Justice Department investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and his gun use […]
Hunter Biden arrived for a rare public statement outside the US Capitol on Wednesday, saying he would not be appearing for his scheduled private deposition that morning.
Republican American
Hey, remember when Joe Biden stated unequivocally that anyone who defied a Congressional subpoena must be prosecuted for contempt?
Well, I mean, he probably doesn’t, just like he probably doesn’t remember what day it is or who he is, but American voters will.