House Speaker Mike Johnson's previous remarks criticizing "single party" impeachment attempts against a president have been brought up amid House Republicans' hopes to launch an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
During a Tuesday interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, Johnson discussed the upcoming vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry into Biden's business dealings which is due to take place on Wednesday.
Johnson supports launching a hearing against the president over claims that he intervened and benefited from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings with China and Ukraine while he was vice president, including accusations of taking bribes. The allegations have been denied by the White House and Hunter Biden's lawyers. The probe by House Republicans has also been heavily criticized by the Democrats for not revealing any meaningful evidence to back up their claims against the president.
Ahead of the vote, Baier played a clip of Johnson speaking in 2019 in which he criticized Democrats for trying to launch the first impeachment hearing against former President Donald Trump without the support of the GOP, or a House vote. Trump was impeached by the House, but acquitted in the Senate, over allegations he threatened to withdraw military aid to Ukraine unless the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, promised to investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine ahead of the 2020 election.
"The founders of this country warned against a single party impeachment for good reason. They feared that it would bitterly and perhaps irreparably divide our nation," Johnson said during a December 2019 House debate on impeaching Trump.
"As the next election in 2020 is drawing so close now and their candidates for president are so terribly weak, they obviously met somewhere at liberal High Command about 75 days ago and convinced [former House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi they had to pull the trigger," Johnson added.
"I hope and pray that future Congresses can and will exercise greater restraint."
After playing the clip, Baier asks Johnson if moderate Republicans should be asking "why not exercise greater restraint now?" as the party attempts to impeach Biden without any support from the Democrats.
"Well, we've shown great restraint. I mean, there are a lot of people who are frustrated that this hasn't moved faster," Johnson replied.
"I stand by every word I said in that video. There's a big distinction between what's happening now and what the Democrats did, [that was a] rushed, sham impeachment, they did it quickly, they did not follow any of the procedures.
"We have three committees investigating this and following the truth where they lead and they have no option in doing anything else. Its Ways and Means, Judiciary, and Oversight, and they've uncovered some alarming facts about the Biden family and their dealings."
Johnson's office and the White House have been contacted for further comment by email.
Due to the GOP's thin majority in the House, the party cannot afford more than three House Republicans not to approve the impeachment inquiry against Biden, with all Democrats expected to vote against the move.
Some moderate House Republicans have indicated they would not support an inquiry, or expressed skepticism about one.
Johnson and other House Republicans believe that an impeachment hearing, which would give the GOP more powers including additional legal weight to their subpoenas, would mean evidence that Biden committed impeachable offenses could be unearthed.
Elsewhere during his Fox News interview, Johnson was asked by Baier about the concerns from some House Republicans that the push to impeach Biden is "losing some steam."
"Tomorrow, we'll be voting on the inquiry," Johnson replied. "Why are we doing that? Because it's the next necessary step.
"The White House has stonewalled this investigation. It's gone methodically, carefully, as the Constitution requires of us. It's a very serious matter.
"But right now, they're not turning over documents. They're not turning over key witnesses, and we will have to defend our subpoenas in court. So, to do that, you need an impeachment inquiry vote from the full House."
The White House previously described the attempts from the GOP to impeach Biden as "sad, pathetic, and a waste of everyone's time."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
