But to close observers, the announcement was somewhat unconvincing. The premises of McCarthy’s investigation were exaggerated and unproven, but not for lack of trying. The announcement of the investigation came months, maybe even a year, after any real effort to dig up incriminating information about President Biden, and House Republicans had no substantive results to show for it.
They had no more luck in the months that followed. Efforts to bolster the allegation that Biden was deeply involved in and benefited from his son and brother’s business ventures proved futile. When House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) made the allegations in a recent interview with Fox Business, his arguments were broadly consistent with those he made before the impeachment inquiry began.
Months of effort had produced nothing substantial by the end of 2023, leading Comer and his colleagues to repeatedly try to exaggerate the importance of their obviously inconsequential findings. Most embarrassing, the spectacular explosion of allegations that Biden and his son Hunter accepted bribes from Ukrainian businessmen has seen someone who claimed to have been informed of the bribes face criminal charges for fabricating them.
By February, Republicans were in a bind: With no progress made in connecting Joe Biden and his family to the business activities of his brother James or Hunter Biden, much less showing that Biden had used his office to benefit his brother James’ or Hunter’s business partners, Comer reversed course and insisted that the culmination of the investigation would be a referral to the Justice Department for criminal charges against those under the committee’s investigation.
This had several advantages. First, it avoided any awkward Republican hesitation to pursue a reckless plan like impeachment. Second, a referral has the advantage of being a low-bar to execute and making it seem serious. And third, Comer could position it as an argument for one of his party’s main goals: Voters needed to elect Donald Trump in November to get an attorney general who, unlike one appointed by Biden, was far more likely to seek indictments.
For months, Comer and his colleagues had been signaling that the impeachment investigation was nearing its final stages, and more recently had suggested that a referral would be the final product. Finally, on Wednesday, a referral was sent to the Justice Department, signaling the end had come.
By the standards of what McCarthy originally described for the study, the final product is, at least so far, surprisingly thin.
Three committee chairs — Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.) — have suggested that the criminal charges against Hunter Biden and James Biden be about their alleged lies to impeachment investigators, not about their collaboration with Joe Biden or their work generally. The referral is essentially a recommendation, a signal to the Justice Department to act.
The Justice Department is unlikely to do so. The allegations in the letter are quite detailed, centering on whether Hunter Biden controlled certain bank accounts and whether Joe Biden attended certain meetings. The letter alleges that the inconsistencies between Hunter and James Biden’s testimony and the records and testimony of other individuals are the result of deliberate fraud that merits criminal punishment. It is instructive to note here that Comer and Jordan in particular have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to give demonstrably false testimony. The claims in the testimonials should not be taken at face value, as some claims have been repeated and some have been denied.
But more importantly, the introduction argues that these falsehoods are evidence that Republicans have been right about Joe Biden all along.
“Hunter Biden and James Biden made materially false statements to the Oversight and Judiciary Committees, as evidenced by the evidence set forth in the attached inquiry,” the letter read. “The nature of these false statements is understood by the Committees, and all evidence suggests that Joe Biden knew about and played a role in his family’s influence activities.”
But this is the central argument of the impeachment inquiry: that the whole thing is evidence that Joe Biden was involved in the family business. His son got a ton of money? That’s pretty suspicious for Joe Biden! This is being presented as further evidence of a cover-up, since the president’s brother may have misremembered whether Joe Biden ever met with a business partner (though investigators have not been able to prove the significance of other such meetings).
Comer told Fox News he’s not done yet.
“This is only the beginning, not the end, of our efforts to hold Biden accountable,” he said in a statement that appeared to suggest more charges could be forthcoming as the November election approaches.
But it also signals that the investigation is over. The effort to prove that Joe Biden committed impeachable conduct has ended without proving that Biden committed impeachable conduct. There may be some action by a Trump-appointed attorney general next year, perhaps there will be further indictments targeted at Biden, but as has been clear for some time, there will be no impeachment.
From September through March, Fox News mentioned Biden and impeachment more than 1,500 times. But since April, it has mentioned them less than 100 times. With even Comer’s most staunch media allies in his quest to bring down the president losing interest? It’s time to wrap things up and squeeze every political gain they can before the wrap up.
