Trump’s men brought joy to their absolute leader and, in turn, were saved from being victims of the lash of his wrath.
The Lower House, controlled by conservatives and dominated by the threat of the most ultra sector, voted by a narrow margin to formalize the authorization for the investigation of the ‘impeachment’ or political process against President Joe Biden. The result responded to party lines: 221 Republicans to 212 Democratic votes.
What does it matter that in more than a year of investigating they have failed and not found a single piece of evidence about possible crimes or even misdemeanors due to Biden’s involvement in family businesses, especially that of his son Hunter. Who cares as long as the alternative argument that there is something is forged. This formalization gives them ammunition and full authority to continue investigating and subpoenaing the more than anticipated challenge of White House litigation.
In this way, furthermore, ‘Trumpist’ legislators make it easier for Donald Trump to find satisfaction in the fact that he is no longer alone as a president under ‘impeachment’ in this 20th century. This legitimizes their propaganda narrative that Biden is “the most corrupt president in history.”
He repeats it at all rallies and on any occasion he has the opportunity. And so says the former president who was twice politically accused and accused in court with 91 criminal charges, some as serious as trying to subvert the electoral result to perpetuate himself in the Government, theft of state secrets or the alleged fraud on the banks by inflating the value of your possessions.
His like-minded congressmen have lobbied for months, but refrained from requesting an open vote due to the reservations of many Republicans from competitive districts, who did not see it at all clear to vote for a process without evidence that Biden had done anything wrong and that this would lead to that voters opted at the polls for their Democratic rivals.
Kevin McCarthy, then speaker of the House of Representatives, unilaterally opened the investigations in September without bringing the case to a vote to which he had committed. He feared that he would be taken down and, at the same time, he had to appease the relentless harassment of the extremists.
This Wednesday it was demonstrated how, with Mike Johnson at the helm, the ‘speaker’ surrendered to Trump, they have achieved a strategic change among the Republicans and everyone voted as a bloc, not a single dissent.
“Power resides only in the House of Representatives. If the majority now says that we are in an official ‘impeachment’ as part of our constitutional obligation of vigilance, this has its weight,” said Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and one of Trump’s most loyal “subjects.”
“Americans need their leaders in Congress to take action on the nation’s and the world’s important priorities,” President Biden replied in a statement. Among the priorities he highlighted the provision of money to support Ukraine and Israel, as well as confront the problem of the border with Mexico. But he clarified that the legislators are going on vacation.
“Every day I wake up focused on the issues that citizens face, real issues that have an impact on their lives, and the reinforcement of the security of our country and the world,” he insisted.
“Unfortunately, House Republicans are not joining me. Instead of doing anything to help Americans have a better life, they focus on attacking me with lies. Instead of facing the urgent things of their work that are necessary to develop, they choose to waste time on a baseless political trick that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts,” he stressed.
“Citizens deserve better. I know that it is a priority and I invited the Republicans in Congress to join me,” he concluded.
There were legislators who defended the process as a step taken to provide themselves with investigative powers. But some Democrats, like Jim McGovern, countered that this was just a political imposition. “We are here for one reason only, Donald Trump required impeachment, so there is impeachment and this is nothing more than an abuse of this procedure,” McGovern said.
The Republicans, with Jordan and his associate James Comer, argued that this resource gave them more weapons to interrogate Hunter Biden and raise contempt, although the matter was not at all clear. The president’s son went to Congress this Wednesday in response to the subpoena he received to give a statement. But he did not declare.
He refused to appear behind closed doors and showed his complete willingness to be interrogated as long as it was with light and stenographers, in the open. You fear that if it is done in secret, Jordan and Comer will leak half-truths or simple misrepresentations drawn from his answers to portray him as something he is not, based on his political interests. Republicans did not accept the challenge of transparency because they lose control of the narrative they pursue.
Instead of testifying behind closed doors, Hunter stood outside the Capitol and addressed reporters. “I am here to ensure that this illegitimate House investigation into my family does not occur with distortions, manipulation of evidence and lies,” he declared.
“And I am here today to recognize that I have made mistakes in my life, lost opportunities and privileges that were granted to me. That is why I am responsible, I must be accountable and I make amends,” he said, reading a statement.
Hunter Biden was charged last week with several counts of tax evasion, after bringing in millions of dollars from foreign businesses and spending them on women, drugs and luxury, in everything except being accountable to the treasury, the prosecutor’s accuser said. He pleaded not guilty and maintained that he would not face any accusation “if he were not the son of the president of the United States, who is the one who really wants to harm him.”
