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Impeachment, which was supposed to be reserved for the most egregious cases of presidential misconduct, has no doubt become a political tool.
Still, House Republicans have taken the politicization of impeachment to a new low. Earlier this month, the House GOP caucus voted to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, when, by its own admission, lawmakers have no verifiable evidence that he has committed impeachable offenses. Instead, House Republicans said that they needed to begin the proceedings to find evidence that Biden committed impeachable offenses.
This is backward — and dangerous.
Republicans have been formally investigating Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, for months. They have so far found no evidence tying the president to his son’s alleged misdeeds. Those alleged misdeeds have led to tax and gun charges against the younger Biden.
Yet, House Republicans voted to proceed with impeachment proceedings earlier this month.
Republicans have argued that approving an impeachment inquiry is distinct from accusing the president of wrongdoing. That wordsmithing sets a dangerous precedent of using a politically loaded impeachment inquiry instead of the many other investigative tools available to Congress. For example, the House Oversight Committee could continue its investigation. If it finds evidence that warrants elevating the process to an impeachment inquiry, such a move would be appropriate then.
“That doesn’t mean we have high crimes or misdemeanors. We may not ever,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who had previously opposed a formal impeachment inquiry, said of voting for the inquiry.
Without any specific evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors” by the president, there should not be an impeachment inquiry.
Even many conservatives think so.
The editorial board of the conservative Las Vegas Review-Journal urged the House to continue investigating Hunter Biden and his business dealings. “But talk of bringing articles of impeachment against Biden is premature, barring new revelations,” it said in a Dec. 13 editorial.
“In addition, such talk risks alienating independent voters who are disgusted with the perpetual cycles of reprisal that have become so common as decorum between members of the two parties has evaporated in the Beltway,” the editorial added.
Republicans have for years suggested that Joe and Hunter Biden have been engaged in unlawful and unethical deeds. But they have presented no verified evidence that Joe Biden acted corruptly as president and vice president.
Is more investigation warranted? Perhaps. But actual wrongdoing should have been found before beginning an impeachment inquiry.
Otherwise, this looks like the political payback that many Democrats claim it is.
