House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced on Tuesday that he had authorized the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into alleged misconduct by President Joe Biden and his family, particularly including his son Hunter Biden.
A somewhat surprising supporter of that House impeachment inquiry was shortly thereafter revealed to be Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), according to Breitbart.
Romney, of course, all but openly supported Biden's 2020 bid for the presidency by virtue of his ardent opposition to then-President Donald Trump, whom the senator voted to convict during the second failed Democratic impeachment and removal effort following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot of 2021.
According to HuffPost political reporter Igor Bobic, when asked about a President Biden impeachment inquiry, Sen. Romney said, "The fact that the White House has been singularly silent and coddled Hunter Biden suggests an inquiry is not inappropriate."
Romney was most likely referring to the fact that the Biden White House has essentially refused to answer numerous pertinent questions about Hunter's alleged criminal and unethical behaviors as well as the recent scuttled plea deal that would have given the president's son a slap on the wrist for minor violations and immunized him against future prosecution for other alleged crimes after the agreement fell apart under the scrutiny of a federal judge.
Per Bobic, the senator went on to say that "Inquiring is something the president and the White House could have avoided, but they’ve been pretty quiet," though he did add that, at least as of yet, there has been "no allegation of a high crime or misdemeanor" credibly lodged against Biden.
Nonetheless, Romney described Hunter Biden's dubious foreign business dealings and apparent influence-peddling as "ugly" and was critical of the Biden White House for "not indicating what it is the president knew" about his son's questionable and potentially criminal activities, among other things.
Earlier on Tuesday, in his announcement of the formal opening of an impeachment inquiry, Speaker McCarthy said, "In recent months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct; taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption."
"Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden lied to the American people about knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings," he continued. "Eyewitnesses have testified that the President joined multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions, dinners, resulting in cars and millions of dollars to his son and his son’s business partners."
"Bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to Biden family members and associates through various shell companies," the speaker revealed. "The Treasury Department, alone, has more than 150 transactions involving the Biden family and other business associates that were flagged as 'suspicious activity' by U.S. banks."
"Even a trusted FBI informant has alleged a bribe to the Biden family. Biden used his official office to coordinate with Hunter Biden’s business partners about Hunter’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company," McCarthy stated. "Finally, despite these serious allegations, it appears that the President’s family has been offered special treatment by Biden’s own administration; treatment he would not otherwise have received if he were not related to the President."
"These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives," Speaker McCarthy said in his announcement. "That’s why today, I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public. It’s exactly what we want to know, the answers, and I believe the President would want to answer these questions and allegations as well."
After noting that the inquiry would be led the House Oversight Committee in conjunction with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, the speaker made it clear that this should be a nonpartisan issue and insisted, "I don’t make this decision lightly."
"The American people deserve to know that public offices are not for sale -- and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family. I would encourage the President and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation in the interest of transparency," McCarthy concluded. "We are committed to getting the answers for the American public -- nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us."
