Asking Biden to testify, and getting mad when he refuses, may signal the death rattle of the impeachment effort.

Asking Biden to testify, and getting mad when he refuses, may signal the death rattle of the impeachment effort.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House oversight committee, has formally asked President Joe Biden to testify in the impeachment inquiry against him led by Republican lawmakers.

In a letter to Biden on Thursday, Comer said “it is in the best interest of the American people” for the president to answer questions about whether he was involved in his son Hunter’s foreign business deals.

The White House responded by pointing to a social media post from last week where Biden spokesperson Ian Sams wrote “LOL,” alongside a “facepalm” emoji, after Comer first said he’d seek Biden’s testimony.

“Comer knows 20+ witnesses have testified that POTUS did nothing wrong,” Sams wrote on March 20. “He knows that the hundreds of thousands of pages of records he’s received have refuted his false allegations.”

    • jaspersgroove@lemm.ee
      17·
      9 months ago

      I am not a lawyer, but I believe you have to have evidence of a crime in order to charge somebody with a crime.

      • ApostleO@startrek.website
        5·
        9 months ago

        Also not a lawyer, but as I understand it: impeachment isn’t a criminal prosecution. It’s a political tool to remove a president from office, regardless of reason.

        Whenever a Republican is president, GOP acts like Impeachment is a murder trial, requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime. When a Democrat is president, GOP acts like Impeachment is just a chance to undermine (and possibly even remove) a powerful political opponent.

        It’s the same as their view of the budget deficit/national debt. It’s all performative and entirely disconnected from law or reality.

      • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
        4·
        9 months ago

        Prosecutors can charge someone with a crime without any evidence, but their odds of winning are extremely low unless racism or some other prejudice is involved.

      • tacosanonymous@lemm.ee
        4·
        9 months ago

        They certainly should, especially if they’d like to “win” but I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s even less important for impeachment hearings.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
        11·
        9 months ago

        Wait, you think people only get arrested with evidence?! You really need to watch more true crime shows. The ones that talk about literal, IRL crime, not the fictional shows that glorify it. The US LOVES punishing even perceived criminals, let alone actual criminals.