An impeachment inquiry into US president Joe Biden is to be opened by the House of Representatives, in a move set to deepen divisions in US politics.
The investigation, announced by House speaker Kevin McCarthy, is expected to focus on whether Mr Biden benefited from the overseas business dealings of his son, Hunter. It is also likely to look at how the Department of Justice under the Biden administration handled cases involving family members of the president.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have over recent months been carrying out inquiries into the business dealings of Hunter Biden in Ukraine and China. No definitive evidence of misconduct on the part of the president have yet emerged.
In a statement on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Mr McCarthy, a republican, said there were “serious and credible allegations involving the president’s conduct”.
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He said the investigation carried out by the House oversight committee so far had found a “culture of corruption” around the Biden family. “These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives.
“That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” he said. “We are committed to getting the answers for the American public – nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us.”
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A decision on whether to impeach Mr Biden, on foot of the inquiry just announced, would be taken by the republican-majority House of Representatives. However, Mr Biden’s removal from office would require him to be convicted in a trial in the Senate, which is controlled by the president’s Democratic Party.
Mr McCarthy said investigations by House Republicans had found the president had lied to the American people about his knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings. He said eye witnesses had testified that the president had joined multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions including dinners that resulted in millions of dollars being paid to his son and his son’s business partners.
He described the move to establish an impeachment inquiry as the “next logical step” and said this would provide the House committees with the full power to gather all facts and answers for the American people.
Mr McCarthy did not take questions and did not say whether there would be a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives into holding an impeachment inquiry.
His announcement came as he faced growing pressure from the right wing of his parliamentary party to take action against the president. Those on the right are angry about criminal charges that have been levelled at former president Donald Trump.
Mr Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives when he was in the White House. He has said he would launch an investigation into Mr Biden and his family if he was re-elected as president next year.
Mr McCarthyalso faces pressure from the right over the US government budget for next year. Right wing Republicans are seeking significant cuts to spending.
If the impasse is not broken the US could see a government shutdown by early next month.
Mr McCarthy needs the support of the right-wing group in the House Republican Party to remain in the speaker’s chair.
The White House said in response to Mr McCarthy’s announcement: “House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. His own republican members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip-flopped because he doesn’t have support. This is extreme politics at its worst.”
