President Biden on Monday formally rejected a request to testify in the Republican impeachment inquiry investigating corruption allegations.
“The committee’s purported ‘impeachment inquiry’ has only succeeded in uncovering abundant evidence that the president has done nothing wrong,” White House Counsel Richard said. – Sauber said in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). ).
“It is past time for the House of Representatives to focus on issues that matter to the American people, instead of continuing to waste time and taxpayer resources on partisan pretenses,” Sauber added.
“Therefore, I decline President Biden’s invitation to testify.”
Comer, who heads one of the three House committees handling the impeachment inquiry, last month asked the 81-year-old president to testify to investigators and proposed a hearing date of April 16. .
In a seven-page letter to the president, the Kentucky Republican claimed that he had no interactions with his son Hunter or his brother James’ overseas business associates during or immediately after his tenure as vice president, saying he had “repeatedly lied to them. He wrote that the evidence shows that this has happened.
“We invite you to attend a hearing where you will have the opportunity to explain under oath your family’s sources of income, your involvement in that source, and the means you used to generate it. ” Comer wrote, suggesting the impeachment was unjustified. The investigation has so far revealed “more than $24 million that flowed from foreign sources to you, your family, and your business associates.”
Biden denied any role in the dealings with his relatives, despite evidence that he actually met with officials from at least two Chinese government-backed ventures and contacts from Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine. He has repeatedly denied it.
Republican lawmakers involved in the investigation say Hunter, 54, and James, 75, sold access to the current president in countries where he had influence over U.S. policy as Barack Obama’s No. 2. claims.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in the Biden family.” Comer said in a statement. after Biden’s lawyers informed him of the decision not to testify. “Like his son Hunter Biden, President Biden has refused to testify publicly about the Biden family’s rampant corrupt influence.”
“President Biden continues to lie about his relationships with his son’s business partners, even denying their existence when his son stated under oath during his deposition that they existed, so this “This is not surprising,” the Supervisory Board chairman added. “It’s unfortunate that President Biden is unwilling to answer questions in front of the American people and refuses to answer some of the very simple, straightforward questions that we included in the invitation.”
Comer referred to 10 questions included in the invitation to Biden, including his alleged contacts with numerous business associates of his son and brother, and the funds James Biden used to finance the deal. Written responses to questions regarding knowledge of sources were requested. He says he will pay off his debt.
“Why is it so difficult for the White House to answer these questions? The American people deserve transparency from President Biden, not more lies,” Comer argued.
Not since Gerald Ford in 1974 had a sitting president publicly testified before Congress, and many believed there was a high probability that he would receive an invitation to do so.
