Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said on Sunday that an impeachment of President Joe Biden looks more likely after House Republicans heard from their constituents at Walmart over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The GOP has been investigating Biden over allegations that he intervened and benefited from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings with China and Ukraine while he was vice president under former President Barack Obama, including accusations of taking bribes. The allegations have been denied by the White House and Hunter Biden's lawyers, with Democrats criticizing the GOP's impeachment inquiries for failing to find any meaningful evidence against the president.
Once the impeachment inquiry is complete, the Judiciary Committee will decide on whether to draw up any draft impeachment articles against Biden to be voted on by the House. Comer has said that a vote could take place by early 2024.
While appearing on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo, Comer, a Kentucky Republican, was asked by Bartiromo if he feels like he has enough votes within the House for a formal impeachment inquiry against Biden.
Comer responded that moderate House Republicans are more willing to vote for a Biden impeachment inquiry now because they went home over Thanksgiving and heard from their constituents at Walmart.
"I do. I had a reporter ask, 'What's changed?' I tell you one thing that's changed. A great thing happened during Thanksgiving. The members went home, many of them for the first time, and circulated for the first time in over 10 weeks. And they met people in Walmart and people on Main Street. So they heard from their constituents. They were like, 'What in the world have the Bidens done to receive millions and millions of dollars from our enemies around the world and did they not pay taxes on it?' So they heard from their constituents, 'Yes we want you to move forward, we want to know the truth and expect the Bidens to be held accountable for public corruption,'" Comer said. "So I'm confident we're going to have the votes to move forward with this impeachment inquiry."
Newsweek has reached out to Comer and Biden via email for comment.
As part of the impeachment inquiry, Comer has subpoenaed several members of the president's family, including his brother James Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden has been directed to sit for a deposition on December 13, with the president's brother currently scheduled for December 6.
While speaking to Fox News last week, Comer said the Oversight panel has produced "many smoking guns" during the probe. However, several House members have come out and said they are not convinced by the evidence to persuade them to vote to impeach Biden over corruption allegations.
Representative Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican who sits on the hardline Freedom Caucus and twice voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump, wrote in a September opinion piece for The Washington Post: "Trump's impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and a disservice to Americans. The GOP's reprise in 2023 is no better."
Comer took aim at Buck on Sunday while answering Bartiromo's question about needing a majority vote in order to impeach Biden, "The majority is so slim, even less now with George Santos being expelled this week, right?"
"Yeah, it's tough," Comer agreed. "I think we could lose one or two members. I mean, Ken Buck, he votes no on everything. He's certainly doing everything he can to try out to be the next anchor for MSNBC."
Newsweek has reached out to Buck via email for comment.
Due to the GOP's narrow majority in the House, if any articles of impeachment make it to a vote on the floor, near-unanimous Republican support would be needed to reach the 218 vote threshold. No House Democrat is expected to support the move.
This is not the first time the alleged evidence in the impeachment inquiry into Biden faced criticism.
In October, Comer released what he suggested was evidence proving Biden's corruption, sharing an image of a $200,000 check sent to the president by his brother James Biden and sister-in-law Sara in 2018. Labeled as a loan repayment, the check was issued on the same date in 2018 when Americore Health LLC wired $200,000 into James Biden's bank account.
Since Comer announced the discovery, many have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to mock the congressman's claim, citing that the discovery of the check made out to Biden was clearly indicated that the money was sent as a "loan repayment" and before he was president.
Ian Sams, the White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, wrote in an X post in October that Comer was "desperate" to distract from the ongoing inability of Republicans to select a House speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speakership.
Comer maintains that the loan repayment raises questions about whether the president personally benefited from his family's business ventures.
"Even if this was a personal loan repayment, it's still troubling that Joe Biden's ability to be paid back by his brother depended on the success of his family's shady financial dealings," he said in his video statement announcing the discovery in October.
