President Joe Biden’s top White House lawyer is reportedly encouraging House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to end the GOP-led effort in the House to impeach the president over allegations that he illegally profited from the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden.
In a recent letter to Johnson, White House counsel Ed Siskel wrote that testimony and records provided to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have provided insufficient evidence to prove claims that the president engaged in corrupt business schemes alongside his son.
The letter comes a month after federal prosecutors charged a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant who provided Republicans with many of the allegations against the president and his family.
“It is obviously time to move on, Mr. Speaker,” Siskel wrote in the letter. “This impeachment is over. There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade.”
WHAT?
“White House sends scathing letter telling Mike Johnson that Biden impeachment probe is ‘over’”In a scathing letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, White House Counsel Ed Siskel said it had become “clear” that the “House Republican impeachment is over,” citing reporting by… pic.twitter.com/T6EJyvKTam
— Jim Weed (@JimBobW49) March 15, 2024
Siskel’s rare instance of communication comes as House Republicans see their majority shrink with several congressmen resigning from their positions.
The House speaker has acknowledged that it’s unknown if the investigation into the president will uncover impeachable offenses, adding that “people have gotten frustrated” that the probe has taken the time it has.
Johnson recently maintained that the “slow and deliberate” investigation into the president is part of investigators’ efforts.
“Does it reach the ‘treason, high crimes and misdemeanor’ standard?” the House speaker said while referring to the Constitution’s impeachment clause. “Everyone will have to make that evaluation when we pull the evidence together.”
Given the narrowing GOP majority in the House, Republican leaders in the chamber are actively eyeing criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of individuals they claim may have potentially committed crimes for prosecution.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is scheduled to soon hold a planned hearing to listen to public testimony from several of Hunter’s ex-business partners.
The Washington Times reported that Comer has considered legislation to toughen the ethics laws surrounding elected officials.
Johnson said the investigation into the president has, thus far, uncovered “a lot of things that we believe that violated the law.”
