WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, West Virginia — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) conceded he has not yet done a “deep dive” into the evidence gathered by Republican lawmakers to impeach President Joe Biden even as House leaders contemplate how to move forward with the monthslong investigation.
Although Johnson said he would not “prejudge” the outcome of the impeachment inquiry, the speaker argued the evidence released so far has shown “unprecedented corruption” from the Biden administration. However, he noted, he has not fully reviewed all the evidence released by House investigators so far.
“To be very frank with you, very honest and transparent, because I’ve been so busy with all my other responsibilities, I have not been able to take the time to do the deep dive in the evidence,” Johnson told reporters at the annual GOP issues conference at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia on Wednesday. “What has been uncovered is alarming.”
Johnson said it is not yet clear whether the evidence reached the threshold needed for Biden to be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors. Instead, he said such a determination would need to be made after “we pull all the evidence together and when we evaluate that.”
“Clearly, this is an unprecedented level of corruption, in my view, from any White House that we’ve ever seen,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s comments come as the impeachment effort in the House has begun to lose steam among some of its members. Some lawmakers have also acknowledged there might not be enough appetite to move forward with an impeachment vote in the months leading up to the 2024 election.
“I mean, we’re in an election year, and so, you know, in November, the people will speak,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters on Monday. “I think we have a duty to try to get all the facts out on all of these issues so the American people know them as part of the process and kind of work through to get it out there and expose the truth, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Johnson pushed back against concerns that the investigation has dragged on for too long, arguing the monthslong process is “the way it’s supposed to work.”
“This is how it’s supposed to look,” Johnson said. “Not what the Democrats did against Donald Trump with their snap impeachments where they reach conclusions before they began their so-called investigations. We’re doing the opposite, and that’s why it’s drug out as it is.”
The House Oversight and Judiciary committees have failed to uncover definitive evidence tying Biden to criminal activity or any misconduct that constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor. Instead, Democrats and their staffers have accused Republicans of wasting money and resources on an investigation they say is politically motivated.
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The investigation took its latest hit on Wednesday after Hunter Biden, who is at the center of the Republican inquiry, declined an invitation to testify publicly before House lawmakers. His lawyer blamed the president’s son’s absence, in part, on a court hearing in California — but also on Republicans’ “planned-for-media” event.
The inquiry is looking into three main things, all of which relate to Hunter Biden: whether Joe Biden improperly used his position of power to enrich himself and his family, whether he used his influence to pressure the Department of Justice to help his son avoid criminal charges, and how involved he was in his family’s foreign business dealings.
