The House Oversight Committee opened its first impeachment inquiry hearing Thursday, and member Jim Jordan wasted no time giving the Republicans who have been waiting for this moment what they’ve been looking for: a succinct but dramatic summation of the case for impeaching President Joe Biden.
“This is a tale as old as time,” the Ohio Republican said as he started his opening statement. “Politician takes action that makes money for his family, and then he tries to conceal it.”
“Never forget four fundamental facts,” he said, laying out the opening of the Republican legislators’ grounds for impeaching Biden.
“Hunter Biden gets put on the board of Burisma,” Jordan said, holding up one finger. “Gets paid a lot of money.
“Hunter Biden is not qualified, fact No. 2, to sit on the board. Not my words, his words. He said he got on the board because of the brand, because of the name.
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“Fact No. 3: The executives at Burisma ask Hunter Biden to weigh in and help them with the pressure they are under from the prosecutor in Ukraine.
“Fact No. 4: [Then Vice President] Joe Biden goes to Ukraine on Dec. 9, 2015, gives the speech attacking the prosecutor that starts the process of getting that guy fired.”
Jordan then laid out some of the evidence backing up those facts, citing a confidential human source who said as much to the FBI. The FBI’s notes on that information, in the form of an FD-1023 form, a document used to record unverified information from confidential informants.
Jordan said Biden’s Department of Justice attempted to withhold that form from the Oversight Committee — which, to be fair, is often the case when the identify of a confidential informant is at risk of being exposed.
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The Ohio representative said that the testimony of two whistleblowers to the House Ways and Means Committee also confirmed his facts, and went on to accuse the DOJ of assisting the Biden family in covering up the family’s alleged corruption.
“They slow-walked the investigation; they let the statutes of limitations lapse for the most important years — ’14 and ’15, the Burisma years, when all that income is coming in; they try to put together this sweetheart deal and get it past the judge; and we learned yesterday, in the search warrant application — in the search warrant, examining Hunter Biden’s electronic communications, they weren’t allowed to ask about ‘Political Figure 1.’
“Political Figure No. 1,” Jordan explained, “is the ‘Big Guy,’ is Joe Biden.”
He then moved into a summation that almost sounded like the end of a “Scooby-Doo” mystery where the unmasked villain blames a van full of “meddling kids.”
“And they would’ve gotten away with it all,” Jordan said. “They would’ve gotten away with it all, except for two brave whistleblowers who sat in those seats two months ago and told their story. And their story has stood up.
“Two brave whistleblowers, and judge in Delaware who said that we’re not going to let this happen.
“That’s why we’re here today,” Jordan concluded. “That’s why this inquiry is so darned important. It’s the oldest story in the world, and those are the facts.”
You can watch Jordan’s statement in its entirety here:
WATCH IN FULL: Chairman @Jim_Jordan‘s opening statement in the Biden impeachment inquiry pic.twitter.com/WiODUw60Oa
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Democrats predictably argued that there is no evidence of Biden family corruption.
“If Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol they would be presenting it today,” said Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, according to Reuters. “But they’ve got nothing.”
It remains unclear whether House Republicans, who hold only a nine-member majority, will be able to garner the votes to impeach Biden once all is said and done. Even if they do, the Democrat-controlled Senate is almost certain to acquit him, just as the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump both times he was impeached.
