An evidence-free goose chase

Back on Monday Laura Clawson of Daily Kos reported Rep. Jamie Raskin (who had a key role in the nasty guy impeachment trials) had a few things to say about the Republican talk of impeaching Biden. Said Raskin:

House Republicans constantly insist that they are investigating President Biden, and not his adult son. In that case, we can form an obvious judgment on their investigation: it has been a complete and total bust—an epic flop in the history of congressional investigations. The voluminous evidence they have gathered, including thousands of pages of bank records and suspicious activity reports and hours of testimony from witnesses, overwhelmingly demonstrates no wrongdoing by President Biden and further debunks Republicans’ conspiracy theories.

Clawson added that 12,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records show no improper payment to the president. 2,000 pages of suspicious activity reports do not allege potential misconduct by the president, nor do they show his involvement in Hunter’s business dealing. No witnesses testified about any misconduct. Many Republicans agree there is no evidence. On Tuesday Clawson reported:

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is calling for a formal impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden, despite the total lack of evidence of wrongdoing turned up by months of Republican investigations. The plan all along was to justify an impeachment inquiry, and when they failed to justify it, they decided to pretend they had, and to go ahead anyway.

This is McCarthy declaring an impeachment inquiry, which is not the same as the House voting to approve an impeachment inquiry. A question is why is McCarthy doing this now. Republicans been promising an impeachment vote since Biden was elected – to happen as soon as they got the evidence. Short answer for why now: the Freedom Caucus. The longer answer is a bit murky. Maybe to satisfy them enough to keep them from shutting down the government at the end of the month (that trade is not working). Maybe they recognize how weak McCarthy is and are yanking on his leash. Maybe it is just the next “logical” step in Republican plans that say Biden must be impeached. Joan McCarter of Kos reported that though the Freedom Caucus is behind all this, one FC member, Rep. Ken Buck, remains reality based and is highlighting the lack of evidence. Strange that an FC member sounds so reasonable. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported the hot takes are pouring in. Here are some of them: Ian Sams, a White House spokesman: an “evidence-free goose chase.” Elie Mystal:

Why would I write about House GOP's impeachment inquiry? I write about law and law adjacent issues. Not the inevitable result of Unfrozen Caveman Congresswoman having her hand so far up Kevin McCarthy's ass that she controls his vocal chords.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley

Republicans continue to govern with chaos, cruelty, and callousness—and they are wasting our damn time.

Sawyer Hackett noted that when Pelosi moved to impeach the nasty guy McCarty wrote a resolution to condemn Pelosi for acting without a House vote. She soon did. Now here’s McCarthy acting without a House vote. Rep. Ted Lieu

Here are the three pieces of evidence that Speaker McCarthy has to open an impeachment inquiry on President Biden: 1. “ “ 2. “ “ 3. “ “

Moscow Mitch has no advice for the House. Rep. Adam Schiff:

McCarthy’s reading of the Impeachment Clause: The President shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or … when the Speaker, lacking moral authority or control over his members, can’t remain speaker or fund the government without it.

Raymond Mollica: Why you never negotiate with terrorists, Exhibit 37,548 Mark Sumner of Kos explains more about McCarthy demanding Pelosi get a floor vote and McCarthy announcing the inquiry without a floor vote. Einenkel says one of the triggers of McCarthy’s call for impeachment might have been Rep. Matt Gaetz. On Monday Gaetz announced he would give a fiery speech denouncing the lack of will to impeach Biden. Hours before Gaetz gave that speech McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry. So Gaetz gave a speech anyway denouncing McCarthy for being “out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role. ... You have a copy.” That’s a threat that Gaetz will call for a vote to oust McCarthy from the Speaker’s chair. But “out of compliance with the agreement”? What agreement? The one that’s been rumored about since McCarthy needed 15 votes to get the gavel but everyone denies exists? The one that details all he gave away to the FC to get their votes? That speech got Aexandria Ocasio-Cortez to tweet:

So let me get this straight: Republicans are threatening to remove their own Speaker, impeach the President, and shut down the government on September 30th - disrupting everyday people’s paychecks and general public operations. For what? I don’t think even they know. Chaos vibes

Clawson reported that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is furious with Gaetz because she was supposed to be the one to announce or prod McCarthy to announce the impeachment inquiry. How dare he steal her idea! Greene has already had spat with Rep. Lauren Boebert over the same issue. Clawson noted that if one wants to get action on an issue one cultivates colleagues to help, even if it means sharing or stepping out of the spotlight. But if one views other people’s support as a threat then...

Marjorie Taylor Greene is in this for the attention. And the fact that so many of her fellow House Republicans take the same approach is one of the major reasons they are so ineffective at everything they claim to want to do.

With Gaetz’ comment about that agreement McCarter wonders what exactly is in it. McCarthy has made many conflicting promises, saying to people what they want to hear. And the 18 Republican representatives who were elected in districts that Biden carried really want to know what McCarthy promised and to whom. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Michael Cohen of “Truth and Consequences” on Substack:

Think about all the allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption against Donald Trump that Republicans consistently swept under the rug and refused to investigate. Think about the excuses that GOP leaders constantly made for Trump’s behavior — from his pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden and his ostentatious violations of the Emoluments clause to his efforts to obstruct the Mueller investigation and, of course, trying to overturn the 2020 election. House GOP members waved every Trump scandal away. Now, without a shred of evidence, they are opening an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

In the comments there are, of course, many cartoons about McCarthy and the situation he put himself in. The one I want to to mention is about Republicans in general. It is by Bill Bramhall and shows Blind Justice trying to get through a door that a bunch of elephants are pushing against. The caption is “Closing Argument.” McCarter discussed what McCarthy gained by announcing this impeachment inquiry. Part of the answer is: nothing. He didn’t lessen the chance of a government shutdown. And another part:

Just about the only thing McCarthy achieved by agreeing to this was demonstrating yet again that he’ll fold to the extremists every time. He also opened the floodgates for every other faction in the Republican conference to make demands.

Note that McCarthy’s announcement didn’t get smiles from Gaetz, it only prompted Gaetz to attack in a different way.

The weakest speaker in recent memory is on a path to prove he’s also the most destructive one, just by virtue of his own incompetence.

Clawson wrote:

House Republicans are launching a baseless impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden for a few reasons: to distract Biden and make him less effective, and to create the public impression of corruption as a 2024 election strategy. And never discount the Republican urge to suck up to former President Donald Trump. ... So Republicans are launching an impeachment inquiry without a House vote on doing so, something Speaker Kevin McCarthy had in the past repeatedly insisted was a requirement for such an inquiry. And one of McCarthy’s close allies is openly saying the point of the proceeding is to make the process “long and excruciatingly painful for Joe Biden” and to lead to a “long list of names” to tee up for future prosecution by a Trump Justice Department. ... They’re yelling lies about Biden’s alleged corruption, while they’re engaged in a completely corrupt abuse of power themselves. And the thing is when that comes from the Republican Party, no one is surprised.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos discussed the situation of those 18 Republican representatives who are from districts Biden won. Don Bacon of Kansas says an inquiry should be based on evidence. Mike Garcia of California says his constituents demand clarity so let’s get the facts. Then Eleveld wrote:

Polling of voters in the 18 Biden districts suggests Garcia's rationale is going to be a tough sell. A Public Policy Polling survey of Biden 18 voters conducted last month found 56% thought opening an impeachment inquiry into Biden would be a "partisan political stunt," while just 41% said it would be a serious effort to investigate important problems. Fifty-six percent also said they thought opening such an inquiry would be more about damaging Biden politically than finding the truth, compared with 41% who said the opposite. In both instances, that yawning 15-point chasm should be a flashing warning sign to a Republican in enemy territory.

Republican Senators expressed their doubts and frustrations. One called the inquiry a “fool’s errand” and said it won’t help them in their campaigns next year. Hunter of Kos looked at the issue of needing a House vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry. The demand for a House vote was created by the nasty guy’s Justice Department and is technically still in play. So the Biden administration can legally refuse to cooperate. But legalities don’t mean anything to these Republicans. If it helps them or their Dear Leader it’s good. If it helps Democrats and especially Biden it’s bad. See such things as Rep. Jim Jordan defying subpoenas demanding he testify about his role in the Capitol attack. Also, they’re already launching an impeachment investigation without evidence. The legality of whether a vote to authorize it was done won’t make any difference. It’s all political theater so they can claim Biden is as corrupt as the guy who has actually been indicted four times so we might as well go with our own felon. After all that a bit of fun. Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, included a video of the Slow Mo guys do a 16 minute video showing what happens when one does a pool break from a cannon.