EXCLUSIVE: The White House is blasting House Republicans for planning to hold their first hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry against President Biden just days before the government runs out of funding, while dismissing the “evidence-free” probe as a “political stunt.”
House Republicans are set to hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power against Biden on Thursday, Sept. 28.
But the White House is casting the hearing as a distraction. Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.
“Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.
“Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families,” Sams said.
If the government does run out of funding, the White House signaled to Fox News Digital it would blame Republicans.
“Their shutdown would hurt our economy and national security, furlough thousands of federal workers, and jeopardize everything from troop pay to disaster relief to efforts to fight fentanyl,” Sams said.
“They are clearly hoping they can use their baseless, evidence-free impeachment stunt to try to divert attention away from the consequences of their extreme agenda, including their current funding proposal to slash tens of thousands of preschool slots nationwide and eliminate thousands of law enforcement jobs,” he continued. “The president has been very clear: He is going to remain focused on the issues that matter to the American people, including preventing the devastating and harmful cuts proposed by House Republicans that are hurtling us toward a government shutdown.”
Sams added: “House Republicans should drop these silly political Washington games and actually do their job to prevent a government shutdown.”
Next week’s hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation.
However, the hearing won’t necessarily tread any new ground. It is expected to be a review of the existing evidence and explain the status of the inquiry, sources familiar said.
Fox News Digital first reported last week that the next step in the impeachment inquiry would be to pursue bank records from the personal and business accounts belonging to the president’s son Hunter and his brother, James.
Sources familiar told Fox News that Comer is likely to subpoena Hunter Biden and James Biden’s bank records this week.
H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)
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