The House voted on Wednesday to formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, pushing forward with a yearlong G.O.P. investigation that has failed to produce evidence of anything approaching high crimes or misdemeanors.

Republicans said the vote was needed to give them full authority to continue carrying out their investigation amid anticipated legal challenges from the White House. Democrats have denounced the inquiry as a fishing expedition and a political stunt.

G.O.P. leaders refrained for months from calling a vote to open an impeachment inquiry, given the reservations of mainstream Republicans, many of them from politically competitive districts, about moving forward without proof that Mr. Biden had done anything wrong. Instead, Kevin McCarthy, the speaker at the time, unilaterally announced one in September as he was facing pressure from the far right to deliver on its priorities, including impeaching the president.

But Wednesday’s vote underscored how the political ground has shifted, with Republicans willing to endorse an inquiry even as some emphasized that they were not yet ready to charge the president. The vote was along party lines with all Republicans voting to approve the inquiry and all Democrats opposed.

    • Grayox@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      Its also a revenge impeachment for the two 45 impeachments that they fought tooth and nail, while ignoring how clearly guilty he was.

      • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Hey now, that’s not fair. They didn’t all ignore Trump’s guilt. Susan Collins acknowledged that the president was guilty of what he was accused of then voted to acquit on all charges because she believed he “learned his lesson”.

        Republicans only care about power. Nothing is illegal or wrong if it helps them win, nothing is legal or okay if it doesn’t. They’ve abandoned any pretense of fairness, democracy, or even basic governance and they’re trying to seize the state so that they can turn its violence on people who upset them.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    I just watched some congressional turd [it was Grassley] actually say that there’s an indication of wrong doing, but “I don’t have any evidence.” Okay, fine - that’s not what an impeachment inquiry is for.

  • TheJims@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Performance art for an audience of one. Trump the Puppeteer of the Republican Party.

      • TheJims@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I agree but this is obviously just childish vindictiveness that is signature Trump.

        • artisanrox@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          naaah i think the Powers That Be have some sort of massive dirt on looooots o’ GOP members, which is how they got into politics to begin with.

  • DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I love how the GOP is constantly whining about things like inflation, but do they ever actually try to address those issues? No, they just focus on trying to get university presidents fired and other kinds of purely performative theater.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Good to see that the Republicans are focusing on the truly big issues facing our nation…

    • pezhore@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      It’s even worse, because there’s not even a blowjob here. Clinton ultimately got into trouble for lying about the affair - unless Biden is getting something on the side and plans on lying about it this impeachment is even more of a fishing expedition.

      • Kitty Jynx@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        There were accusations of sexual assault in his past but those were way before he became president. This impeachment is just bullshit.

    • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      That’s literally all that crosses my mind at this point. Who else besides China and Russia could have such vested interest in destabilizing the US from the inside like this.

  • gregorum@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    More like they need to hunt for evidence. They have absolutely not a shred.

    • 𝔇𝔦𝔬@lemy.lol
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      9 months ago

      … In comparison to what you think they lack, there is a tonne of evidence, though.

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Where is it then? They keep saying they have it but never show any evidence. They just keep taking about Hunter, who is a private citizen and has never worked for the government. They keep equating things he supposedly did as being the same thing as Joe doing it, which is not how that works at all. Newsflash, unlike Trump’s government where his family was officially working for the government as advisors, and working directly for the Trump Organization, so they were actively involved with things, that’s not how the Presidency normally works.

        It’s exactly like a middle school kid saying they have a girlfriend… who is totally real, but just goes to another school… in another country… And no they don’t have any photos.

        Trump was impeached with thousands of hours of video evidence and testimony.

  • chitak166@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Doesn’t their base ever get tired of this? Always being strung along, waiting for the day that never comes.

    • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      From what they see, this is the party of justice trying to finally nail those other guys for getting away with breaking the law non stop.

      Every failure to do so, for either side to be honest, only pushes the extreme side further. The rhetoric and propaganda are set up to see failures as unjust defeats and not what they actually are, fundamental failures.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It’s… gonna be hard to justify the second and third impeachments if there’s not enough evidence for the first.

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    9 months ago

    Republicans told us that they view impeachment as nothing more than a political weapon.

    • ForestOrca@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Which all the reason needed to know, by the principle of don’t feed the trolls, to never support, in anyway, the GOP.