In a recent closed-door meeting with House GOP moderates, Representative Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed a cautious stance towards the impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to initiate formal impeachment proceedings, as reported by the Washington Post.
Johnson's approach, which emphasizes thoroughness and specificity, contrasts with his previous accusations against Biden, including allegations of Biden using taxpayer resources for his son's business interests in Ukraine.
Representative Don Bacon (R-Neb.) echoed Johnson's sentiments, summarizing the latter's stance as one of careful consideration. "We'll just go where the evidence goes and we're not there yet," Bacon said, reiterating Johnson's remarks.
He added, "Most of us are saying, look, we can't even get a single Democratic vote on this right now. I think the voters will reject what they are seeing when it comes to Biden [policies] but high crimes and misdemeanors? I don't think we've seen that or enough data to really make a good case and I feel like [Johnson] really agreed with us on that."
Johnson's cautious approach appears to align with the views of other Republican lawmakers who argue that Biden's weak polling numbers diminish the political necessity for his impeachment. "Is it pragmatic? Does it make sense? Connecting those dots matter," said Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) after the meeting. "So I don't think it makes sense to move down a road unless those dots can be connected, and I think that's the message he was trying to send to us which we appreciated."
While Johnson advocates for a measured approach, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) continues to call for formal impeachment proceedings. Comer issued subpoenas for Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president's son and brother, respectively, and requested voluntary closed-door interviews with other Biden family members. He also issued additional subpoenas for several of Hunter Biden's business associates.
Raj Shah, a spokesperson for Johnson, stated that the speaker "has consistently praised the work of Chairmen [Jim] Jordan, Comer and [Jason] Smith whose investigations have already demonstrated that the President and White House have repeatedly lied about the Biden familys business dealings with foreign adversaries. He will support their efforts to follow the facts where they lead."
Meanwhile, Comer continues to aggressively pursue the investigation, issuing additional subpoenas to Hunter Bidens associates Eric Schwerin, Hunters art gallerist George Berges, and Elizabeth Naftali, a Democratic donor who purchased Hunters art.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has voiced her dissatisfaction with the GOP's current approach, arguing that the party needs to adopt a more assertive stance to regain the trust of its base and ensure the nation's survival.
"Our voters are not inspired to vote for a party that wants to play nice and refuses to hold accountable communists who locked everyone down during the scamdemic, violated their free speech and censored us on social media, steals elections, weaponizes the government against (us) its political enemies and is persecuting people, rips our border open to the entire world and floods our country with millions of unknown people and terrorists, funds every foreign war but refuses to defend our own border, and sexually grooms our children to the point they are cutting off their own body parts to change their gender before they are even finished growing up," Greene said. She added, "The Republican Party is tone deaf and weak."
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