Conservatives tout Kevin McCarthy’s stand on Biden impeachment inquiry
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy went viral Thursday after he went on the offensive in response to an Associated Press reporter’s skeptical questions about the Biden impeachment inquiry.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) greenlit the investigation into the extent of President Biden’s role in his son and brother’s dealings in foreign countries Tuesday, when the House returned to Washington after a six-week-long August recess.
Two days later, the AP’s Farnoush Amiri asked about statements by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that he had not seen evidence of an impeachable offense by Biden “at this point.”
“Is that an assessment that you share?” she asked.
“You know, an impeachment inquiry is not an impeachment,” McCarthy answered. “What an impeachment inquiry is to do is to get answers to questions.”
The speaker then turned the tables on Amiri.
“Are you concerned about all the stuff that was just recently learned? Do you have any concern?” McCarthy asked the reporter. “Have you asked the White House any questions?”
“Yes,” Amiri answered.
“OK,” McCarthy said. “Do you agree that, do you believe the president lied to the American public when he said he’d never talked to his son about business dealings? Yes or no, it’s all right.”
“I can’t answer that,” Amiri said.
“You can’t answer that? Do you believe when they said the president went on conference calls? Do you believe that happened?” McCarthy asked.
“That’s what the testimony says,” the reporter answered, referring to statements by former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer.
“OK, do you believe the president went to Café Milano and had dinner with the clients of Hunter Biden, who believes he got those clients because he was selling ‘the brand’?,” McCarthy added.
“That’s what the testimony said,” the journalist repeated.
“OK, do you believe Hunter Biden, when you saw the video of him driving a Porsche, that he got $143,000 to buy that Porsche the next day?” McCarthy asked. “Do you believe that $3 million from the Russian oligarch that was transferred to the shell companies that the Bidens controlled after the dinner from Café Milano took place?
After Amiri confirmed the existence of testimony to that effect, McCarthy said: “OK, then I go back. Do you think the president lied that he —
“But is lying an impeachable offense?” Amiri asked.
“I’m not saying impeachment,” McCarthy answered. “All I’m saying is I would like to know the answer to these questions. The American public would like to know.”
GOP operative Arthur Schwartz shared the exchange between Amiri and McCarthy on X, formerly known as Twitter, slamming the reporter for the framing of her initial question to McCarthy.
“You understand that testimony is evidence, right? So which is it, are you dumb or dishonest,” Schwartz tweeted.
“’Is lying an impeachable offense,’” Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller posted on X. “Oh you sweet summer child…”
One Twitter user named Dave Marney praised McCarthy for standing his ground and challenging the reporter.
“Yeah, this is how you do it, just be calm and respectful, know the facts, and then challenge them to say whether they accept those facts, or not,” Marney tweeted.
The Associated Press said in a statement that it stood behind Amiri, “an established and respected journalist covering the US Congress.”
Biden has brushed off the probe against him, claiming during a campaign speech in Virginia that Republicans were merely targeting him in hopes of shutting down the government.
While the impeachment inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean that Biden will be impeached, it’s expected that articles of impeachment will be drafted and considered later this year or early next year.
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