Republican Says Biden Didn't Commit Crimes During Impeachment Hearing

Republican Representative Don Bacon is still planning to vote to formalize a Joe Biden impeachment inquiry, despite telling reporters that he doesn't believe there's evidence that the president committed high crimes or misdemeanors—the bar set for impeachment.

The Nebraska Republican said Tuesday that although there's no evidence to actually impeach President Joe Biden, he supports the vote to authorize an inquiry, which House Republicans argue will allow them to better enforce subpoenas in their investigations of the president's purported involvement in his son Hunter Biden's business dealings.

Bacon's comments came as the House Rules Committee met about the looming floor vote on formalizing the inquiry.

"Our Republican colleague Don Bacon, just a few minutes ago, told a group of reporters this morning that there are 'probably not high crimes or misdemeanors that Joe Biden has committed,' yet he still plans to vote to authorize this impeachment inquiry, notwithstanding there's no there there," Representative Jim McGovern said during the Rules hearing.

"I guess the question is when are people going to stand up and end this extreme political stunt," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "[Republicans have] been doing this for over a year and there's nothing there, there's no smoke. This is a colossal waste of time."

Bacon's office told Newsweek that he had changed his position on voting for an impeachment inquiry "because the [Biden] Administration has been stonewalling in the last couple of weeks saying a formal impeachment inquiry has not been voted on."

Danielle Jensen, Bacon's communications director, said the White House essentially "forced" Republicans' hands because the administration stopped complying with subpoenas.

"We now need the impeachment inquiry to compel the Administration to provide information because Americans deserve to have it before next November," Jensen said.

The GOP-led probes into Biden have failed to bring up any direct evidence of wrongdoing, but a floor vote authorizing an impeachment inquiry could come as early as Wednesday. House Republicans have already successfully changed the minds of several Biden-district colleagues who previously voiced skepticism about backing impeachment, with Bacon being among those members of Congress.

Bacon, who represents an Omaha-based district that voted for Biden in 2020, had previously urged his colleagues not to launch an impeachment inquiry, saying in the summer that it was "too early" to do so.

Representatives Mike Garcia, Marc Molinaro and Anthony D'Esposito, all vulnerable Republicans, have also recently stated their intent to support the resolution.

"A lot of people who were skeptical six months ago are going to vote for it," Representative Kelly Armstrong, who introduced the resolution, told Axios on Monday. "We're moving in the right direction."

House Republicans can't afford to lose more than three votes, given their slim majority, especially since that margin of error was cut from four due to the recent expulsion of former Representative George Santos. Representative Ken Buck, who isn't running for re-election next year, is the only Republican who continues to publicly oppose the measure.