WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� House Republicans have released their initial report on President , alleging an abuse of power and obstruction of justice in the financial dealings of his son and family associates.
The nearly yearlong investigation by Republicans stops short of alleging any criminal wrongdoing by the president. Instead, the almost 300-page report out Monday, the opening day of the , covers familiar ground, asserting the Biden family traded on its 鈥渂rand鈥� in business ventures in corrupt ways that rise to the Constitution鈥檚 high bar for impeachment.
With Biden , next steps are highly uncertain. House Republicans have not had to actually impeach the president, and removal by the Senate is even further afield. Many Republicans prefer to focus attention on the Democratic Party鈥檚 presumptive presidential nominee Vice President , with some probes getting underway.
The White House has dismissed the House impeachment inquiry as a 鈥渟tunt鈥� and encouraged House Republicans to
鈥淭he totality of the corrupt conduct uncovered by the Committees is egregious,鈥� wrote the House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary and Ways & Means panels .
The report said the Constitution鈥檚 鈥渞emedy for a President鈥檚 flagrant abuse of office is clear: impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal by the Senate.鈥�
Republicans have spent the better part of their time in the House majority with a hyper focus on Biden and his family鈥檚 businesses, encouraged by as the and makes a comeback bid for the White House.
The impeachment inquiry has been a cornerstone of the House GOP's effort, by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy shortly before he was booted from leadership and under new Speaker Mike Johnson. Republicans are investigating many aspects of Biden family finances going back to 2009 when he was vice president to Barack Obama.
In a statement Monday, Johnson was non-committal on what the House will do with the findings. 鈥淲e encourage all Americans to read this report,鈥� he said.
Through bank records, interviews from some 30 witnesses, whistleblower accounts and millions of documents, House Republicans allege a years-long practice by Hunter Biden and his associates to solicit foreign business deals using the family鈥檚 proximity to power in Washington.
Much of the focus of the report is not on Biden's time as president, but on the years when after the 2015 death of his oldest son, Beau, and as the vice president was bowing out of elected office, declining to run for president in 2016.
Hunter Biden has acknowledged a serious addiction to crack in these years. He was convicted in June of and is set to stand trial next month on .
Former Hunter Biden associate , who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2022 in another matter, told the committee, 鈥淎t the end of the day, part of what was delivered is the brand."
To tie the elder Biden to his son鈥檚 actions, the Republicans rely on a series of phone calls and pop-by dinner meeting visits Joe Biden made while Hunter was conducting business. At times, Hunter would put his dad for his guests as the father and son exchanged pleasantries.
The Bidens are a famously tight-knit family and acknowledge they speak almost daily, including during this time, with the father checking on his son鈥檚 well-being.
In his own defiant closed-door deposition to House investigators, Hunter Biden insisted he in his business.
All told, the House Republicans allege the Biden family and its associates received some $27 million in business payments from partners or clients in Russia, China and other countries. They allege an additional $8 million in loans, including some from Hunter Biden benefactor Kevin Morris, a Hollywood attorney, and question the purchases of .
The report said it is 鈥渋nconceivable鈥� that President Biden did not understand what was going on.
鈥淧resident Biden participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family,鈥� the report claims.
Biden himself to testify before the House.
Touchbacks to at the hands of Democrats run throughout the report鈥檚 pages as Republicans work to contrast his grounds for removal to Biden family鈥檚 dealings and 鈥済rift.鈥�
But the difference are stark, as the indicted Trump faces actual criminal charges, including in the conspiracy to overturn Biden鈥檚 2020 election and draw supporters to Washington on the day of the
The report also accuses Biden of obstructing justice in the probe, revisiting previously aired complaints about the Justice Department鈥檚 handling of the investigation into Hunter Biden. Attorney General Merrick Garland has forcefully denied those accusations, defending the department against claims of political influence.
The report focuses heavily on what Republicans have long alleged was a pattern of 鈥渟low-walking鈥� investigative steps and delaying enforcement actions to the benefit of the president鈥檚 son.
But the report provides no evidence that Biden had any involvement in his son鈥檚 investigation, which was launched under Trump鈥檚 presidency and has been led by a Delaware U.S. attorney appointed by Trump. The U.S. attorney, David Weiss, was kept on by Garland to insulate the probe from claims of political interference.
Garland has insisted that no one at the White House gave him or other senior officials at the Justice Department direction about the handling of the Hunter Biden investigation.
Beyond Hunter Biden, the report includes details of the involvement of Joe Biden鈥檚 brother, James, in the various family businesses.
Republicans have pointed to a series of payments that they claim show the president benefited from his brother鈥檚 work. They point to a $200,000 personal check from James Biden to Joe Biden on the same day in 2018 that James Biden received an equal amount from Americore, a healthcare company.
House Democrats have defended the transaction, pointing to bank records they say indicate was repaying a loan provided by his brother, who had wire transferred $200,000 to him about six weeks earlier. The money changed hands while Joe Biden was a private citizen.
Short of impeaching Biden, the House Republicans have issued recommending the Justice Department prosecute Hunter Biden and James Biden, accusing them of making false statements to Congress as part of the GOP investigation. Attorneys for those men have argued those claims are baseless or a distraction.
Until recently, the president had been a focal point for Republicans in Congress, but his decision last month to drop out of the presidential race and Harris鈥� ascent to the top of the ticket have forced GOP leaders to reevaluate their marquee investigation.
A year ago, GOP lawmakers had hoped the Biden inquiry would build a strong enough case for impeachment鈥檚 鈥渉igh crimes and misdemeanors.鈥� But the longer the inquiry dragged and the little direct evidence against Biden investigators were able to produce in public hearings or even in closed-door sessions, the more concerns grew from moderate Republicans wary of a vote on the matter.
The report released Monday makes more than 20 mentions of the 鈥淏iden-Harris administration,鈥� while previous releases from the committees investigating Biden typically only made direct references to him.
And while Harris is not mentioned on her own in the report, the same committees leading the inquiry have begun to open new probes into her and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz.
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Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Gary Fields, Fatima Hussein and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.
Lisa Mascaro And Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press
