Joe Biden is once again facing calls for impeachment following the release of an unclassified FBI document detailing how he and his son Hunter Biden coerced the head of Burisma to pay them a bribe of $5 million each in exchange for pressuring the Ukrainian government to dismiss prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company for corruption.
According to the redacted FD-1023 form, which was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Burisma co-founder and CEO Mykola Zlochevsky told the FBI’s confidential human source (CHS) during an August 2016 meeting that “it cost 5 [million] to pay one Biden, and 5 [million] to another Biden.” Special agents use an FD-1023 form to record raw, unverified reporting from confidential human sources.
“Most corrupt family to ever live in the White House! Impeach!” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tweeted Thursday.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) agreed. “Biden should be thrown out of office. Impeach!”
“Is this why Biden has America involved in the war in Ukraine??? Joe Biden is a criminal and is compromised! And he is leading us into WW3 [because] Zelenskyy has proof of more Biden crimes,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted . “Republicans can no longer delay, but we need 218 Republican votes to do it. I’ve been there since day one and so are the American people. IMPEACH BIDEN!!!”
The White House, however, insists on pretending there’s no “there” there. “It is remarkable that congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years and that they themselves have cautioned to take ‘with a grain of salt’ because they could be ‘made up,'” claimed White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Ian Sams.
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But this claim won’t carry much water with Republicans. As Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) noted, Democrats previously questioned the legitimacy of the FD-1023 document. “This is damning evidence that Biden is compromised,” Fallon tweeted. “Remember when Democrats and their pals in the media went as far as to question whether this document even exists?”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) addressed the question of whether Biden will be impeached. “Two GOP members have filed privileged motions to impeach Biden. One of the two has to call up the vote. Meaning they have to bring it to the floor thus forcing the vote,” she wrote. “Based on the evidence and testimony I have seen as a member of oversight… Biden NEEDS to be impeached. He is compromised and his son is selling access to him.”
Despite these renewed calls to impeach Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has previously urged against impeachment. Whether or not the new evidence changes things for McCarthy has yet to be seen.