Following the vote of the House of Representatives to formalize the Biden Impeachment Inquiry, that impeachment inquiry has kept chugging along apace, and the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, spoke in a press conference after the vote about what the impeachment inquiry has uncovered and why he thinks the House has a responsibility to keep it going.
Beginning, he explained that Biden’s alleged misdeeds are a very serious issue and the House’s impeachment power is a heavy responsibility, saying, “These are — these are serious times and this is a very serious matter. And I’ve said many times over the last few years, because impeachment has been an issue that we’ve all become all too familiar with, that next to the Declaration of War, you can make an argument that impeachment may be the heaviest power that Congress holds. That — that constitutional responsibility lies with the House.”
Continuing, he argued that the House has a responsibility to follow the facts wherever they lead and continue investigating the matter, saying, “We — we have a duty to pursue the facts where they lead. John Adams famously said ‘Facts are stubborn things.’ And you heard the recitation of that here this morning. These facts are alarming. They’re alarming to the American people, they are alarming to us. And so while we take no pleasure in the — in the proceedings here, we have a responsibility to do it. We’re very proud of the work of these three chairmen that you’ve seen here, Chairman Comer, and Jordan and Smith.”
He next argued that Comer and Jordan have done a fantastic job at uncovering what was going on with the Biden family, and that the House needs to continue methodically working through the investigation, saying, “They’ve done an exceptional job on uncovering the obvious corruption. And you’ve heard it here summarized this morning, very succinctly, President Biden and the Biden family. We — we owe it to the American people to continue this process, but to do it methodically, and transparently.”
Explaining how he thinks the left politicized the impeachment process, Speaker Johnson said, “Many of you know I was on — I’m a lawyer, I’m constitutional law attorney, I served on President Trump’s impeachment defense team twice. And we lament it openly, and we decried how the Democrats politicize that process, they were brazenly political, and how they — they brought those meritless impeachment charges against the — the president.”
He contrasted that with what the GOP stands for, using the contrast to explain why he wants his House to behave differently, saying, “This what you’re seeing here is exactly the opposite. We are the rule of law team, the Republican Party stands for the rule of law. And the people in charge of this are doing this thoroughly, carefully and methodically. They’re investigating and gathering all the facts.”
Continuing, he reiterated the point that the House needs to behave in a constitutional manner, saying, “And to do this appropriately, and to do it in a manner that upholds our constitutional responsibility, requires time, it requires a sound process. You don’t rush something like this. You can’t, if you’re going to have fidelity to the Constitution. These chairmen are committed to proceeding in that manner. And that’s what you’re seeing. We’ve — we’ve heard from whistleblowers, Biden business associates, legal experts and now we have reached the point in the investigation that we need to hear from a handful of really key witnesses in this.”
Concluding, he said, “The — the chairman have issued a — a few dozen subpoenas, and we expect that those would be complied with in an expeditious manner. We’re not prejudging this. We will follow the facts wherever they lead. Again, that’s our constitutional duty. And — and I fully support our chairmen in their efforts, and we’ll have a lot more to share on this in the days ahead. We’ll take a few questions.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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