# "House to start an impeachment inquiry into President Biden" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 12, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995 "2023-09-12T16:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/201 "2023-09-17T22:22:23Z")
Rep. Jamie Raskin, member of the Oversight Committee, and his take on Comer’s flights of fancy: > **[As the House Returns to Session, Ranking Member Raskin Releases Statement on...](https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/as-the-house-returns-to-session-ranking-member-raskin-releases-statement-on-the)** > > Washington, D.C. (September 11, 2023)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, released the following statement on the status of Republicans’ failed investigation of President Biden as the House... ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/202 "2023-09-17T22:23:32Z")
If you are having trouble grasping my position it’s because so many people here are doing their best to obfuscate it. Simply stated: “It appears to me that there is more than enough evidence to open a legitimate impeachment inquiry into Biden corruption.” To support that I linked to a whole bunch of documents that people in this thread have been asking for since it opened. Actual bank records, witness statements, etc. I’m accusing no one of being absolutely guilty of anything, as they are innocent until proven guilty. But there is a LOT of smoke. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/203 "2023-09-17T22:23:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I have no evidence that Joe did that Well, if that isn’t grounds for a fucking IMPEACHMENT inquiry I don’t know what is. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/204 "2023-09-17T22:24:48Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If you are having trouble grasping my position it’s because so many people here are doing their best to obfuscate it. > > Simply stated: “It appears to me that there is more than enough evidence to open a legitimate impeachment inquiry into Biden corruption.” To support that I linked to a whole bunch of documents that people in this thread have been asking for since it opened. Actual bank records, witness statements, etc. I’m accusing no one of being absolutely guilty of anything, as they are innocent until proven guilty. But there is a LOT of smoke. There is not any smoke. Just lies from lying GOP representatives. If you think there is ACTUAL smoke, link to the ACTUAL documents, and quote the SPECIFIC words you believe show possible evidence of wrongdoing. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/205 "2023-09-17T22:25:03Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But there is a LOT of smoke. There’s your problem, Sam. It isn’t smoke at all. It’s steam – the byproduct of water vapor and considerable hot air. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/206 "2023-09-17T22:25:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I agree with most of what you posted, but this caught my eye. WHY wasn’t this information known before the election? Because there was a full-court press to hide it. Remember the Hunter Biden Laptop? A lot of this information was there, and it was hidden from the American people. So, the fact that the folks who stole Hunter Biden’s laptop didn’t reveal all of what they stole is proof that he was doing evil things? This is the danger of the passive voice. Yes, “information was hidden”. By whom? > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > How do you know that his sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan or other seemingly bizarre moves he’s made as president weren’t due to money he took in anticipation of being President? I have no idea at all why President Trump arranged a sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan. But when did this shift to being about him? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/207 "2023-09-17T22:25:37Z")
Pay attention. This was a side point not related to the main thing. I explained this in my last message. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/208 "2023-09-17T22:27:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan I am, you’re trying to pin the “sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan” on Biden when it was Trump that did that. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/209 "2023-09-17T22:27:28Z")
You didn’t look at them, did you? They contain lots of photocopies of actual bank records, and transcripts of whistleblower testimony. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/210 "2023-09-17T22:28:18Z")
Yes, and the committee is LYING ABOUT THOSE PHOTOCOPIES. That’s what I’m saying. The actual evidence doesn’t show what the committee is saying. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/211 "2023-09-17T22:29:50Z")
From Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member: > **[2023.05.10%20Memo%20to%20Members%20re%20Misuse%20and%20Distortion%20of%20Confidential%20Bank%20Information%20FINAL.pdf](https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2023.05.10%20Memo%20to%20Members%20re%20Misuse%20and%20Distortion%20of%20Confidential%20Bank%20Information%20FINAL.pdf)** > > 223.84 KB ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/212 "2023-09-17T22:30:29Z")
I should have known you’d all leap on the ‘Afghanistan’ comment. Once again I provided that as a hypothetical in the context of, “he shouldn’t b e impeached if what he did wasn’t during his presidency” The point is that if you find out that someone has been bought in the past, you have no idea what decisions in the future might be part of a quid-pro-quo. I picked Afghanistan out of a hat, but it could have been anythiung. And it wasn’t a specific accusation that Joe Biden did anything, but was meant to apply to any politician. And yeah, Trump promised the pullout from Afghanistan. That’s another reason I thought he was a shitty president, among many. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/213 "2023-09-17T22:32:08Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Simply stated: “It appears to me that there is more than enough evidence to open a legitimate impeachment inquiry into Biden corruption.” To support that I linked to a whole bunch of documents that people in this thread have been asking for since it opened. Actual bank records, witness statements, etc. I’m accusing no one of being absolutely guilty of anything, as they are innocent until proven guilty. But there is a LOT of smoke. Okay. Let’s try and find common ground and work from there. Corruption is too broad for me to work with. I’ll give some more specific propositions and you can agree or disagree with them. - If there is evidence that President Biden engaged in a pay to play scheme, the House should open an inquiry. - If there is evidence that President Biden engaged in a _quid pro quo_ scheme, the House should open an inquiry. - If there is evidence that President Biden abused the power of the office of President, the House should open an inquiry. - If there is evidence that Vice President Biden abused the power of the office of Vice President, the House should open an inquiry. (I personally disagree but given Trump’s second impeachment, precedent says otherwise) - If there is evidence that President Biden defrauded or helped defraud the United States, the House should open an inquiry. Let me know if you think any of these apply, or if you have another similar statement to add. Then I can try and match your cites of evidence to the propositions, then I can evaluate the cites, and then I can tell you whether I agree with your argument or not. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/214 "2023-09-17T22:32:16Z")
This is question-begging. No evidence of having “been bought in the past” has been offered. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/215 "2023-09-17T22:33:33Z")
That Raskin write-up is very thorough. @Sam_Stone, I encourage you to give it a read. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/216 "2023-09-17T22:34:31Z")
I was answering the question, “If he did this as Vice President, should he still be impeached as President?” I offered an example of how any politician who was caught being bribed in the past was a risk in the future, because they may not have yet provided the services of a bribe. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/217 "2023-09-17T22:40:55Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > business associates under oath said that the ‘business’ the Bidens were selling was Biden himself. He was ‘the brand’, and the only reason the ‘brand’ mattered was access to power. What position of power did Biden hold when these payments were being made? > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > from 2015 to 2017, Biden family members – Hunter Biden, James Biden, Hallie Biden, and an unknown “Biden” – and their companies collectively received $1.3 million in payments from accounts related to Rob Walker, a Biden family associate. > > Notably, on March 1, 2017, less than two months after Vice President Joe Biden left public office, State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese company, wired $3 million to Rob Walker’s company. The next day, the company wired $1,065,000 to a company associated with James Gilliar, another Biden family associate. Afterwards, the Biden family received approximately $1,065,000 in payments over a three-month period in different bank accounts. From the bank records, it appears that the Biden family received approximately one-third of the money obtained from the China wire. You **can’t tie any of this to Biden’s time in office**. You’ve **got nothing**. I hope the Democrats respond to this impeachment inquiry with testimony about Dick Cheney’s business activities after he ceased being George HW Bush’s Secretary of Defense and before he became George W. Bush’s Vice President. And remember he - unlike Hunter - _actually held office_. > **[Dick Cheney's Halliburton: a corporate case study | Pratap Chatterjee](https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/08/dick-cheney-halliburton-supreme-court)** > > Pratap Chatterjee: It's generally assumed Halliburton profited mightily when Dick Cheney was running it. In fact, that's wrong. But he did ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/218 "2023-09-17T22:44:18Z")
I did. It seems completely irrelevant. One claim is the violation of privacy by making the SARs public. That may be a valid criticism of the Committee, but does not go to the guilt or innocence of the parties involved. The next claim is that there are a lot of SARS, so it doesn’t mean much. But the number he includes, 2.5 million, doesn’t seem all that high given 300 million people engaging in multiple bank transactions per year. That’s far less than one SAR per person per century. Hunter and associates had 170 filed against them. Seems like a lot, but maybe not. A more interesting stat would be how many SARs are filed against Washington lobbyists and players in a given year. That might tell us if Biden was an outlier or not. Do you have that information? The third claim is that SARS can be erroneous and are preliminary. I have no problem with what. That’s why you do the investigation - to determine if there is anything going on. What do you think I missed? ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/219 "2023-09-17T22:44:28Z")
Ah, ok, I accept that. I do think it’s a heck of a stretch to justify impeaching a current officeholder for past acts that have not been shown to have any influence on that officeholder’s activities. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995/220 "2023-09-17T22:49:07Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A more interesting stat would be how many SARs are filed against Washington lobbyists and players in a given year. That might tell us if Biden was an outlier or not. Do you have that information? Umm, shouldn’t you already know that if you are going to claim this is some of the smoke that proves the fire??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-to-start-an-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-biden/989995.md?page=12)