House Republicans schedule first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing for Sept. 28

WASHINGTON – House Republicans plan to hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing next week into President Joe Biden as an opening salvo against the White House after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., ordered the probe.

The House Oversight Committee will hold the hearing on Sept. 28, focusing “on (the) constitutional and legal questions surrounding the President’s involvement in corruption and abuse of public office,” Jessica Collins, spokesperson for the committee, told USA TODAY in a statement.

House Republicans have alleged Joe Biden financially benefited from his son, Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. While investigators have produced evidence revealing Hunter Biden and his associates made millions from their overseas affairs, they have yet to produce concrete evidence that shows the president personally benefited from those dealings.

The committee also plans to subpoena Hunter Biden's and Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden’s, bank records as early as this week.

"The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government," Collins said in the statement.

The White House has railed against the impeachment inquiry, accusing House Republicans of playing “extreme politics” and taking aim at McCarthy opening the inquiry without a formal vote on the House floor, despite his previous comments that he would take that path.

“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they've turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” Ian Sams, White House spokesperson, said in a statement earlier this month after McCarthy announced the probe. “He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn't have support. This is extreme politics at its worst.”

McCarthy has argued the impeachment inquiry will not necessarily lead to impeachment and is simply an expansion of House Republicans’ ongoing investigations into the president, calling it a “logical next step” of their fact-finding efforts.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House GOP to hold first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing Sept. 28