House Oversight Committee sets first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing for next week

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- The House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday it will hold its first hearing next week on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

The public hearing is scheduled for Thursday Sept. 28 and will focus on Biden's family business dealings, as well as "constitutional and legal questions surrounding the president's involvement in corruption and abuse of public office," a committee spokesperson said.

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

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who chairs the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee, said he plans to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president's son, Hunter Biden, and James Biden, the president's brother.

"Once all the i's are dotted, t's are crossed, I expect to issue a subpoena to Hunter and James Biden's personal bank records," Comer told reporters Tuesday.

"There's a lot of apparently paperwork filed so all three committees and the speaker's council office have to agree to the terms and everything of the impeachment inquiry," Comer added. "And once all that's ironed out then I'll have the ability to proceed with impeachment inquiry with respect to subpoena."

"We'll follow the money ... whether it be China, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan, it went from there through a shell company -- or two or three -- and then it was dispersed to nine different Biden family members," Comer claimed.

Comer also said he plans to have a financial expert at the hearing to explain why an impeachment inquiry is warranted.

"It's an informative hearing where we're going to have some experts in different areas of the law that can answer questions pertaining to specific crimes, as well as to educate and inform exactly what an impeachment inquiry is, and why you do an impeachment inquiry," Comer told CNN.

Last week, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he was ordering the impeachment inquiry against the president, without taking a vote.

"I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden," McCarthy said Sept. 12.

"Over the past several months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct -- a culture of corruption," McCarthy claimed as the White House pushed back, arguing there is "no evidence of wrongdoing."

On Tuesday, the White House pushed back again, calling next week's hearing a "political stunt" to distract from a possible government shutdown at the end of the month.

"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement Tuesday.

"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," he added.