Voters divided over Biden impeachment push: poll

Voters are divided over the GOP push to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, according to a poll.

A Harvard University CAPS/Harris poll found voters are evenly split 50-50 on whether the inquiry raises legitimate questions into Biden’s conduct or is mostly politically motivated. Responses were sharply divided on party lines, with three-quarters of Republicans saying it is legitimate and almost the same amount of Democrats saying it is politically motivated.

A slight majority of independents, 54 percent, said the inquiry was mostly fueled by politics.

But the poll also found a slight majority of 53 percent support House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) opening the inquiry.

“The push for the Biden inquiry tends to split along partisan lines though most voters are concerned that Joe Biden may have crossed the line in helping his son’s business,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

McCarthy directed House committees to launch a formal inquiry into Biden last week after months of calls from members of his conference to do so.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has been investigating the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and whether the president was involved in any way.

Republicans have specifically zeroed in on Hunter Biden’s position as a board member for the Ukrainian gas company Burisma while his father was serving as vice president in the Obama administration. They have made unverified allegations that the then-vice president accepted a bribe for helping to remove a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company.

The House committee has not found evidence that the president directly benefited financially from his son’s business dealings or that he made any policy decisions because of them.

The House investigations have also been looking into whether the probe into Hunter Biden was “slow walked,” to which two IRS agents have testified.

The White House and Justice Department have said that they have not had involvement in the investigation by U.S. Attorney David Weiss into Hunter Biden, who was indicted on three federal gun-related charges.

Pollsters found a majority of respondents said they believe the president had some involvement in Hunter Biden’s business dealings, with 57 percent saying they believe he was helping his son get business contracts.

Additionally, 6 in 10 said Biden had direct and detailed knowledge of his son’s dealings and that he has made false or misleading statements about his son’s business dealings and what he knew about them.

The poll also showed voters are evenly split on whether the prosecutions of former President Trump are legitimate or political.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey was conducted Sept. 13-14 and surveyed 2,103 registered voters. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.

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