White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden “baseless” and a “political stunt” during a Wednesday press briefing.
“Will the president cooperate fully now that Speaker McCarthy has pulled the trigger on an impeachment inquiry?” a reporter asked.
“Certainly not going to speculate on what has been a baseless inquiry that the House Republicans can’t even defend themselves and that many House Republicans have said, they have said that they couldn’t support their own votes, So again I am going to refer you to my White House counsel on any specifics,” Jean-Pierre responded.
McCarthy ordered the Republican Party to open a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden’s actions as vice president on Tuesday. The House Speaker first started seriously threatening an impeachment inquiry in August if the Department of Justice (DOJ) took advantage of David Weiss’s position as special counsel to ultimately block a House Oversight Committee investigation into Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden pled not guilty in July to two tax misdemeanors once his plea deal and diversion agreement collapsed because of scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika which caused disagreement between Hunter Biden’s legal team and the DOJ. (RELATED: House Oversight Pushes Back On White House’s Claim Of ‘No Evidence’ Linking Joe Biden To Hunter Business Deals)
The DOJ notified the House Judiciary Committee in August that it would not respond to its subpoenas for two FBI agents as part of the committee’s investigation into an IRS whistleblower testimony which alleged that the DOJ gave Hunter Biden special treatment in its investigation for alleged tax and gun crimes.
House Republicans were expected to vote on a formal impeachment inquiry into the president though McCarthy’s Tuesday announcement did not mention such an action.
REPORTER: “Will the President cooperate fully now that SPeaker McCarthy has pulled the trigger on impeachment inquiry?”
JEAN-PIERRE: “Not going to speculate on what has been a baseless inquiry.” pic.twitter.com/zvSzWkRJVF
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 13, 2023
“The only reason speaker McCarthy is doing this, is doing this political stunt, and we have seen it, you all have reported, is because [Republican Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene has said, she threatened to shut down the government,” Jean-Pierre said to another reporter who asked about the White House’s response to the impeachment inquiry. “Can you imagine shutting down the government over a political stunt?”
The White House is planning to send a letter to all major outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, Fox News, the Associated Press and CBS News, demanding that the companies cover the impeachment inquiry with “scrutiny,” according to a draft of the letter obtained by CNN.
“I actually think that memo lays out in pretty good detail why we thought it was important to put that out, I am just not going to get beyond what my colleague has shared with you,” Jean-Pierre said when asked about the letter.