Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said Tuesday that the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry would likely bring about two investigations.
Kennedy explained to MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press Daily” that digging into the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would necessitate digging into the actions of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well.
Just moments after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to begin a formal impeachment inquiry, Kennedy joined Todd for a conversation on the matter. (RELATED: Meghan McCain Dares Democrats To Go Ahead With Impeachment: ‘Unleash The Kraken’)
“Bear with me, you may think this is a strange analogy but it’s how my mind works,” Kennedy began. “I think we’re headed toward two investigations here. Here’s how I think of it. Guy robs a bank. On the way to jail, the cops beat the living Hades out of him. The cops should be investigated. Should you beat a criminal suspect? No. Should there be investigations? Yes. But you also have to go investigate the alleged bank robbery.”
Kennedy then explained how that related to Biden, adding, “And I think what you’re going to see is an investigation of the whistleblower complaint and you’re going to see an investigation of the allegations about Vice President Biden’s son. Here’s what we know about that and if you’re going to be fair you have to look at both.”
Todd cut in then, saying that he found it “hard to believe” that anything might come of an investigation into Hunter Biden.
“If they were so serious about this, I’m trying to figure out why nobody from the FBI has been contacted. Not a single person. I don’t understand why Rudy Giuliani thinks it’s better to investigate an American by outsourcing it to a country that apparently they also didn’t trust,” Todd explained. “Do you see why I’m skeptical that the Hunter Biden stuff is really that serious? If they were serious about it, you go to the FBI, you don’t go to an oligarch in Ukraine.”
Kennedy didn’t appear to be convinced, responding, “You don’t know whether the FBI has been contacted or not or if the FBI follows protocol, they wouldn’t tell us, point one. Point two, and I hope you’ll let me finish, what we do know is this: A Russian oligarch hired Hunter Biden, paid him $50,000 a month, gave a bucket load of money to his law firm. It may turn out that the — I said Russia, I meant Ukrainian oligarch. It may turn out that the Ukrainian oligarch got Mr. Biden’s name off Zip Recruiter. But I doubt it.”
The Louisiana senator also noted that other similar allegations had been made against Biden, some of which appeared on his Wikipedia page. “I’m not making an allegation of impropriety,” Kennedy concluded. “But I am saying that’s going to be investigated. If not at the instigation or the suggestion of Republicans, by Mr. Biden’s co-candidates.”