Despite highlighting allegations that then-Vice President Joe Biden accepted a bribe, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise dodged a question Tuesday about whether he supports impeaching the president.
Scalise noted Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Monday assertion that a foreign national who allegedly paid bribes to Joe and Hunter Biden recorded phone conversations with the two men. Both Bidens received $5 million bribes from a Burisma executive, according to House Republicans who viewed a source interview write-up. Although he repeatedly pivoted to the Biden allegations in response to questions about former President Donald Trump’s indictment, Scalise would not say whether or not he supports impeachment.
“A lot of our committees are looking at accountability, and I’ll call it accountability on a number of fronts. You’re seeing Mark Green’s committee [Homeland Security] is looking into Mayorkas, Secretary Mayorkas, has had articles of impeachment filed against him. But all of us up here have talked about the crisis at the border and the fact that he hasn’t been doing his job,” Scalise said at a Tuesday press conference.
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“There’s a five-point Oversight investigation being looked into regarding Mayorkas’ job performance. There are others as well. And what I’ve always said as Majority Leader is we want the committees to do their work. We as a Republican conference wanted to get back to regular order where under Speaker Pelosi bills were written in the Speaker’s office. Committees weren’t even writing their own bills and they’d be dumped on the floor, and they’d say, ‘you’ve gotta pass the bill to find out what’s in it,” he continued. “The ultimate accountability would be impeachment for anybody, but you start it with getting out the facts and that’s what the committees are doing right now.”
Scalise noted the Biden allegations in response to multiple questions about the Trump indictment for mishandling national security information and obstructing a federal investigation. He argued that Hillary Clinton’s lack of punishment for sending classified emails on a home server was evidence of a two-tiered system of justice.
Several House Republicans have already called for Biden’s impeachment over the allegations, with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene asserting that the president should also be prosecuted for the “pay-to-play scheme.” Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles introduced articles of impeachment for Biden on Monday. (RELATED: GOP Rep. Tim Burchett Says he Suspects There Will Be Moves To Impeach Biden)
Republicans have also introduced impeachment resolutions against Mayorkas. The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday titled, “Open Borders, Closed Case: Secretary Mayorkas’ Dereliction of Duty on the Border Crisis.”