The White House has set up a war room of two dozen lawyers, legislative aides and communications staffers to prepare a response to a potential GOP impeachment effort against President Joe Biden, a White House aide familiar with the strategy told NBC News.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that an impeachment inquiry into Biden is a “natural step forward,” adding that he plans to bring the inquiry to Congress when it returns in September. Since McCarthy’s comments, White House aides have used the August recess to research GOP’s statements and to polish their response to a possible impeachment inquiry, a source familiar with the strategy told NBC News. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: MTG Breaks Down McCarthy’s Closed-Door GOP Meeting Regarding Possible Impeachment Of Joe Biden)
“Comparing this to past impeachments isn’t apples to apples or even apples to oranges; it’s apples to elephants,” the White House aide told the outlet. “Never in modern history has an impeachment been based on no evidence whatsoever.”
The White House’s preparation for an impeachment inquiry began once the House flipped to a Republican majority earlier in 2023, NBC News reported.
McCarthy began discussing moving forward with impeachment inquiries if the Department of Justice (DOJ) used David Weiss’s position as special counsel to prevent the House Oversight Committee from investigating Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden pled not guilty to two tax misdemeanors after his plea deal and diversion agreement collapsed because scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika led to a disagreement between the DOJ and Hunter Biden’s legal team.
The DOJ alerted the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that it would not cooperate with subpoenas for two FBI agents as part of the committee’s investigation into IRS whistleblower testimony allegedly showing the DOJ gave Hunter Biden special treatment in its investigation for alleged tax and gun crimes.
Reporters use their cell phones to film U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaking outside the Speakers Balcony at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 25, 2023 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As a model for their response, Biden’s aides have studied the time the House attempted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, a source familiar with the strategy told NBC News. The aides believe the current possibility of a GOP impeachment inquiry is “not an evidence-based effort; it’s an election-focused effort,” a person familiar with the Biden campaign’s thinking told the outlet.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.