Andy McCarthy Lays Out What He Says Was Comer’s Biggest Mistake With Impeachment Inquiry

Fox News guest and former U.S. Assistant Attorney Andy McCarthy laid out Thursday what he believes was House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s biggest mistake with launching the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that Republicans would move forward with an impeachment inquiry, saying he believes there is enough evidence stemming from both the House Judiciary and Oversight committees to move forward. The inquiry aims to investigate whether Biden engaged in influence-peddling in relation to Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.

Fox News’ John Roberts noted that a 2020 guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) instituted under former President Donald Trump says impeachment inquiries by the House are only valid if the entire House takes up a vote to authorize the inquiry.

Roberts asked McCarthy how the guidance might “aid Biden as they go through this inquiry in the House?” (RELATED: Within Hours Of Receiving WH Letter, CNN Publishes Bogus Fact-Check Of House Inquiry)

“This is why you just kind of shake your head at this whole escapade, John. If Jamie Comer at the Oversight Committee, just like four days ago, had issued a subpoena from the Oversight Committee, that would be an enforceable subpoena and if the administration failed to comply with it, that could be an article of impeachment,” McCarthy explained.

“Instead, what they’ve now done is, under circumstances where they didn’t have the votes but they theatrically want to call this impeachment, they’ve established an impeachment inquiry without doing a vote or establishing a committee and establishing its jurisdiction which means the Biden administration, much like the Trump administration in 2019 is basically just going to say that a subpoena that would have been perfectly legitimate four days ago is now illegitimate because there’s no vote for an impeachment inquiry.”

“So if these House committees did not have the authority to compel documents or testimony, how could that hamstring, potentially, this impeachment inquiry?” Roberts asked.

“Well I think it’s more politics John than legal. Because these committees retain their authority as standing committees of the House. So, they were able to issue subpoenas anyway as the Oversight Committee or the Judiciary Committee. What this does is it’s a kind of an overlay on all of that that allows the Biden administration to say this whole thing is illegitimate and McCarthy knows it because he wouldn’t put it to a vote, and the point that you made and I think Chad made earlier is still a sound point, which is – if they don’t have the votes even to open an inquiry, why should Biden think they’ll actually ever be able to vote articles of impeachment someplace down the road,” McCarthy said.

Biden claims Republicans are trying to impeach him because “they want to shut down the government” and added it was politically motivated.