The White House released a letter on Friday targeting Rep. James Comer and the House Oversight Committee he chairs.
In it, a suspiciously desperate demand was made to essentially end the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden and his family’s alleged corruption. Specifically, White House special counsel Dick Sauber argued over four pages that because the House had not formally voted to open an impeach inquiry, all subpoenas and interview requests are invalid.
Dick Sauber, White House Special Counsel, questioned Friday the validity of the GOP-led impeachment investigation into President Biden in a letter sent to House Oversight Chair James Comer (R. Ky.) and House Judicial Chairman Jim Jordan(R. Ohio).
In a four-page letter to Comer and Jordan, Sauber demanded they withdraw their subpoenas for members of the Biden Family and aides. They argued that, since the House had not held a vote on impeachment, the inquiry was not formally authorized as required by law.
“In fact, you both previously supported the position, that moving forward with an impairment inquiry without a House vote represents a misuse of power and discredits the House of Representatives,” Sauber wrote. He cited a resolution from 2019 disapproving of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif. )’s decision to unilaterally launch an impeachment investigation into Donald Trump.
I’m reminded of the scene in Thor when he leans forward and asks “Is that, then?” It’s clear that the White House is trying to invalidate the subpoenas due to the lack of formal votes, but does that requirement exist in the law? It’s unclear what the answer is, particularly since it was Democrats who set this precedent in 2019 when Rep. Nancy Pelosi opened an impeachment investigation against Donald Trump unilaterally.
There’s also the question of whether Biden relatives can be subpoenaed only as part of impeachment inquiries. This seems absurd, given that Democrats in Congress subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. in May 2019. This subpoena did not relate to an impeachment investigation. It was instead a report on the Robert Mueller investigation.
The House Oversight Committee has the power to force Hunter Biden or James Biden to testify, regardless of whether there is an impeachment proceeding. Sauber’s claim is rendered irrelevant by this alone unless Sauber really believes that members of the presidential family have some sort of unwritten immunity to being subpoenaed. Spoiler: No, they don’t.
I think the lady protests too much. The White House is trying to stop the proceedings on a technicality, just as Comer and his team are about to question under oath the two individuals at the center of the Biden influence-peddling scheme. It’s a little too convenient for me.
Comer has already committed to moving forward and I suspect that the letter is an attempt to create a narrative in the media. But none of it matters. CNN will continue to report what CNN has always planned to report. The truth is what matters, and the more House Republicans dig the worse it looks.
