Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy sparred with an Associated Press reporter who claimed the House was launching an impeachment inquiry into President Biden “without evidence.”
When AP reporter Farnoush Amiri claimed the recently announced inquiry was unfounded, McCarthy said the inquiry was an opportunity to determine if impeachment was appropriate.
Speaker McCarthy asked if Amiri was concerned about recent revelations regarding Biden’s alleged corruption and business dealings with son Hunter among other alleged foreign business connections. Amiri agreed she was concerned.
“Do you believe the president lied to the American public when he said he’d never talked to his son about business dealings?” McCarthy asked before telling her it was OK if she wasn’t sure.
When Amiri said she couldn’t answer McCarthy’s question, he doubled down.
“Do you believe when they said the president went on conference calls?” McCarthy asked. “Do you believe that happened?”
AP reported that McCarthy's impeachment inquiry was launched "without evidence.” Here’s McCarthy forcing an AP reporter to admit that there was lots of evidence to support an impeachment inquiry. pic.twitter.com/lgzU1BNNlE
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) September 14, 2023
McCarthy then asked the AP reporter a series of similar questions corroborated by previous testimony or revelations from Congress:
Do you believe the president went to Cafe Milano and had dinner with the clients of Hunter Biden, who believes he got those clients because he was selling the brand? Do you believe Hunter Biden, when you saw the video of him driving a Porsche that he got $143,000, to buy that Porsche the next day? Do you believe that $3 million from the Russian oligarch that was transferred to the shell companies that the Biden’s controlled after the dinner from Cafe Milano took place?
Amiri similarly agreed, acknowledging previous testimony.
The speaker began another question, though was interrupted by Amiri who asked if lying was an impeachable offense.
“Well, do you want to know?” he asked. “All I’m saying is, I would like to know an answer to these questions. And the American public would like to know, and that’s what impeachment provides.”
Critics slammed Amiri’s questioning about whether lying was an impeachable offense.
Stephen L. Miller, a contributing editor for The Spectator, said “oh you sweet summer child..” in a X post.
“You understand that testimony is evidence, right?” wrote GOP operative Arthur Schwartz. “So which is it, are you dumb or dishonest? Cuz those are the only two options here.”
The AP released a statement expressing support for Amiri and referring to her as “an established and respected journalist covering the US Congress.”
