Below is my column in The Hill on the expected formal vote this week on the impeachment inquiry. The vote is only to continue to look into the allegations that President Joe Biden knew of the influence peddling operation of his family and fostered those efforts. The final line of defense is to acknowledge that this was influence peddling but that Biden was only trying to support his son. The question for this vote is: how do you know? We have millions raised in what most view as corrupt influence peddling. Many of those payments are now confirmed by the Justice Department in the second Hunter Biden indictment. Only an investigation will establish the truth on the President’s knowledge and involvement. Yet, for years, Democratic members have opposed any investigation. They now face a moment of truth.
Here is the column:
Author Aldous Huxley once said, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.”
Such a moment of madness has arrived in Congress as members prepare to vote on the formal approval of an impeachment inquiry. The second indictment of Hunter Biden shattered long-standing denials and narratives repeated by the White House and members of Congress. What is left in its wake is now plain to the public: corruption.
The vote is not whether to impeach President Biden, but whether members support the investigation into these growing allegations of corruption by the Biden family. According to recent polling, nearly 70 percent of voters (and 40 percent of Democrats) believe that Biden has acted unlawfully or unethically or both. Yet with almost half of the Democratic Party viewing Biden’s conduct as worthy of investigation, it is not clear whether a single Democratic member will vote to look into these allegations.
In September, I testified at the first impeachment inquiry hearing and stated that the evidence had clearly passed the threshold for such an inquiry. While there was no requirement to hold a formal vote to start this process (as the Democrats did with Trump), I encouraged the members to hold such a vote.
Since that hearing, the evidence has only mounted against President Biden. It is now clear that Biden lied when he maintained as a candidate, and later as president, that he had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings with foreign interests. Even Hunter himself contradicted the president on this claim.
It is also now clear that he lied in denying that his son never made money in China. The indictment confirms massive transfers from Chinese sources.
It is also clear that Hunter was engaged in raw influence peddling. This included threatening at least one Chinese businessman that his father was sitting next to him and would retaliate against him if he did not send millions to the Bidens.
President Biden also lied when he claimed this week that he had not had any “interactions” with his son’s business associates. There are emails, audiotapes and testimony now disproving that claim.
Millions of dollars flowed to Biden family members through a labyrinth of shell companies and accounts. Hunter Biden sent emails saying that up to half of his income went to his father while they used shared accounts and credit cards for expenses.
Even Biden associates now admit that they were selling “the Biden brand” and influence with Joe Biden. Advocates simply argue that they were merely selling the “illusion” of influence.
It is now time to see if a single Democratic member will stand against corruption and support an inquiry into the president’s role and later cover-up of this corruption. That includes the use of White House staff to spread false claims and attack critics.
I have previously discussed four possible articles of impeachment that warrant investigation.
One of the false narratives being bandied about is that there is no proof that the influence peddling of Biden’s son and brothers benefited the president himself. Thus, the argument goes, even though he was the subject of the influence peddling, Joe Biden did not legally or constitutionally benefit from the payments to constitute bribery or other crimes.
That is utter nonsense. The courts have repeatedly found that benefits to family members (far more modest than the millions in this case) can constitute bribery for a politician. That has also been the position of the Justice Department in past cases. Regardless of whether Hunter or his associates were speaking truthfully about handing over percentages of these funds to Joe Biden, he practically and legally benefited from the millions going to his family.
Even if members insist that they are not yet convinced, it makes no sense to insist that there is no direct evidence while opposing efforts to establish such evidence. These members have opposed any investigation into the allegations from the start.
Polling suggests most people believe there was a massive influence peddling operation built around Joe Biden, and that the president lied about not knowing about these deals. It is now time to get answers directly from the key players, from Hunter Biden to the president himself.
There is more at stake for the members than a Democratic president. The Democratic Party has already embraced censorship and abandoned its long advocacy of free speech. Democrats are now running on the pledge to expand censorship on social media. The question is whether, as a party, it will now vote to shield corruption, even with almost half of Democratic voters calling for answers.
The Democratic Party that I was raised in and supported was more than the party of censorship and corruption. It fought for free speech and good government. There were principles that came before personalities.
That is why we have reached a point of inescapable clarity. There is no principled basis to oppose an investigation into these chilling allegations. Stripped of the false narratives and faux constitutional claims, what remains are raw politics and utter madness.
The only question is, who will step forward on the Democratic side to demand not impeachment but answers?
So let’s call the vote.
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School.
“With the Indictment and Inquiry, Democrats Now Face a Moment of Maddening Truth”. Since when has any prog/left jihadist EVER dealt with the truth????
I wonder how it feels to be in the 30% of Americans that dont think Biden did anything wrong, and who also still believe the pee tape is real.
Svelaz
Dennis
Can you tell us how that feels?
They don’t feel anything because they are bots…or brain dead.
Drumroll, please.
Dear Prof Turley,
I have two words for you; the Orange Hitler
And the only thing standing between the Orange Hitler and the Fall of Rome is Joe Biden. .. and Biden’s stalwart and noble legions of Centurian guards in the House of Representatives.
“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”
― Marcus Aurelius
What’s the line on Hunter showing up on the 13th for his deposition?
*asking for a friend.
“What’s the line on Hunter showing up on the 13th for his deposition?”
Slim to none
Or should I say “slime to none”
The people who were murdered in the concentration camps thank you for recognizing their loss to Hitler, but wonder about your faulty comparison that sounds good only to the ignorant.
S. Meyer,
I was under the impression dgsnowden was being sarcastic when comparing Biden as the only thing standing in the way of the “Fall of Rome.”
No one has accelerated the “Fall of Rome” faster than Biden.
Upstate, recently, gdsnowden has said some strange and disturbing things. It is up to him to see to it his ideas are understood. One has to accept his words as stated until told otherwise.
* I’m D-Bot and I’m your friend, dg
Joe Biden is the best POTUS ever. Just ask Xi Jinping.
@snowden…
Dude!
Not even funny.
Hunter won’t show, or if he does… he will plead the 5th. Everyone knows it.
At best you will have on record… the questions being asked with every one being answered ‘I plead the fifth’ because he’s now facing charges.
It won’t happen. Hence the move for the vote sooner than later.
-G
Little Danny Goldman and the Democrats are united, I’ll give them that at least. Woke Spartans to the end……
Truth is the hammer that will drive the nails into all the false rhetoric.
.
The Entire Campus of the District of Columbia knows how Washington works.
They know Biden is corrupt just as some of Them know they are guilty of the same corruption (The whole Cabal).
The Justice Department has just put the onus on Congress. So that the DOJ does not have to ‘pull-the-trigger” on this Presidency.
The Vote to go down this Road is just that: Is it “Time to pull the Trigger” or Not?
The question for the President is: Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
(Quit while your ahead | Know when to Fold’Em | Know when to Walk Away)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMaE6toi4mk
Huxley is enjoying something of revival. Brave New World is no doubt a classic, but as readers of Island know – Huxley was a diehard Scientologist. The quotes from later in his life are either heavily influenced by or quotes from Scientology auditing. Something to think if you think the quotes are deep thoughts. Are you a potential Scientologists? Are you ready to join Tom Cruise?
The Democrats will NEVER vote for an inquiry, they stand like the 300 at Thermopylae with Joe Biden, of all people, being foisted upon us as if he was King Leonidas. The only difference is that the 300 were defending their lives, their rights and their people whereas the Dems are defending a corrupt, lying, dementia addled loser.
When Obama sent out his staff to lie about what caused Benghazi with a shamelessness that reached a new level he paid no price for it because it was close to an election and the media will never go after a wounded or a vulnerable Democrat. The media will never admit that Joe is involved even though it is as obvious as the nose on our faces. Any logical analytical person KNOWS that Joe Biden was the main player in the corruption that occurred and yet the Dan Goldmans of our world will lie their you know whats off.
Censorship, anti-First Amendment, and corruption is just the start. I am sure Prof. Turley feels the Democratic party once stood for good things.He has a loyalty to it developed in childhood. The majority of the Democratic party as well. But truth is, the party has contained a terrible fascist streak since its inception — From the Trail of Tears right to the Biden/Harris Presidency — never acknowledged.
I will be surprised if one Democrat votes yea. I have the feeling that any Republican voting nay will end up like Liz Cheney — out on their ear.
Excellent summation of the situation by Professor Turley.
Speaker Johnson must call for this vote and we as a Nation must take careful note of who votes for a formal inquiry and those who vote against the inquiry.
How many Raskins,Goldmans, Schiff’s, and ;their like shall prove themselves to be as corrupt as the Bidens?
The question not offered by the Professor is what forces, factors, and backroom dealing is involved as the Democrat party decides which puppet to run for President knowing of the plain fact the American People do not want Biden/Harris.
Time is running out for them to make a change in the lineup and recent results in California have taken the shine off of Newsome.
Who will the Power Players pick to replace them all and still have a chance to drag them across the finish line as winners.
Even the Democrats are limited in how many votes they can steal, conjure up, or falsify.
How many Democrats like the Good Professor can no longer stand the stench emanating from the Bidens, their collaborators, and the Democrat Party in its gross failures?
We shall see will we not…come the media coverage of the proposed vote and the Biden response to it.
Take notes, do screen shots, and be prepared to respond at every opportunity and tell the media, the pollsters, and everyone you meet why the vote on the Inquiry is far more than a vote for a single investigation…..it goes to the heart of our freedom and democracy that the Democrat Party is trying to destroy in their quest for power and control.
A vote for this Inquiry is a step in the right direction….a journey that is going to be long a difficult if this Nation is to survive.
If biden is out for November, will the dems have to pivot their propaganda focus on Trump from ‘dictator’ to ‘racist dictator.’
Biden has ALWAYS been a lying THUG! In his career what has he every told the truth about?
The most corrupt and treasonous president in US history.
The National Socialist WOKE Party aka American NAZIS will not be able to steal this election. In fact I don’t believe we will have an election in 2024.
I think this ends with a French style Revolution.
The answer is that no Democrats will vote for the resolution unless a few Republicans defect. in that case, a comparable number of Democrats in swing districts will be allowed to vote “yes”.
If any pubs dont vote yes because of politics, they should be primaried with the coffers emptied to defeat them.
Democrats do stand for more than censorship and corruption. There are also:
Crime, particularly in black communities;
Open borders, and human and drug trafficking;
Systemic racism, through CRT and DEI;
Climate catastrophism and the crippling of energy production, including for the poorest countries, and the takeover of huge segments of the economy through climate policy;
Endless incurrence of debt and inflation;
The promotion of Iran to destabilise the Middle East;
The destruction of Ukraine in a vain attempt to damage Russia;
The tyranny of the bio-security state;
Kowtowing to China; and
Woke antisemitism.
Daniel,
Well said.
Al Gore at the COP28 conference said non MSM sources are destroying democracy.
Democrats can’t handle the truth.
It’s more than that – they KNOW the truth – they just don’t want US knowing it. They have utter contempt for Americans, nrither as individuals (intolerable concept!) nor as groups except as manipulable toward their overarching desire to control as much of our lives as possible, which includes all manner of anti-life policies, not merely the pro-abortion-until-birth, and even after, stance.
Safe prediction: Not one D will vote to for the proposal
But I thought their motto was, “No One Is Above The Law”……
So the official position of the Democrats goes something like this,,
You need to have evidence to investigate a possible crime, but you can’t search for the evidence needed to investigate a possible crime.
Will this be the moment that Professor Turley finally acknowledges that the Democrat party he signed up for is not the same as the team of evil muppets masquerading as the Democrat party today? Not that the gop is any better except that at least the gop retains some semblance of sanity. Because no, no democrats will vote for the inquiry. No democrats will vote to impeach if it comes to that. Your strength – party line unity – is also your weakness. The Democrat party will go down on its own partisan ship.
An even more interesting question is, will any Republicans vote against it?
If Senate has impeachment trial, then Mitt Romney is probably a no. He doesn’t even want the inquiry by the House. Sorry I ever voted for Romney. He lacks good judgment.
Romney started he has not seen any evidence of wrongdoing by Biden, he must be illegally blind.