Biden Impeachment Inquiry Passes House
As Hunter Biden held in contempt for ignoring subpoena and demanding public hearing
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Good morning,
‘Tis the season of giving, and tipping is no exception. 15% of Americans plan to tip more this holiday season than last year.
🎁 Despite inflation, 44% plan to tip housekeepers, teachers, child care providers, landscapers, mail carriers, and trash/recycling collectors the same amount in 2023 as 2022.
23% didn't tip last holiday season and won’t this year.
13% say they will decrease in 2023.
49% of Gen Zers plan to tip more this year.
Another poll found 59% of Americans give bigger tips during the holidays compared to the rest of the year.
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Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
🗞 BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY PASSES HOUSE
Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) who are leading the GOP impeachment inquiry. Via: NY Times
POSSIBLE BIDEN IMPEACHMENT
Voting along party lines, 221-212, House Republicans formally authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Biden yesterday. Republicans rallied together despite concerns among some in the party that the investigation has not produced evidence of misconduct by the president.
The official inquiry may NOT lead to actual impeachment charges, but this brings us one step closer. Biden is the only the 5th ever president to face a formal inquiry.
GOP members say the inquiry help them gain access to more White House information.
The months-long probe has centered around the business dealings of Biden’s family members — including his brother and son. Republicans are intensifying their investigation into so far unproven allegations that the president benefited financially from his son’s overseas business dealings.
Republicans say they are investigating if Biden took a bribe, abused his power, engaged in other forms of misconduct or obstructed the investigation.
Democrats call it retribution for former-President Trump’s two impeachments.
WAIT, WASN’T THERE ALREADY AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY?
Yes. Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) opened an impeachment inquiry on his own accord in September—but opted against a formal vote, and assigned it to three committees.
Special counsel to President Biden condemned the inquiry and said that recent subpoenas and demands for congressional testimony were “irresponsible.”
The trio of committees have obtained a mountain of documents and new bank records, but what they amount to is not clear.
Now the probe is entering the next phase, which includes working to execute subpoenas and land high-profile witnesses. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) held the vote to put more legal weight behind it.
EVIDENCE
Members have obtained testimony that President Biden occasionally met with his son’s business associates during his time as Vice President (pre-2017), but they haven’t supported claims that he profited from his family’s business overseas or made political decisions to help his son.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) highlighted three payments totaling around $4,000 in 2018 to Joe Biden from a Hunter Biden business account that held money from Chinese business interests.
Hunter says he was repaying his dad for buying him a Ford F-150.
Hunter joined the board of a Ukrainian gas company Burisma in 2014, around the time his then-vice president father was helping conduct foreign policy with Ukraine.
Republicans have said it may have been a conflict of interest, but they did not present evidence that it influenced U.S. policies.
There have also been two personal checks from the president’s brother, James Biden, to Joe Biden when he was not in office.
Available evidence suggests these were loan repayments.
HUNTER GOES PUBLIC
Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden regarding his overseas business dealings. The closed-door deposition was set for Wednesday before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Hunter showed up, but would not come in.
Hunter Biden said he was willing to testify, but only publicly in front of cameras.
He said a public hearing was the only way to avoid the risk of having parts of his testimony leaked selectively.
House Republicans argued that the types of questions and followups the need to ask require a closed deposition and not the public format.
“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business,” Hunter said.
❝
"I'm here today to make sure that the House committee’s illegitimate investigations of my family did not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies. And I’m here today to acknowledge that I’ve made mistakes in my life, and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded," Hunter Biden said, reading a prepared statement. "For that, I’m responsible, for that I’m accountable and for that, I’m making amends."
Hunter Biden
Now members are saying they will hold Hunter in contempt of Congress for not showing to the deposition.
📍Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, who was involved with the federal investigation into Hunter, will give a closed-door deposition to the House Judiciary Committee today.
ONE OF MANY BATTLES
Hunter has more to worry about than House Republicans. A plea deal in which he was set to admit to two misdemeanor tax offenses and avoid prosecution on a gun charge fell apart this summer. Now, Hunter faces a series of serious legal battles.
Federal prosecutors charged him with nine tax-related charges last week.
Three are felony counts.
He was indicted in September on federal gun charges for possessing a firearm while using narcotics.
If found guilty, he could potentially face decades in prison.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
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📌 Supreme Court agrees to hear high-stakes dispute over abortion pill (CBS NEWS)
📌 Federal Reserve signals 3 interest rate cuts next year (YAHOO)
📌 2 men charged in 'killing spree' of over 3,000 birds, including bald eagles, in Montana (NBC NEWS)
📌 Judge puts hold on Trump's federal election interference case while appeals process plays out (ABC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Argentina to devalue peso by over 50% as part of emergency economic reforms to deal with 138% inflation (CNN)
📌 Russia has lost 87% of troops it had prior to start of Ukraine war, according to US intelligence assessment (NBC NEWS)
📌 US warship shoots down suspected Houthi drone in Red Sea, officials say (ABC NEWS)
📌 Israeli leaders: War to go on until Hamas defeated, ‘with or without’ world’s approval (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Major breakthrough in the cause of pregnancy morning sickness (GUARDIAN)
📌 Doritos unveils nacho cheese-flavored booze that costs $65 a bottle (FOX BUSINESS)
📌 Elon Musk's Tesla recalls two million cars in US over Autopilot defect (BBC)
📌 Former Facebook diversity strategist pleads guilty to stealing more than $4 million from company (CNBC)
📌 Poison centers see nearly 1,500% increase in calls related to injected weight-loss drugs as people accidentally overdose (CNN)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 André Braugher, star of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 'Homicide,' dies at 61 (NPR)
📌 Anthony Anderson to host the Emmy Awards, following strike-related delays (CBS NEWS)
📌 Oprah Winfrey reveals she uses weight-loss medication: 'I'm done with the shaming' (PEOPLE)
📌 Trump offers scraps of his indictment outfit and a dinner opportunity for $4,699.53 a pop (GUARDIAN)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: DECEMBER 14
1911: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.
1959: Motown Records, the first large Black-owned music company in America, was founded.
1979: British punk rock band the Clash released its breakthrough album, “London Calling.”
1993: Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, had its world premiere. It was the first major Hollywood film to address the AIDS crisis. Hanks won an Oscar for his performance.