The overwhelming majority of MAGA commenters are impatient for Congressman James Comer and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to do more than tweet and rage about the alleged corruption of President Joe Biden, with a representative comment going like this:
“Unless someone plans on doing something other than releasing bold lettered tweets, please be quiet. Shouting from X during the daytime before having dinner with donors and lobbyists isn’t doing much for the American people.”
But because the Congress members need evidence to act, these constituent calls for more acute action have been so far stymied by the lack of it. Comer can’t proceed with any sort of winnable impeachment, it’s widely believed, on what the Oversight Committee has so far turned up. Otherwise, the wheels would be turning.
Ratcheting up the pressure is the only current option, which both shows movement and feeds the narrative, even if it fails to produce the kind of action the MAGA audience wants — which is action toward impeaching the President.
[NOTE: McCarthy has made recent statements that show him to be more open to the impeachment possibility (including sharing the Committee’s latest sortie), while firebrands like Marjorie Taylor Greene have directly called for Biden’s impeachment.]
Still, the Oversight Committee’s latest “breaking” news is a request to the National Archives for more Biden Vice Presidential records, dropped with the headlined asserting that: “Joe Biden’s VP staff colluded with Hunter’s business partner on Burisma corruption media response.”
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 6, 2023
Joe Biden’s VP staff colluded with Hunter’s business partner on Burisma corruption media response.@RepJamesComer is calling on the National Archives to provide complete and unredacted documents related to the Office of the Vice President colluding with the Biden… pic.twitter.com/WtIOR9ITNW
Without Comer and company producing more actionable evidence, impeachment seems destined to be a rallying cry rather than a fait accompli, a frustrating stalemate for the MAGA faithful. (The Hill describes the Speaker’s situation with the headline: “McCarthy faces political minefield on Biden impeachment.”)
Yet the pressure grows, with Trump himself weighing in on the perceived inaction by Republicans, with a recent post on his social media platform saying: “These lowlifes Impeached me TWICE (I WON!), and Indicted me FOUR TIMES – For NOTHING! Either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!”
Fading into oblivion is not part of Rep. Comer’s plan, but even he — in his latest shot across the bow — tucks into his demand the admission that the House Oversight Committee is requesting the documents as a procedural matter to:
“craft legislative solutions aimed at deficiencies it has identified in the current legal framework regarding ethics laws and disclosure of financial interests related to the immediate family members of Vice Presidents and Presidents… ”
This part DOESN’T sound like impeachment: pic.twitter.com/4wP7qX5IbA
— StopWokeCulture 🇺🇸 (@MkayUokay) September 6, 2023
As one disappointed MAGA adherent tweeting as Stop Woke Culture writes: “This part DOESN’T sound like impeachment.”
But the “legislative purposes” language is just legal cover — the committee can only make such requests for the ostensible reason of pursuing legislative action. It’s revealing language only as it reveals where the committee’s power ends.
That doesn’t mean Comer and company aren’t looking for evidence to support impeachment; it just means they have to jump through certain procedural hoops in the discovery process.
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