Washington — The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has invited President Biden to testify publicly as the panel’s impeachment inquiry has hit a roadblock following testimony from the president’s son that did not provide incriminating evidence.
In a seven-page letter to the president on Thursday, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s chairman, asked Mr. Biden to appear on April 16, although it is expected that he will decline the invitation.
“I invite you to participate in a public hearing where you can explain, under oath, your involvement in your family’s income sources and how it was generated,” Comer wrote, citing past instances of sitting presidents testifying before congressional committees.
According to the Senate Historical Office, sitting presidents have testified before congressional committees only three times in American history, with the most recent being President Gerald Ford in 1974 discussing his decision to pardon Richard Nixon.
Comer had hinted at formally requesting Mr. Biden’s testimony last week, which the White House dismissed as a “sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment.”
The Republicans’ impeachment inquiry focuses on allegations that the president benefited from his family’s foreign business dealings while serving as vice president. However, no evidence of impeachable offenses has been found, and the inquiry suffered a setback when the special counsel appointed by Trump investigating Hunter Biden charged a former FBI informant for lying about the president and his son accepting bribes.
In a closed-door deposition in February, Hunter Biden stated that his father was not involved in his business deals. Hunter Biden was invited to testify publicly in March but declined, with his lawyer criticizing the hearing as a media stunt.
