Republicans make last-ditch request for Biden to testify as impeachment inquiry winds down

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is all but winding down, lacking the political appetite from within the Republican ranks to go forward with an actual impeachment, but facing political pressure to deliver after months of work.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, made a last-ditch push at Wednesday’s hearing, announcing he will seek testimony from Biden himself, saying the Democratic president was either “complicit or incompetent” in his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings. It’s highly unlikely Biden would appear before the committee.

“We need to hear from the president himself,” Comer said at the close of the nearly eight hour hearing.

But having produced with no hard evidence of presidential wrongdoing it’s clear the lengthy GOP impeachment inquiry is all but coming to a close. Seeking testimony from the president would be a possible final act. Comer has indicated rather than drawing up articles of impeachment against Biden, he is eyeing potential criminal referrals of the family to the Justice Department, a largely symbolic move.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the Republicans have turned the investigation into a “laughing stock” and the “comedy of errors.”