Republican lawmakers in the House are debating whether to move ahead with impeachment efforts against Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to The Hill.
The debate comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., surprised some GOP lawmakers by suggesting an inquiry against Garland.
Some Republicans had steadily been targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, or President Joe Biden for possible impeachment, The Hill noted.
McCarthy has been the voice urging the GOP House members to move patiently and deliberately.
But on June 25, McCarthy suggested the lower chamber might launch an impeachment inquiry into Garland after an IRS whistleblower said Garland interfered with an investigation into Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
"We need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee," McCarthy tweeted.
"If the whistleblowers' allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland's weaponization of DOJ [the Department of Justice]."
And he slammed Garland again last week in a column posted by Fox News.
"When a prosecutor shields his boss' son from investigators, it smells like a cover-up. Garland's DOJ did not aggressively follow the money. Why? Are they afraid where that trail ends?" he said. "Clearly, someone is not telling the truth, and Congress has a duty to get answers."
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, strongly supported an impeachment inquiry of Garland.
"I think he sees the facts now," Jordan said of McCarthy. "So it's quickly [becoming] who are you going to believe? … I'm with the speaker on we need to get to the facts. And if it warrants moving forward with an inquiry, we got to do that."
But Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., questioned whether Garland could legally be impeached.
"I don't know of a chargeable crime," he told The Hill.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said: "I was one of the original co-sponsors of the Secretary [Antony] Blinken impeachment," "We ought to take that up first for the incredibly, horribly done withdrawal from Afghanistan."
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, sponsor of the first resolution to be introduced this Congress to impeach Mayorkas, voiced support for Garland's impeachment.
"I think you can do both," he said. "We need to have a vote on the House floor with Mayorkas because the border in and of itself is just a — isn't even a catastrophe. It's cataclysmic."
After the McCarthy's tweet last month, the White House accused House Republicans of using a possible impeachment inquiry into Garland as a distraction from their lack of a positive agenda for Americans.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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