House Republicans Matt Gaetz and Matt Rosendale recently expressed skepticism about the seriousness of their chamber's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, going so far as to deem it a political stunt, NBC News reported Friday.
NBC News cited leaked video from the online, invitation-only fundraising event that was held over Zoom on Sept. 26 and moderated by Steve Bannon, former adviser to then-President Donald Trump.
"I don't believe that we are endeavoring upon a legitimate impeachment of Joe Biden," Gaetz told Bannon. "They're trying to engage in a, like, 'forever war' of impeachment. And like many of our forever wars, it will drag on forever and end in a bloody draw."
The Florida lawmaker later added, "If this was serious, we would have sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden," according to NBC News.
House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., announced at the end of the first hearing late last month that he had subpoenaed the bank records of Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president's brother.
Comer, along with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., are leading the impeachment inquiry.
Rosendale, according to NBC News, likened the impeachment inquiry into the president to a smokescreen — redirecting attention away from more serious crimes.
"They're doing the exact same thing," the Montana lawmaker said of fellow House Republicans, according to the report.
"I just don't get the sense that it's for the sake of impeachment," Gaetz said. "I think it's for the sake of having another bad thing to say about Joe Biden."
The fundraiser, billed as an "exclusive briefing on federal funding," according to NBC News, came as the House was barreling toward a government shutdown, one week before the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
House Republicans seemed to be stalled and headed for a shutdown until McCarthy secured and passed a 45-day stopgap bill at the eleventh hour with the help of House Democrats, thus advancing the bill to the Senate. The California Republican was ousted roughly 72 hours later.
Gaetz brought the motion to vacate the speakership, and Rosendale was one of eight Republicans who passed the measure to oust McCarthy.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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