With an ongoing investigation into the “Biden crime family” and now an impeachment inquiry officially begun, it seems everyone is talking about the possible crimes of Democratic President Joe Biden.
For Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, suggesting that Biden may not be impeachable is a crime in and of itself, which is precisely what one GOP senator has done.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has said on several occasions that he can’t, in good conscience, impeach a sitting US president for things that aren’t impeachable. Most notably, he has remarked that this means if Biden has committed a crime, he can only be impeached for it if it was done while he’s been in the Oval Office, not before then, according to The Hill.
For Gaetz, this means Mullin “is protecting Biden.”
.@SenMullin is protecting Biden https://t.co/Sh6GlLawuR
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 16, 2023
Naturally, social media users have come down on both sides of the issue.
Wow, did I have him pegged wrong. Thought he was a patriotic American. He's just another loser & traitor to America.
— America First MAGA – Deplorable E Young (@YoungDeplorable) December 16, 2023
To the Florida representative, the matter is a rather simple one; if Biden is a criminal, he needs to go and post haste.
But as Mullin explained on a recent appearance of Newsmax’s “Wake Up America” show, it’s not quite that simple.
For starters, Mullin notes that impeachment inquiries or trials in the Senate are quite different than they are in the House of Representatives, where Gaetz works. While Gaetz may represent what some would consider to be a lot of US citizens, senators must do so to vastly more. And a great many of those are likely to not be on the same page as he is, let alone in the same party.
“What’s interesting about the Senate versus the House is the senators have a lot bigger area, a lot bigger state to cover, so they cover blue parts of the state plus red parts.” And this means that they have to take the other side’s argument to heart.
It also means that when they come down on any issue, their case for such must be pretty “airtight.” And that is Mullin’s main concern with a possible Biden impeachment.
As he told Newsmax, “If the president of the United States used his office to benefit him, to gain the favor of other countries while they’re actually paying him, that’s a huge issue… then we absolutely should convict him regardless of the politics behind it. It’s the law.”
And he notes that a number of more moderate-leaning Democratic senators would agree.
However, for them to go along with it, the case would have to really stick.
“When you talk to some more moderate leaning senators, they will tell you that if the House sends over an airtight case that completely points to the president – breaking the law, in treason, misdemeanor, high crimes – they would try it just like they would any other case.”
But only if there’s no chance the case could be upended, making a mockery of the Senate and the GOP.
This is especially true since the Senate currently sits with the slightest ever Democratic majority.
So, for those like Mullin, it isn’t really about whether or not he wants to see Biden impeached. It has much more to do with the likelihood that an impeachment vote will go through in the Senate versus the House.
He knows that if the more moderate Senate Dems are going to be convinced of Biden’s treachery and vote against him, it will only happen if the House gives no room for doubt.
Of course, it may not even come to that.
As of now, only an impeachment inquiry has begun, which basically just gives Congress access to White House records and things the Biden family hasn’t complied with yet. Should proof of wrongdoing during the Biden presidency, be found in that, then actual impeachment files will be brought forward and a vote taken.
But we are a long way from that yet. And it sounds like Mullin just wants to be sure beyond a shadow of a doubt. Whether or not Gaetz agrees with that is up to him, I guess.
