Biden impeachment inquiry live updates: Democrats say GOP doing Trump's bidding
House Republicans Thursday held the first public hearing of their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The House Oversight Committee hearing was led by chairman James Comer.
Republicans say the inquiry will focus on whether Biden was involved in or benefitted from his family's foreign business dealings, among other issues. So far, House Republicans have yet to release evidence that Biden profited from his son Hunter's business deals or was improperly influenced by them.
The White House has blasted the impeachment inquiry as "extreme politics at its worst."
Latest Developments
Sep 28, 4:30 PM
Comer says he will subpoena bank records 'today' in closing
In closing remarks, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said he will subpoena bank records "today" while arguing that further investigation is needed into President Joe Biden's role in his family's business dealings.
"One of those steps is gaining insight into where the Biden's foreign money ended up, for what purposes," Comer said. "Today, I will subpoena the bank records of Hunter Biden, James Biden and their affiliated companies."
Sep 28, 4:31 PM
Raskin decries 'impeachment hearing about nothing' in closing
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in his closing statement, claimed that everyone was making fun of what he called "this Seinfeld impeachment."
"An impeachment hearing about nothing, apparently, two days before the government is about to shut down," he said.
Raskin thanked the four witnesses for their time and testimony but criticized Republicans for refusing to call Rudolph Giuliani and his associate Lev Parnas to testify.
The congressman reiterated that there has been no direct evidence that would give weight to an impeachment.
"You don't impeach a president based on hypotheticals and obsolete conspiracy theories," he said.
Sep 28, 3:51 PM
Legal expert for Republicans says there is a basis for inquiry to go forward
While being questioned by Rep. Lauren Boebert R-Colo., law professor Jonathan Turley, a witness called by Republicans, responded when asked what is impeachable.
Turley said lawmakers can look at criminal codes that deal with bribery. At the same time, he reiterated that the laws are complex and there needs to be more investigating.
"I think that there's certainly a basis for this inquiry to go forward," he said. "My position is simply that this is early in an inquiry in terms of linking these which are still just allegations to the president."
Sep 28, 3:51 PM
Comer struggles at times to manage contentious hearing
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has clearly struggled at times to control the flow and direction of his committee's unruly first impeachment inquiry hearing.
Republicans appeared unprepared for Democrats' procedural tricks. Comer has repeatedly sniped at Democrats during their testimony -- which is unusual for a committee chair.
"Can you read a bank statement?" Comer could be heard saying when Rep. Summer Lee, D-Penn., mocked Republicans and claimed they hadn't found a "smoking gun."
After Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., requested to add six excerpts from Hunter Biden's former business partner Devon Archer's transcribed interview into the record, Comer replied, "It's been entered twice. If you want to enter it again, go ahead."
Some of his own members have shouted over him and contributed to the raucous nature of this hearing.
"Democrats are the party of shutdowns. You love shutdowns," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called out when Lee was listing off the number of federal workers in each Republican members' district who would feel the impact of a shutdown.
The day has been reminiscent of some of the early Trump impeachment hearings in 2019, when former Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., struggled to spar with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and some of his members privately complained about his performance.
--ABC News' Benjamin Siegel
Sep 28, 3:36 PM
Goldman: 'You bring in the fact witnesses and your case goes down the drain'
Like Democrats who spoke before him, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., reiterated that the hearing has no witnesses testifying with "direct knowledge of the evidence to determine that there is a basis for this impeachment inquiry."
"And this is an impeachment inquiry," he continued.
There has been no new evidence or knowledge so far in this hearing, he said.
"So why don't we have some of the fact witnesses here?" Goldman said. "The reason is, you bring in the fact witnesses and your case goes down the drain."
Sep 28, 3:05 PM
GOP member pushes back against Democrats' criticisms
After a brief recess, a Republican on the House Oversight Committee pushed back against Democrats' criticism that the hearing was unnecessary and improper.
Rep. William Timmons R-S.C. contended that there was enough evidence against Hunter Biden to start the inquiry. Timmons acknowledged that the evidence was "circumstantial," but stressed that lawmakers needed to do due diligence.
"The Congress has a duty to determine whether Joe Biden was a loving favor taken advantage of a delinquent son or knowingly participant complicit in the scheme and financially compensated for his role. That's why we are here today, to answer that simple question," he said.
Timmons added that the panel will subpoena Hunter Biden's "personal bank records, various business records, invoices and contracts."
"We are doing this because the Department of Justice, FBI and the IRS refuse to do that their job," he claimed, without evidence.
Sep 28, 3:13 PM
Democrats accuse GOP of doing Trump's bidding
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., was the latest Democrat to display Trump's social media posts behind her as she accused Republicans of doing his bidding.
"It's a campaign strategy ... we see the long arms -- but tiny hands -- of Donald Trump, and his fingerprints all over this impeachment," she said.
Republicans have largely ignored Democrats' jabs against Trump and his indictments, though one GOP lawmaker taunted Democrats.
"I love the fact that Trump lives rent-free in the Democrats' heads every day, that is a beautiful thing, even though we are here talking about the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden," Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said.
Sep 28, 2:25 PM
AOC: 'This is an embarrassment'
During her time to ask questions, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the allegations are "extremely serious," but called the hearing an "embarrassment."
She established that none of the four witnesses can give any firsthand witness account of any crimes committed by the president.
"This is an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country," she said.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., followed by saying he was concerned about the "seriousness of the allegations."
"We have all sorts of smoke, maybe not fire," he said. "It deserves a strong response from this body."
Sep 28, 1:01 PM
Witness for Democrats says flaw with inquiry is that 'name repeated most' is Hunter Biden
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, asked Democratic witness Michael Gerhardt what he believes is the "primary flaw" in the Republican claims about President Biden.
"Well, I suppose I can say a lot. The problem is the dots are not connected," Gerhardt replied. "The name repeated most often is Hunter Biden, not President Biden. And the point of an impeachment inquiry is not about a president's son, it has to be about the president himself and I don't think those dots connected. Lots of assumptions and accusations, not evidence."
Sep 28, 3:31 PM
Jordan potentially mischaracterizes Hunter Biden's former business partner's testimony
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called testimony from Hunter Biden's former business partner, Devin Archer, "the most telling evidence" of the president's potential involvement in an "influence-peddling scheme."
Jordan said that a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a Ukrainian company tied to Hunter Biden's was fired after Hunter Biden received a request from Burisma's top executive and then called his father, who "leveraged $1 billion of American tax money" to get the prosecutor fired.
But a review of Archer's testimony, detailed in a publicly-released transcript, shows that Jordan left out key parts of Archer's testimony and mischaracterized other parts of it.
Among other things, Archer said the request from Burisma's top executive wasn't specific to the prosecutor's firing, and he wasn't even sure that Hunter Biden called his father after getting the request.
--ABC News' Mike Levine and Luc Bruggeman
