Welcome to the Congress of endless investigations
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
www.washingtonpost.com /opinions/2022/11/18/congress-republicans-investigations-hunter-biden/
Welcome to the Congress of endless investigations
Paul Waldman 5-7 minutes 11/18/2022
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Now that Republicans have secured a House majority, what will they do with their power? Because Democrats control the Senate and the White House, Republicans can’t pass legislation. But there is one thing they can do: mount investigations. Loud, angry, endless investigations, filled with shocking accusations and desk-pounding outrage.
And they are ready. Every soon-to-be committee chair will get in on the action. C-SPAN may have to add a few extra channels to cover it all. Here’s what’s in the hopper:
The border. Expect hearings that solicit lurid testimony about crimes committed by immigrants, but not much actual policy discussion. Many Republicans want to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of Homeland Security, not for misdeeds but because they wish the Biden administration’s immigration policies were more like the Trump administration’s.
“Mayorkas deserves [impeachment] for sure, because we no longer have a border,” says Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — a nonsensical claim that shows you the level of sophistication they will bring to this effort. Jordan will probably chair the Judiciary Committee.
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The FBI and Justice Department . In a bizarre turn, Republicans decided that the FBI — perhaps the most conservative agency in the federal government — is a hotbed of leftists and Democratic partisans. They’re planning to probe the alleged “politicization” of the Justice Department.
In addition, the New York Times reports that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and other right-wing lawmakers "extracted a promise” from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for an investigation into whether Jan. 6 defendants have been mistreated.
The IRS . Republicans were incensed that the Inflation Reduction Act included a significant funding increase for the IRS, which will allow it to shore up its aging systems and go after wealthy tax cheats. So they are planning to investigate the agency, perhaps hoping to repeat their previous success in using misleading hearings to justify gutting the IRS budget.
The covid-19 pandemic . Republicans are eager to scrutinize the origins of the coronavirus and the possibility that it escaped from a Chinese lab, which has become an obsession on the right-wing fringe. This is not because they are concerned with improving safety protocols in biomedical research facilities, which is not a particularly exciting challenge to tackle.
Their real goal seems to be to create the impression of a vast conspiracy responsible for the virus, one that would implicate Anthony Fauci, whom Republican candidates often say should be imprisoned or even executed . The Biden administration’s chief adviser on the pandemic will probably be targeted for investigations as well.
Afghanistan . This is one probe that could produce something useful. Why did U.S. military and intelligence agencies overestimate the Afghan government’s ability to sustain itself without an American presence? How could the withdrawal have been carried out more smoothly? What lessons might we learn for the future? But if Republicans explore these questions rather than use the opportunity to simply beat up on the administration, it will be a surprise.
Hunter, Hunter, Hunter . President Biden’s son Hunter will be more than a subject of inquiry. He will be the sun around which the new Republican House revolves: its fixation, its passion, its beginning and its end.
At a news conference Thursday, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who will probably lead the Oversight Committee, gave reporters a preview of what’s to come, from Hunter’s laptop to Hunter’s emails to Hunter’s prostitutes. “I don’t want this to be about the prostitute,” Comer told reporters, after bringing up the prostitute.
The real intent was perfectly encapsulated when Comer’s back-and-forth with reporters momentarily turned to the Justice Department, and Comer said with exasperation, “If we could keep it about Hunter Biden, that would be great.”
Yes, congressional oversight of the administration is a necessary part of the checks and balances built into the U.S. system. But it can be used for good or ill: discovering truths the public needs to know, or weaponizing the process for political gain.
Republicans know this well. It was McCarthy who said proudly in 2015 that the Republican Congress’s many investigations of Benghazi had proven a success because Hillary Clinton’s “numbers are dropping.”
As we begin this investigation-palooza, McCarthy and the rest of the GOP leadership will be subject to both internal and external pressure, all pushing in the same direction: away from any responsible or useful work for the public, and toward loony conspiracy theories and wild-goose chases in search of presidential misdeeds.
The pressure will come from a House GOP caucus that is even more extreme than before, and from two key outside sources: Donald Trump and the conservative media. They will demand more chaos, more fights, more invented scandals and more conflict.
The more any investigation touches Biden directly, the more exciting it will be for Republicans; it’s the involvement of the president himself that turns a mundane controversy into a top-tier scandal. They already know he is guilty of something (even if they’re not sure what); now they have to convince the public.
If at first they don’t succeed, they’ll try, try again. And again, and again. The ultimate destination may be Biden’s impeachment, but it’s the journey that matters.
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Who will be impressed by all this nonsense ?
Trump voters , aka MAGA. No one else will care. These investigations will make it more likely Trump is the GOP nominee in 2024.
Maybe the same dumb ass voters who forgot they no longer had money and voted on the Jan 6th hearings.
My message to voters is: fill up your gas tank, do your grocery shopping, pay your electric bill and then go vote!
Probably not many, just like not many people were overly interested in the Trump commission, even after the constant barrage from politicians and the media about how important it was.
I always find it amusing how politicians constantly hide behind what the people want or what they deserve to know when in reality they keep proving they have no clue as to what we want or deserve to know when it comes to these investigations.
It does make for entertainment seeing the few people than take them all so seriously when their side does the investigating and trying to poo poo when the other side is doing the investigating though
Listen to the Dems bellyache about investigations. They invented investigations, mostly against Trump, none of which has resulted in a conviction.
So, you're saying it will be indistinguishable from the Jan 6th hearings or pretty much every hearing Congress has held for decades?
But who knows? Maybe something will come of it that Makes Biden step down. Then we get Harris as president, who of course pardons him and we get to see how she does. Wouldn't that be fun?
Evidently the right wingers are going to investigate whether Hunter Biden visited prostitutes just like the Democrats investigated the coked up Don Jr and his coked up girlfriend for drug law violations. . Oh wait, that never happened.
No they aren't.
Besides his gun crime (funny how democrats don't like applying them) , Republicans will focus on the evidence linking his father (the big guy) to Hunter's business dealings with foreign despots, and to make sure everyone taxes were paid accordingly.
Actually, their sights are set on finding some dirt on the "Big Guy"
The corrupt Biden crime family has been getting away with the fleecing the public for decades now
Like a lot of elite elected DC politicians and the wealthy, Biden has multiple layers of Teflon on his back so shit slides right off! A fact many on the liberal left refuse to see or acknowledge.
Evidencr?
It took the author 6 years to make a revelation on something that has been going on since 2016? Then try to spin it as a "republican problem"?
This one is pretty delusional.
You think Trump is innocent. You are the last person on earth who should be calling someone else delusional.
I haven't seen anything proving his guilt. Just investigation after investigation resulting in nothing.
He is arguably the most investigated man that ever lived.
And not a single charge, indictment or trial. Just hurt feelings and whining.
Lets see the evidence of your claims. Or is this just another bout of your deflection and denial?
And they can't even get that right.
John, you have been told more times than I can count by myself and others that just because you and others on NT say Trump is guilty does not legally make it so. When he is arrested, tried, convicted, and found guilty in a real court of law then it will mean something. I am not saying he did nothing wrong, but as I have told you before whether you like it or not he is still presumed innocent until proven guilty in a real court of law. That is the way our legal system works.
I dont know of a single person on Newstalkers who says that Trump has been proven legally guilty of something.
We talk about him as a member in good standing of the Republican Party to the extent that he going to run for the GOP nomination and no one lifts a finger to stop him.
This is a person who literally TRIED to overthrow the elected US (incoming) government. The evidence of this is overwhelming. For "conservatives" to say that he hasnt been proven of wrong doing is ludicrous, unless you dont believe the numerous Trump aides and other White House personnel in the Trump administration that testified to his wrongdoing.
After Jan 6 Trump should have been kicked out of the Republican Party. If he had been no one would be talking about him today. But no, the Republicans weaseled out of confronting him because they were afraid of "MAGA".
Since I've never claimed that he has been legally convicted of anything, I havent been wrong about any of this.
"Since I've never claimed that he has been legally convicted of anything, I haven't been wrong about any of this."
I never said you did otherwise, but you have continually claimed he was guilty of a great number of things, so in essence, from my perspective anyway, which I sure does not mean much in the grand scheme of things you have in fact been wrong about all of it John. When he is legally found guilty, I will be happy to agree with you and admit I was wrong and you were right, but not until then. You have a good day John.
Seems people want to forget all the investigation the republicans have been a part of over the years.
How many Benghazi investigations, Clinton investigations etc,
Now they are back to the same things and bitching about poor trump...
Exactly, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 mandated that House and Senate committees exercise "continuous watchfulness" of the administration of laws and programs under their jurisdiction. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 permitted House standing committees to "review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration and execution of laws" under its jurisdiction.
The unwritten rule is the you don't pursue critical investigations of administrations of the same Party as the House Majority.
"Clowns to the left of me clowns to the right, here I am stuck in the middle..."