It was about a month ago when House Republicans tried to get the ball rolling on their impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden. Expectations weren’t exactly high. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who led the proceedings, failed to clear that low bar.
As we discussed soon after, there was a bipartisan consensus that the event was an embarrassing fiasco. One senior Republican staffer described the proceedings as “an unmitigated disaster.” Another conceded that the Kentucky congressman and his staff “botched this bad.” Steve Bannon, meanwhile, slammed GOP members for being unprepared, while one of his guests said House Republicans “don’t know what they’re doing at all.”
Of course, it’s unrealistic to think anti-Biden crusaders would simply give up and walk away. The first hearing was a debacle, but perhaps the second would be less embarrassing? Evidently, Comer isn’t eager to have another hearing. A Washington Post analysis noted late last week that by the Oversight Committee chairman’s own admission, he doesn’t even want a follow-up.
“I don’t know that I want to hold any more hearings, to be honest with you,” Comer said while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill last week. He complained that it was hard to keep members present for hours on end, given that so many had other commitments. Instead, he said, he preferred depositions, which “you can do more with.”
The Post’s analysis added that depositions have political advantages that Comer and his colleagues could exploit: “You can do more with cherry-picked transcripts when your goal is to coat Joe Biden with insinuations and unproved allegations.”
A summary in the Meidas Touch put it this way: “So that appears to be Comer’s new plan: work in the shadows, give depositions, and cherry pick information to make his case, rather than allowing the public to see his case fall apart.”
Of course, it says a great deal about the GOP members’ confidence in their case that Comer is reluctant to hold another public hearing. Ordinarily, when a president from the opposite party is at the center of a genuine controversy, his congressional critics can’t wait to show Americans what they’ve uncovered.
Comer, after already having failed once, has apparently learned that there’s little upside to repeating the same mistake in front of a national audience.
But for Republican voters concerned about the fate of the evidence-free anti-Biden efforts, the Oversight Committee chairman’s reluctance to hold a second hearing does not mean the crusade is puttering out. Politico reported last week that the GOP’s impeachment advocates see an ally in new House Speaker Mike Johnson. “I think Mike Johnson is more than happy to move forward, and will move forward, and the only question is the timeline,” Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, a House Freedom Caucus member, said in an interview. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has authored resolutions to oust Biden as well as repeatedly pushed for more action, added: “I definitely think he’ll be supportive.” Their confidence is rooted in fact: Johnson not only endorsed the baseless impeachment inquiry, the Louisiana Republican also falsely told the public last month that there’s “mounting evidence” of the president having “engaged in bribery schemes, pay-to-play schemes.” Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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