U.S. House speaker hints Biden investigations will rise to impeachment

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given his clearest indication he intends to elevate ongoing probes by fellow Republicans into U.S. President Joe Biden and his family into a formal impeachment.

"We've only followed where the information has taken us. But this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed," McCarthy told Fox News late Monday.

The top House Republican made the comments amid a series of ongoing investigations into the Biden family's business dealings being conducted at the committee level within the chamber.

McCarthy had shut down previous attempts to impeach Biden from far-right members of his caucus, saying they have been premature, in part because he is going to need near-uniform support to move the process through the chamber where the party holds a razor-thin majority.

His comments mark the furthest he has gone in indicating an impeachment trial could be in the offing.

The White House was quick to push back on McCarthy's comments, saying Republicans are seeking to use their probes to distract from Biden's economic record.

"Instead of focusing on the real issues Americans want us to address like continuing to lower inflation or create jobs, this is what the @HouseGOP wants to prioritize. Their eagerness to go after @POTUS regardless of the truth is seemingly bottomless," said spokesperson Ian Sams.

The president's son, Hunter Biden, has featured prominently in the probes, including a plea deal he struck with prosecutors on tax evasion and gun charges that are expected to come before a federal judge this week.

Republicans want U.S. Attorney David Weiss to come before Congress to testify on the deal that his office oversaw to answer questions from two IRS whistleblowers that the case was tainted by political interference. Weiss, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, has denied the allegations, and so has Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Another probe into the Biden family's foreign business dealings also has Hunter at the center, but there has been little momentum in gathering facts to substantiate any sort of wrongdoing.

Still, McCarthy maintained that Republicans will continue to pursue their inquiries, maintaining they will lead to an impeachment.

"I believe we will follow this all the way to the end. And this is going to rise to an impeachment inquiry the way the Constitution tells us to do this, and we have to get the answers to these questions," he said.