Impeachment of Joe Biden: five minutes to understand the investigation against the American president

The American president is again under investigation for impeachment. This Thursday, the first parliamentary hearings on the impeachment of current US President Joe Biden opened. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy demanded this, accusing the Democratic head of state of “lying” to the American people about cases against his son Hunter Biden abroad.

What do we accuse Joe Biden of?

Hunter Biden, the son of a Democratic president, is a regular target of Republicans. He is also the subject of an investigation by the Justice Department, which recently appointed a special prosecutor. He is accused of being involved in corruption cases in Ukraine and China, by name, while his father was Vice President under Barack Obama (2009-2017) and was therefore directly involved in American politics in these two countries. Hunter Biden, in particular, joined the board of directors of the Ukrainian gas group Burisma in 2014 for a comfortable salary.

That’s why Republicans are accusing Joe Biden of “lying” about what he knew about his son’s actions. James Corner, the head of the House investigative committee, points out that “President Joe Biden abused his public office to benefit his family financially,” claiming to have found a “massive amount of evidence” from the demonstrations. “To put it simply, Joe Biden is accused of enriching himself and his family in Ukraine, as well as of corruption,” sums up Jean-Eric Branagh, a lecturer at the University of Paris 2 and an expert on the United States. “The question here is whether he abused his position as vice president while he was vice president,” he continues.

For its part, the White House – through Ian Sams, one of its representatives – condemned the “utter nonsense.”

How will the procedure take place?

This will be done in several stages. First, the House of Representatives must decide whether to open impeachment proceedings. Since the midterm elections in November 2022, Republicans have dominated the issue. “Before presenting a report, the commission conducts an investigation,” explains Jean-Eric Branaa. Were in. “The purpose of the first hearings is for the Republican prosecution to “present evidence and witnesses” and “limit” the scope of the investigation. According to this specialist, the people interviewed could be close to Joe Biden – for example, his family – or other political figures.

Once this is done, the “report of impeachment” will be presented and voted on by the House of Representatives “in plenary session.” The latter must then vote for or against the dismissal by a simple majority. Finally, the procedure reaches the Senate, which “shall deliberate behind closed doors and vote by two-thirds” (that is 66 votes) impeachment. “The Senate at this point becomes the Court, where the prosecutor is represented by the commission that conducted the investigation in the House of Representatives, where the chief justice of the American Supreme Court becomes a judge, and senators become jurors. – sums up Jean-Eric Branagh.

Is he really at risk of impeachment?

This is unlikely. Democrats already have a slight majority in the Senate (51 to 49 Republicans). Therefore, the threshold of 66 votes seems unattainable for Joe Biden’s opponents. “This has no chance of success,” Jean-Eric Branaa even declares, even if the American Constitution legally allows Congress (consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate) to remove the president in cases of “treason, corruption or other serious violations.” crimes and misdemeanors.”

Moreover, “the Republicans have virtually no evidence, and this is amazing,” Jean-Eric Branaa is almost surprised, according to whom the procedure in impeachment remains primarily something political. According to him, this impeachment inquiry serves primarily to “counter cases directed against Donald Trump,” declared a candidate for the US presidential election in November 2024 against Joe Biden. “Republicans will delay the investigation until the election in order to tarnish his reputation and hinder him” precisely for the election campaign, the specialist wants to believe.

In the history of the United States, a president has never been impeached. Three past defendants in the case (Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021) were ultimately acquitted.