Republican James Comer says impeachment vote may NOT be the best way forward on Biden investigation on thin ice and says he will now focus on criminal referrals

By Morgan Phillips, Congressional Reporter on Capitol Hill for Dailymail.Com

Published: 4:42 PM EDT, March 22, 2024 | Up to date: 11:36 PM EDT, March 22, 2024

Rep. James Comer, who has taken the lead in the Biden judicial investigation, indicated that he will focus on “criminal referrals” rather than impeaching the president.

“I want to be held accountable,” the Kentucky Republican said on NewsMax. ‘What does real accountability look like? Does it look like impeaching Joe Biden in the House of Representatives and then bringing it up in the Senate?’

‘Or does it mean that real criminal referrals are given to the Ministry of Justice? I think the ladder,’ added Comer, chairman of the Oversight Committee.

But Republicans largely concede that they are nowhere near having the votes even in the House to impeach Biden.

“We want to hold accountability, and I think the best path to accountability is criminal referrals.”

A criminal referral would be roughly the equivalent of a token letter to the Justice Department suggesting prosecutors investigate specific crimes they believe have been committed.

The impeachment inquiry’s path forward is clouded after House Republicans brought in President Biden’s brother James and son Hunter, along with Hunter’s former associates and thousands of pages of documents and records.

Comer has invited Joe Biden to testify before the committee, an invitation that will almost certainly be declined.

“Nobody on the Democratic side of the aisle, nobody in the mainstream media is denying the fact that we’ve proven that the Bidens acted with influence,” Comer said. “There is disagreement about whether Joe Biden knew what was going on. So the only way to find out is to ask him to come before the hearing.’

It was way back in July that Chief Justice Jim Jordan said the Biden impeachment inquiry was reaching an “important final stage.” In November, he predicted that the Biden family interviews would be completed by the end of the year.

On Wednesday, Republicans brought in former Hunter staffers Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis — who testified about how they had sought to cash in on the Biden “promise.”

Next, Comer said he would focus on the tens of thousands of emails Joe Biden sent using a pseudonym while he was vice president — as well as Hunter’s credit card information.

Last month, Comer subpoenaed credit card companies to obtain financial records for Hunter Biden, James Biden, Sara Biden and their former business associates Eric Schwerin, Gongwen Dong and Mervyn Yan.

He also subpoenaed 13 years of Hunter’s phone records from AT&T.

“When we get the rest of the information, the credit card information that we’ve subpoenaed, when we get the rest of the emails, pseudonymous emails, then I think we’ll be able to take steps to issue a report,” Comer told reporters Wednesday.

And last week — six months into the impeachment inquiry — spokesman Mike Johnson admitted that he hasn’t had time to “take a deep dive into the evidence” to determine whether Republicans should vote to impeach the president, a suggestion that the view is not a top priority.

“To be very honest with you, very honest and transparent, because I’ve been so busy with all my other duties, I haven’t been able to take the time to delve into the evidence,” he revealed.

“Nevertheless, what has been revealed has been alarming,” the speaker added.