(NewsNation) — Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., was in the room Thursday for a House impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden.
She characterized the evidence presented thus far as “pretty damning.”
“This is a culture of corruption,” she said Thursday on “The Hill on NewsNation” after the hearing.
House Republicans leading the hearing promised to “provide accountability” as they probe the family finances and lucrative business dealings of Biden’s son Hunter and make their case to the public, colleagues and a skeptical Senate.
One of the witnesses, conservative scholar and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, said in his opinion the evidence shown thus far would not support articles of impeachment.
“That’s exactly why we’re doing this investigation, which is to follow the evidence and get the facts,” McClain said in response to Turley’s analysis. “I think the evidence actually is pretty damning.”
The chairpersons of the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees used the opening hearing to review the constitutional and legal questions involved with impeachment. They are trying to show what they say are links to Biden’s son Hunter’s overseas businesses, though key witnesses said they do not yet see hard evidence of impeachable offenses.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Oversight chairman, said the lawmakers have “a mountain of evidence” that will show that the elder Biden “abused his public office for his family’s financial gain.”
Comer announced he was issuing subpoenas for additional banking records from Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden. He said the panel will continue to “follow the money and the evidence to provide accountability.”
The White House blasted the hearing as a distraction from important matters, such as avoiding a government shutdown. Lawmakers face a Saturday deadline to pass a budget, and a bloc of hard-line Republicans are holding up passage in the House.
The Senate this week approved a short-term spending measure that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he won’t bring up for a vote.
“If you’re really concerned about the shutdown, then come to the table. Let’s secure our border, let’s get our fiscal house in order, which is exactly what the Republicans are trying to do,” McClain said in response to the White House position on the impeachment inquiry.
“If I’m the White House, I don’t want to talk about all the corruption that’s going on within my family, I want to deter and detract from what’s going on with my son and President Biden’s culture of corruption.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.