Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called on Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to end the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden: “Fold up the tent to this circus show. It’s really over at this point.”
“I wanted to just start by restating the obvious, which is that the impeachment investigation essentially ended yesterday in substance, if not in form, with the explosive revelation that Mr. Smirnov’s allegations about Ukrainian Burisma payments to Joe Biden were concocted along with Russian intelligence agents,” Raskin told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the president’s brother James Biden sat for an interview with the Republican-led Oversight and Judiciary committees.
Raskin was referencing the recent indictment of former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov for allegedly lying about the Biden family’s overseas business dealings. Smirnov’s claims were central to the GOP’s probe into the president. Smirnov told officials after his arrest that he got the fake information from individuals “associated with Russian intelligence,” according to reports Tuesday.
“It appears like the whole thing is not only obviously false and fraudulent, but a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda,” Raskin said. “And that’s been the motor force behind this investigation for more than a year.”
