Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Newsmax the bar to impeach President Joe Biden is high and depends on whether he committed a crime as president.
Appearing Friday on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Mullin said the burden is on House Republicans to prove that Biden continued his alleged foreign bribery scheme not just as vice president, but in the Oval Office.
"One thing the Senate has asked the House to do is make sure whatever you send us is convictable," Mullin explained. "And the crimes that he's committed — you got to remember that those crimes had to be committed while he was in office underneath the current position.
"The threshold for impeaching a seated president has got to be a misdemeanor, high crime, or treason. And those have to be committed while he's in office," he added.
Mullin clarified that not removing a president from office does not mean they "shouldn't be charged for tax evasion" or similar crimes. It just means they cannot be kicked out for past transgressions.
His comments arrived hours after reports began to circulate that House Republicans were planning to move forward next week with formalizing their impeachment inquiry with a vote.
Formalizing the process would allow them to issue more subpoenas for the probe into whether the Biden family leveraged political status to make foreign business deals with U.S. adversaries.
However, some House Republicans are still skeptical of moving forward, noting the same concerns as Senate Republicans like Mullin.
Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania are among them.
Buck said he does not see himself coming around to vote for the formal inquiry, while Fitzpatrick wants to meet with the Republican committee heads leading the investigation before he decides.
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Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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