Former Vice President Pence said there is an "ethical cloud" hanging over the Biden family and President Biden’s administration, telling Fox News Digital he would support an impeachment inquiry led by House Republicans.
During a sit-down interview with Fox News Digital, the former vice president said he feels it is "such a benefit to the nation" that House Republicans are "following the facts" in their investigations into the Biden family business dealings and alleged politicization in the Justice Department’s years-long federal probe into Hunter Biden.
"There are so many questions about Joe Biden’s involvement and connection to his son’s businesses when he was vice president of the United States," Pence said.
"I must say, you know, I can’t relate," he continued. "When I was vice president, my son wasn’t sitting on the board of foreign corporations," he said in reference to Biden's son, Hunter. "He was sitting in the cockpit of the F-35 and flying for the Marine Corps."
Biden had another son, Beau, who deployed to Iraq with Delaware’s Army National Guard. He died of a brain tumor in 2015.
Pence said the "very idea that these things were happening is something the American people deserve to get to the bottom of."
The House Oversight Committee led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating the Biden family’s business dealings, Hunter Biden’s business dealings, and whether Joe Biden benefited while serving as vice president.
The White House has previously said the president never spoke to his son about his business dealings and had no knowledge of them. The president himself has also denied ever having spoken to his son about his business dealings or being involved in them.
This summer, the White House said Biden "was not in business with his son."
Separately, but related, Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith are leading a joint-congressional investigation into whistleblower allegations that prosecutorial decisions made in the DOJ’s Hunter Biden investigation were influenced by politics.
Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. That plea agreement, which Republicans have blasted as a "sweetheart plea deal," collapsed in court.
Hunter Biden was forced to plead not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge.
Since then, Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who has been leading the probe since 2018, to serve as special counsel with jurisdiction over the Hunter Biden investigation and any other issues that have come up, or may come up, related to that probe.
"I welcomed the appointment of a special counsel in the Hunter Biden case," Pence said.
On Wednesday, Weiss’ team signaled that it would indict Hunter Biden on the federal gun charge by the end of the month.
"I'm heartened that it appears charges are going to be now brought at least on one aspect of the charges," Pence said.
As for the potential for an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives, Pence said he supports House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his "posture to let the House work its will."
"That’s different than Nancy Pelosi who unilaterally brought in impeachment process over a phone call by the President of the United States," Pence said, referring to the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump in 2019.
Trump, in July 2019, had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During that call, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine—specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. Hunter Biden, at the time, was, and still is, under federal criminal investigation for his tax affairs, prompted by suspicious foreign transactions.
The House voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on two counts— abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020.
Trump was impeached again in January 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He was acquitted in the Senate.
"I think, particularly at a time when so many Americans have lost confidence in equal treatment under the law, so many Americans, understandably, are concerned about a dual standard of justice in this country," Pence continued. "Now, more than ever, we need House Republicans to follow the facts, bring the facts to the American people, and if an impeachment inquiry facilitates that I would hardly support it."
At this point, it is unclear if House Republicans will move forward to officially launch an impeachment inquiry. The House returns from recess on Tuesday, September 12.
