Comer: ‘I do believe we have the votes for impeachment inquiry’

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he thinks there are enough votes in the House to open an impeachment inquiry of President Biden, predicting the vote will be held in the middle of this month.

“I do believe that we have the votes for impeachment inquiry,” Comer said in an interview on Newsmax.

Comer, who is leading a congressional investigation into Biden’s family and business dealings, said he thinks the emails he’s been able to secure from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from Biden’s time as vice president finally convinced the final few Republicans to support opening an impeachment inquiry.

“I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, with a few of the Republicans that were a little nervous about going the route of impeachment inquiry,” Comer said about the NARA records. “They realized that we need this tool to be able to win in court, because that’s where we’re headed. We’ve just about picked all the low-hanging fruit.”

Momentum has been building among House Republicans to hold a vote on an impeachment inquiry into the president. So far, investigations into Biden and his family have not implicated the president in any illegal activity, but Comer and other House GOP leaders argue an impeachment inquiry would provide the necessary tools to properly investigate. 

Comer said Thursday that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would ultimately decide on the timing of a potential impeachment inquiry vote, and he said both he and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have discussed the matter with the Speaker. Comer said he expects a vote in the middle of September; the House returns from August recess next week. 

“I would predict that in the middle of September, we have a vote. I will predict that it passes, and I will predict that we will use that with all these government agencies that are refusing to turn over valuable information, like the National Archives,” Comer said.