Biden campaign calls impeachment a House GOP ‘ploy’ to boost Trump’s campaign

President Biden’s reelection campaign argued Tuesday that an impeachment inquiry into Biden would only be a ploy for House Republicans who align with former President Trump to boost his campaign.

“The only, single fact in this entire sham impeachment exercise is that it’s a nakedly transparent ploy by House MAGA Republicans to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign,” Michael Tyler, Biden-Harris 2024 communications director, said in a memo.

House Republicans are set to take a vote authorizing a formal inquiry in order to bolster their legal arguments and march toward impeachment, which is a move encouraged by Trump.

Tyler, in the memo, highlighted that Trump said last week he would be a dictator only “on day one” of a second term and that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reportedly said last month that there isn’t sufficient evidence to move forward with impeachment.

“What changed? The only branch of government MAGA Republicans control is following through on Donald Trump’s promise to use the levers of government to enact political retribution on his enemies,” Tyler argued. “You know, like the followers of a dictator.”

He cited vocal Trump allies in Congress, including Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who said he wants to give Trump “a little bit of ammo to fire back,” and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who said the base needs to be inspired to win in 2024.

Johnson “is firmly in Donald Trump’s pocket and taking his marching orders from him and Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Tyler said, adding, “It’s no small coincidence Johnson did a complete about-face and announced his plans to bring an impeachment vote days after he endorsed Trump and flew down to Mar-a-Lago to meet privately with the former president.”

The White House has also sought to tie the House GOP conference to its more far-right members, including casting Greene as the sole lawmaker calling the shots. It has also stepped up its criticism of the impeachment inquiry to put moderate Republicans worried about their seat in 2024 in a political dilemma.

“Instead of focusing on the important issues that really matter to Americans’ everyday lives, like lowering costs, creating new jobs, strengthening health care, or tackling gun violence, extreme MAGA Republicans have turned the House of Representatives into an arm of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign,” Tyler said.

The White House knocked the resolution to formalize the impeachment inquiry ahead of a potential vote Tuesday and has pushed back on claims that Biden and his family accepted money from foreign interests in what Republicans have deemed as suspicious financial deals.

The potential vote comes months after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declared an impeachment inquiry to be underway and as committees work to wrangle more witnesses and documents for the investigation.

House Republicans hope that formally authorizing the inquiry will put more legal weight behind the probe and their ability to compel evidence, particularly if any of those battles end up in court.