House votes to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas over border crisis

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been impeached by the House of Representatives.

A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876.

Tuesday evening’s vote marked House Republicans’ second attempt at impeaching Mayorkas. GOP lawmakers targeted the Biden official over the ongoing migrant crisis at the U.S. border, accusing him of deliberately flaunting existing immigration law and worsening the situation. 

DENVER SCHOOLS OVERWHELMED BY MIGRANT SURGE AS MAYOR SLASHES $5M FROM PUBLIC SERVICES TO ADDRESS CRISIS

The 214-213 vote was always expected to be tight; Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment last week when every single House Democrat showed up to shield him, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who temporarily left the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to cast his vote. 

Three Republicans also voted down the effort – Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif. 

HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP

Each criticized Mayorkas’ handling of the border but had reservations over whether it rose to the level of impeachment. McClintock warned it could set a precedent for political impeachments that could harm GOP officials in the future.

"Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans," McClintock said last week.

However, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed any concerns about precedent in comments to reporters hours before the vote on Tuesday.

"Mayorkas is an exceptional case in U.S. history," Johnson said, accusing him of having done more "damage on the country than any Cabinet secretary that's ever been."

He also addressed the very likely scenario that the impeachment would go nowhere in the Democrat-held Senate. 

HERE ARE THE 3 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO TORPEDOED MAYORKAS’ IMPEACHMENT VOTE

"The House has a constitutional responsibility, as I've said many times. It's probably the heaviest next to a declaration of war. And we have to do our job regardless of what the other chamber does," Johnson said.

Two impeachment articles were approved against Mayorkas by the House Homeland Security Committee. One accused him of having "refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" and the other of having violated "public trust."

The Department of Homeland Security criticized House Republicans for holding a second Mayorkas impeachment vote on Tuesday, citing comments by GOP lawmakers who have called the effort a waste of time.

"House Republicans’ baseless push to impeach Secretary Mayorkas has already failed once, with bipartisan opposition. If Members of Congress care about our national security, they should listen to their fellow Republicans and stop wasting time on this pointless, unconstitutional impeachment – time that could be spent addressing the issue by advancing bipartisan legislation to fix our broken immigration laws and provide needed resources for border security," the department said.

House GOP impeaches Mayorkas after previous vote failure

House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, making him the first Cabinet secretary since 1876 to be impeached by the House.

A week after a first attempt that fell short and caused heartburn for GOP leadership, Mayorkas was impeached in a second vote, 214-213.

The Senate is all but guaranteed to sidestep it, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office saying the articles will be presented after the upcoming recess with senators sworn in as jurors shortly after. Lawmakers predicted they could quickly dismiss the charges of betraying the public trust and refusing to comply with the law. The Senate is not expected to spend much time on the trial.

Three Republicans defected on the impeachment effort: Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), who all also voted “no” last week. But GOP leaders were able to revive the articles against Mayorkas with Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) return this week after treatment for blood cancer.

The vote comes on the same day that Republicans are trying to hold onto expelled Rep. George Santos’s seat. If Democrats flip the seat, that would likely have put impeaching Mayorkas just out of reach until special elections later this year.

The eventual success caps off months of Republican work to impeach Mayorkas, after they were caught flat footed last week when Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) showed up from the hospital to cast his no vote. Republicans, while acknowledging their own dysfunction, quickly tried to salvage the situation by noting they would impeach the Homeland Security chief as soon as Scalise returned.

The GOP views the border as a unifying issue in their raucous conference and an easy cudgel against Democrats as they head toward November. They’ve been building up support for the historic step for months, while also scuttling a bipartisan border plan in the Senate — raising the likelihood that legislation to address spiking migrant crossings isn’t signed into law this year.

In a statement after the vote, Speaker Mike Johnson said Mayorkas "deserves to be impeached." "Since this Secretary refuses to do the job that the Senate confirmed him to do, the House must act," the speaker added.

But even as GOP leaders tried to convince their colleagues to support impeaching Mayorkas, the effort wasn’t guaranteed. Last week it appeared to be on the verge of collapse as several Republicans remained on-the-fence just hours before the vote. Though leadership managed to win over nearly all of them, they still fell short because of opposition from Gallagher, Buck and McClintock, alongside full attendance from House Democrats.

Gallagher announced his plans to retire days after the vote, and Buck also plans to leave the House at the end of this term.

The GOP’s impeachment push has sparked pushback from the administration, typical GOP constitutional allies and congressional Democrats — and is already being turned against Biden-district Republicans up for reelection. In a post-vote statement, President Joe Biden said, "History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship."

“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border," DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. "While Secretary Mayorkas was helping a group of Republican and Democratic Senators develop bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security and get needed resources for enforcement, House Republicans have wasted months with this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment."

Gallagher, Buck and McClintock each raised concerns that the Mayorkas impeachment didn’t meet the bar laid out under the Constitution — a concern from GOP-aligned constitutional experts who publicly urged Republicans against taking the step heading into last week’s vote.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a new memo on Tuesday, also made a final push to sway Republicans against impeaching Mayorkas, writing that they should “listen to their fellow Republicans and stop wasting time on this pointless, unconstitutional impeachment.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Kevin McCarthy sucked as speaker, but he’s good at revenge

From primary challenges to getting blackballed from House Republicans caucuses, the eight Republicans who ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are feeling the blowback. His allies—and he has many of them—are making sure of that.

The Republican Main Street Caucus and Republican Governance Group have quietly booted Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, whose attention-getting stunts seem to be wearing thin with her colleagues. “She really wants to be a caucus of one. So we obliged her,” one House Republican told CNN

Mace is facing a serious primary challenger, as is Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, the new chair of the Freedom Caucus and one of the anti-McCarthy eight. “A well-connected GOP outside spending group is planning to play in the [primary] races,” CNN reports, and McCarthy is likely to be directly involved on behalf of the challengers as well.

Where the real hammer is falling on this eight is in their fundraising. Others, including Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Eli Crane, acknowledge that the big donors aren’t taking their calls anymore. Burchett told CNN’s Manu Raju that he “absolutely” had seen his donations dry up. “Some very wealthy folks, and they’ve been very kind to me in the past,” Burchett said of donors who had dropped him. “And I hope that we can mend the fences,” he added. Good luck to him on that one.

Crane of Arizona told Raju he was feeling a fundraising hit. “Yeah, that’s definitely a reality,” he said. “And I think anybody that participated in that knew that going forward.” 

He’s right. They knew what they were doing, and they asked for this. Booting McCarthy meant ousting their most effective fundraiser. Ousting him meant pissing off all those big donors he’s been cultivating all these years. They’re friends of Kev, and they are happy to help him get his revenge.

Speaking of revenge, that’s what the ouster was all about. The spearhead of the chaos, Rep. Matt Gaetz, admitted it to a colleague in private correspondence obtained by The Daily Beast. According to the outlet, “Gaetz indicated to a friend that his effort to undercut, isolate, and ultimately remove McCarthy was, indeed, payback for the ethics probe.” That would be the House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz for alleged sex crimes, drug use, and campaign finance violations, to name a few.

Do any of Gaetz’s pals blame him for putting them in this position? Of course not. “I’m too busy working for the Lowcountry and helping elect President Trump to worry about Kevin McCarthy’s puppet,” Mace told CNN. “The DC swamp doesn’t want me back—too bad. I don’t work for them, I work for the people of the 1st Congressional District and no one else.”

The rest of the GOP conference loves to see McCarthy’s revenge. “If I’m those folks, one of the things that would scare the crap out of me more than anything else is an unhinged McCarthy,” a Republican lawmaker told CNN. “The guy’s the most prolific fundraiser, you’ve got a massive group of donors across the country that are pissed off about what’s happening, and you’ve got these boneheads that have caused it.”

RELATED STORIES:

Morning Digest: Republican who voted to oust McCarthy draws prominent primary challenger

Rep. Nancy Mace's attention-seeking escalates with 'Scarlet Letter' stunt

Kevin McCarthy's removal as speaker sparks fundraising crisis for GOP

The war between Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy is far from over

Campaign Action

Disinformation is a growing problem in American politics, but combating it in Latino media poses its own special challenges. Joining us on this week's episode of "The Downballot" is Roberta Braga, founder of the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, a new organization devoted to tackling disinformation and building resiliency in Latino communities. Braga explains how disinformation transcends borders but also creates opportunities for people in the U.S. to import new solutions from Latin America. She also underscores the importance of fielding Latino candidates and their unique ability to address the issue.

Fox News Politics: Dems’ age-old question

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What's Happening? 

- Ex-Hunter Biden associate testifies to House panel

- House prepares to vote on Biden border chief impeachment

- New York's 3rd district voting on a replacement for ex-Rep George Santos

Democrats have overwhelmingly backed President Biden's 2024 re-election. But the damaging report released last week by Special Counsel Robert Hur has breathed new life into the belief that the party will ultimately replace him as nominee ahead of the 2024 general election.

Here are five of the top names being mentioned as a potential replacement for Biden should he decide — or is pressured — not to run for a second term:

1. California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Democrat strategists and members of the media continually mention him as a future presidential hopeful, but that future could come sooner rather than later should Biden's plans change.

2. Vice President Harris

Harris' presidential ambitions have been known since her first unsuccessful run for the White House in 2020, when she failed to gain support over her Democrat primary opponents, including Biden. Despite her low approval rating and frequent gaffes as vice president, she continues to insist she's "ready to serve" as commander in chief, if necessary.

3. Former first lady Michelle Obama

Obama has been one of the more surprising names floated as a potential replacement for Biden, considering her lack of political experience. But she remains popular to Democrats, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy keeps floating the possibility.

4. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Despite declining a run for the White House, Whitmer appeared to leave the door open for a future presidential run after her convincing re-election win during the 2022 midterm elections, a year that was expected to be a difficult one for Democrats.

5. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

Beshear has been seen as a rising star within the party given his status as one of the most popular governors in the country, despite being a Democrat leading a red state. That status grew following a big re-election win last year over then-Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who was considered a rising GOP star.

'ENABLER' BIDEN: Joe Biden 'enabled' family to sell access to 'dangerous adversaries,' key witness tells House panel …Read more

WITH THE BANNED: Biden campaign gains thousands of TikTok users in first day, despite him restricting app use over security issues …Read more

BIDEN'S PLAN: White House says it was Biden's idea to hold press conference after release of special counsel's report …Read more

ROUND TWO: House to hold second impeachment vote for Biden border chief …Read more

EYES ON HUR: Jim Jordan eyes testimony from Biden Special Counsel Robert Hur: Sources …Read more

'BIASED INVESTIGATION': Elise Stefanik calls for Trump NY AG James to be disbarred over handling of Trump trial …Read more

AGE-OLD QUESTION: Jon Stewart mocks Biden TikTok video that made president 'end up looking older' …Read more

CHILLING DEMOCRACY: New York voters brave winter storms to vote for ex-Rep. Santos' replacement …Read more

LAKE EFFECT: Kari Lake earns key endorsement in crucial Senate battleground race …Read more

'AGGRESSIVE': GOP Rep Zinke alleges husband of primary opponent punched a staff member …Read more

'POLITICAL GAME': Vulnerable House Dem backpedals after refusing to condemn antisemitic phrase …Read more

'ECONOMIES WILL SUFFER': Mayors want work permits extended to keep migrants employed, receive new asylum seekers …Read more

SPECIAL COUNSEL ON THE CLOCK: Supreme Court gives Jack Smith a deadline to respond to Trump's attempt to delay trial until after election …Read more

'SPECIAL TREATMENT': New polls shows majority of Americans believe Biden got off easy in special counsel probe …Read more

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House GOP to launch critical investigation into just how old Biden is

Who could have predicted that House Republicans would use special counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Joe Biden’s document handling for their political purposes? Hur found that while Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency,” there was not enough evidence to “establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” 

In the absence of actionable malfeasance on the document handling, Hur—a former United States attorney in Maryland, appointed by Donald Trump—did the next best thing he could for his Republican pals: the gratuitous hits on Biden’s age.

Enter three House committee chairs and a new avenue of investigation: Biden’s fitness as president. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday evening demanding both a transcript and any video recordings of Biden’s interview, with a Feb. 19 deadline for a response.

Axios reports that the Republicans are planning hearings starring Hur in which they will focus on Biden’s mental acuity, the national security implications of his document handling (to give “investigations” the gloss of legitimacy), and his fitness to lead. “Someone might ask him if Biden is unfit to lead,” a leadership source told Axios. “Give him a chance to frame it.”

Might? They “might” ask Hur about Biden’s fitness? They “might” take this chance to exploit Biden’s age, his biggest political liability with voters, and run with it? They absolutely will give Hur a microphone and put him in front of cameras and the traditional media will absolutely eat it up.

While Republicans are at it, Axios reports, they plan to go after Garland and how the Justice Department conducted the investigation. Call it Comer and Jordan’s revenge for the fact that they haven’t been able to get anything implicating Biden and his son Hunter from the Department of Justice for their sham impeachment.

Jordan and Comer have the blessing of their leadership to do this. Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, GOP Whip Tom Emmer, and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik released a statement last week calling Hur’s remarks on Biden’s age some of the “most disturbing parts” of the report. “A man too incapable of being held accountable for mishandling classified information is certainly unfit for the Oval Office,” they said. 

You might think that those four would have more pressing stuff to deal with, like the fact that there’s another government shutdown looming in a few weeks. Or maybe figuring out how to clean up the horrible messes Johnson has created with his inept leadership. Or just doing anything that would benefit the American people. 

Actually, you probably wouldn’t think that. Why would they change course now?

RELATED STORIES:

The New York Times is determined to make 'but his age' the new 'but her emails'

Speaker Mike Johnson had a stunningly awful day—and he did it to himself

Trump allies ridicule GOP impeachment inquiry for failing to find dirt on Biden

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Mayors want work permits extended to keep migrants employed, receive new asylum seekers

More than 40 mayors and county executives from around the country are calling on the federal government to extend work authorizations for illegal migrants, saying that without the measures thousands will lose their jobs, businesses will suffer and districts will find it harder to cater to new asylum seekers.

The elected officials – which include New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson – wrote a letter on Monday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou, calling for automatic extensions for existing work permits of at least 540 days.

Historically, migrants have been granted a 180-day grace period if their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal application is still pending.

In 2022, USCIS extended the 180-day grace period to 540 days due to lengthy processing delays. 

MAYORKAS DUCKS RESPONSIBILITY ON BORDER CRISIS, MIGRANT FIGURES: 'CONGRESS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FIX THIS'

That extension expired on Oct. 26 and now the mayors are requesting a "permanent automatic extension of work authorization" in the form of an interim final rule that extends work permits for 540 days or longer. 

"Without this, hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers will lose their work authorization, businesses will lose staff, and our cities and counties will face an increasing challenge to provide shelter to the public," the mayors and county executives wrote. 

"If DHS does not address this impending crisis, local economies will suffer additional harm in the face of large job losses."

DENVER MAYOR BLAMES REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP FOR $5M CUTS TO PAY FOR MIGRANT CRISIS

The signees wrote that local businesses are still struggling to address the current labor shortage and cannot handle further disruptions to their operations by losing immigrant workers. 

"We are concerned that the lengthy delays in adjudicating renewal applications for work authorization have not improved."

They wrote that as of June 2023, there were approximately 263,000 EAD renewal applications pending. 

Given these delays, they wrote, hundreds of thousands of immigrants will likely experience a lapse in their work authorization in the coming months. 

"As a result, cities and counties are bracing for similar events to transpire, and we are already hearing from businesses who may soon be forced to lay off their workers until their renewed EADs arrive."

The officials also wrote that if extensions are not granted it will "significantly impact our ability to receive newly arrived asylum seekers."

"Cities and counties across the United States are quickly running out of shelter space. If hundreds of thousands of already-employed immigrants lose their jobs, they are likely to lose their homes, and this will result in cities and counties experiencing even greater difficulty providing shelter space and additional services to the public," the letter reads.

"If DHS does not implement a permanent change to the automatic extension, any temporary extension should be for a period of no less than three years, to allow sufficient time for USCIS to work through the extensive work permit renewal backlog. We ask that you act swiftly so that the communities we represent do not experience the destabilizing effects of immigrant workers falling out of the workforce."

The signees are part of a group called the Cities For Action (C4A), made up of nearly 180 U.S. mayors and county executives who advocate for "humane immigration policies that strengthen their cities and reflect the nation’s values of inclusion and opportunity."

Adams, who has criticized the federal government’s response to the crisis, saying it would destroy New York City, said the migrants have a right to work in the Big Apple. At least 170,000 illegal migrants have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022.

"New York City thrives on the diverse and dedicated contributions of these community members and stripping people of their right to work is simply un-American," Adams said in a statement accompanying the letter.  

"I'm hopeful the federal government acts swiftly to protect the stability and security of hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers and their families."

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Meanwhile, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who last week announced cuts to public services to help fund the cost of his city’s migrant crisis, also signed the letter. About 40,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Denver over the past year, and more than 3,500 are living in city-funded hotel rooms, according to the Colorado Sun.

"Over the past few weeks, Denver has seen record-high numbers of migrants arriving in our city, and very few have the ability to work and make a living for their families," said Johnston

"This has created simultaneous humanitarian and fiscal crises for our city, forcing us to look at significant budget cuts and reduction in services. We know that the ability for migrants to work is critical to Denver’s success, and it is imperative that DHS take immediate action to prevent even more migrants from losing their work authorization."

Cornyn clashes with Ken Paxton over support for foreign aid bill 

Texas Sen. John Cornyn is facing backlash from a Republican official at home after voting in favor of a $95 billion foreign aid package early Tuesday morning. But he’s not taking it quietly.

“Unbelievable that @JohnCornyn would stay up all night to defend other countries borders, but not America,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Tuesday morning.

Hours later, Cornyn, a Republican foreign policy hawk and former minority whip, let loose on Paxton. The attorney general recently escaped an impeachment trial over allegations of bribery and corruption and has been dogged by securities fraud charges since 2015.

“Ken, your criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you spend less time pushing Russian propaganda and more time defending longstanding felony charges against you in Houston, as well as ongoing federal grand jury proceedings in San Antonio that will probably result in further criminal charges,” Cornyn wrote.

Cornyn was one of 22 Senate Republicans who voted to advance the aid package, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It now heads to an uncertain fate in the House, against the desires of former President Donald Trump, who has railed against the idea of sending more aid to Ukraine and whose influence has grown among Republican members of Congress as he marches toward another presidential nomination.

Paxton was seemingly undeterred by Cornyn’s criticism. Shortly after the senator slammed him on social media, Paxton posted another diatribe, dubbing Cornyn an “America Last RINO.”

“Unsurprisingly, America Last RINO @JohnCornyn has once again joined hands with the Biden administration to fund and prioritize foreign wars over the national security crisis at the southern border,” Paxton said.

Posted in Uncategorized

House GOP gunning for testimony from Biden Special Counsel Robert Hur, sources say

The House Judiciary Committee is in talks to have Special Counsel Robert Hur potentially testify on Capitol Hill after releasing his report on President Biden’s handling of classified documents, Fox News Digital has learned.

Two sources told Fox News Digital that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s committee is looking at late February or early March for possible dates for Hur to testify.

House Republicans appear poised for a lengthy probe into Hur’s findings after he released a 388-page report clearing President Biden of wrongdoing despite having "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials."

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

Hur said Biden came off "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him-by then a former president well into his eighties-of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

Republican lawmakers have argued that Hur’s decision not to recommend charges against Biden is an example of the two-tiered justice system in the U.S. It’s also spurred speculation over whether the 81-year-old president is unfit for office.

Jordan, R-Ohio, along with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday calling for him to release the transcripts and recordings of Biden’s interview with the special counsel’s office.

BIDEN RETAINED RECORDS RELATED TO UKRAINE, CHINA; COMER DEMANDS 'UNFETTERED ACCESS' AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

In the letter, they accused Biden of lying at a press conference after the report’s release when he said, "I did not share classified information. I did not share it" when asked whether he disclosed the sensitive information to his ghostwriter. 

"As explained to Mr. Hur in October, there is concern that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings," they wrote.

"Further, we seek to understand whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking the President to troublesome foreign payments."

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

The Judiciary Committee’s discussion with Hur is likely to come within days of Hunter Biden’s closed-door deposition in front of Jordan and Comer’s panels, the sources said.

The president’s son is sitting down with impeachment inquiry investigators on Feb. 28.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and DOJ for comment on Hur’s potential testimony.

Joe Biden ‘enabled’ family to sell access to ‘dangerous adversaries,’ Tony Bobulinski testifies

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden "enabled" his son Hunter to sell access to the United States’ "most dangerous adversaries," including the Chinese Communist Party, Russia and more, the first son’s ex-business associate Tony Bobulinski is expected to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry Tuesday.

Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden to create the joint-venture SinoHawk Holdings with Chinese energy company CEFC, and said he met with Joe Biden in 2017, is testifying behind closed doors at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees Tuesday. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of Bobulinski’s prepared opening statement.

HUNTER BIDEN'S EX-ASSOCIATE TONY BOBULINSKI HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL THIS WEEK TO TESTIFY IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Bobulinski will testify that from his "direct personal experience," it is "clear" that Joe Biden was "'the Brand' being sold by the Biden family.’"

"His family’s foreign influence peddling operation—from China to Ukraine and elsewhere—sold out to foreign actors who were seeking to gain influence and access to Joe Biden and the United States government," Bobulinski will testify.

"Joe Biden was more than a participant in and beneficiary of his family’s business; he was an enabler, despite being buffered by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability," Bobulinski will say. "The only reason any of these international business transactions took place—with tens of millions of dollars flowing directly to the Biden family—was because Joe Biden was in high office."

Bobulinski will add: "The Biden family business was Joe Biden, period."

Bobulinski is also expected to raise "possible violations by Joe Biden of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Foreign Corrupt practices Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)."

Bobulinski is set to detail CEFC’s arrangement with the Biden family, stressing that it is a "surrogate" of the Chinese Communist Party.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE'S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN

"The Chinese Communist Party through its surrogate, China Energy Company Limited, or ‘CEFC’—a CCP-linked Chinese energy conglomerate—successfully sought to infiltrate and compromise Joe Biden and the Obama-Biden white House," Bobulinski will say, noting the work began in 2015 and continued through when Joe Biden left office in January 2017 through March of 2018.

Bobulinski will say CEFC’s "aggressive approach" to the Biden family began around the same time Joe Biden announced he would not run for president in 2016. Biden made that announcement in October 2015.

Bobulinski is also expected to call Hunter Biden "the Biden family’s weakest link."

Bobulinski is expected to testify that Joe Biden "was aware of the CEFC transaction, enabled it and had a constitutional responsibility and obligation to the American people to shut it down before it began."

"This is because CEFC had been identified as a known surrogate of the Chinese Communist Party by the U.S. Government and prosecutors in the Southern District of New York as far back as 2016, possibly earlier," Bobulinski will explain, noting that Biden "should have been aware that his own administration had red-flagged CEFC as a tool of the Chinese Communist Party." 

"This should have made any business transaction with CEFC a non-starter," Bobulinski will say.

BOBULINSKI OFFERED TO TESTIFY AT HUNTER BIDEN GRAND JURY BUT 'NEVER HEARD BACK': SOURCE

Meanwhile, Bobulinski will testify that he "personally met with Joe Biden in Los Angeles in May of 2017 multiple times to discuss the broad contours of our business dealings."

Fox News Digital first reported on those meetings between Bobulinski and Biden in October 2020.

"The only reason Joe Biden met with me privately during the Milken Institute Global Conference and seated me at his head table was because I was a business associate of the Biden family," Bobulinski will say.

Bobulinski will also explain that the Biden family members "were enriched to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from some of our most dangerous adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party and players from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Kazakhstan, and other foreign nations and entities." 

Bobulinski is also expected to say that the Biden family "knowingly and aggressively defrauded" him. 

Meanwhile, Bobulinski is expected to say that federal law enforcement has been "singularly unwilling to speak with me or hear the facts" he plans to share with the committee.

Bobulinski will say that he has "never" been contacted to testify in any federal investigation related to the Bidens, including with Special Counsel David Weiss’ team.

In October 2020, Bobulinski voluntarily went to the FBI’s Washington Field Office "with several phones containing years of encrypted communications between me and numerous members of the Biden family and their associates."

EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT

Bobulinski is set to begin by thanking the committee for giving him the opportunity to share the "facts and evidence" with the American people that he has "been trying to outline for over four years, all backed up and supported by emails, texts, documents, records, pictures, and other evidence."

Bobulinski served in the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Power Training Command as a decorated master training specialist instructor; the Command’s chief technology officer, holding "Q security clearance" from the Energy Department and from the National Security Agency; and later served as a direct input officer for the command in his final Navy Fitness Report.

"I am here today out of duty to God and country in a nonpartisan manner with only one party in mind, the party I served with honor and gratitude: the United States of America," Bobulinski will say, maintaining that he is "not a political person," while disclosing that he did make campaign contributions to Democrats, like Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., over the years.

Bobulinski first came forward with his story about Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his family’s business deals weeks before the 2020 presidential election.

"For nearly four years, I have tried to tell the American people the truth about serious corruption at the very top of their government," Bobulinski will say, referring to the Bidens. "In return, I have been falsely accused of being a purveyor of ‘Russian disinformation’ and a political surrogate."

Bobulinski will say that his efforts "to inform the American people of the facts have been actively suppressed by both the United States Government and the so-called ‘mainstream media.’"

Bobulinski is expected to urge congressional investigators to "remove your partisan hats today and focus on one party: the United States of America." 

The White House, President Biden, and Hunter Biden have maintained that Joe Biden was not involved in the family’s business dealings.