Category: fox-news/person/joe-biden

A road to impeachment: House Republicans may yet impeach Biden

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The Republican-led House of Representatives may yet impeach President Biden.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had to intervene to halt a snap impeachment this week by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. 

"Privileged" resolutions are a special commodity in the House. They are used in only special circumstances pertaining to the Constitution. That includes discipline of Members or impeachment. Such resolutions head to the front of the legislative line. The House must entertain such privileged matters almost immediately. 

Boebert grew tired of what she thought was dithering by House Republicans on potentially impeaching President Biden over the southern border. That’s to say nothing of questions many GOPers hold about the ethics of the President, alleged or perceived crimes and the misdeeds of Hunter Biden. But despite robust inquires into all of those matters by the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, Boebert had enough. She would go it alone and try to impeach Mr. Biden with her own privileged resolution. 

ADAM SCHIFF VOWS TO WEAR HOUSE GOP CENSURE LIKE ‘BADGE OF HONOR’

"I was tired of politicians telling us something that we wanted to hear back home, getting to where we send them and trust them to be our voice and doing something completely different. This isn't a talking point for me. This is an action item," said Boebert in an interview.

Any member may bring up a privileged resolution. But they’re usually the province of the minority party since they don’t control the floor. Still, Boebert and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., recently deployed privileged resolutions to go around House leaders and force action on their pet initiatives. 

Luna tried twice with a privileged resolution to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. The first measure failed. But the second one succeeded. 

MCCARTHY SIDELINES LAUREN BOEBERT'S PUSH FOR QUICK VOTE ON BIDEN IMPEACHMENT

This is ironic because Republicans long touted a return to "regular order" in their quest to run the House. In his effort to secure the Speakership, McCarthy promised that he wouldn’t just hand down bills from on high. He wanted legislation to gurgle up through subcommittees and committees before hitting the floor. Leaders wouldn’t drop legislation on lawmakers in the dead of night.

An attempt to punish a lawmaker with censure – the second most serious form of official discipline in the House – customarily goes through committee. The same with articles of impeachment. The Ethics Committee would usually spend months investigating the alleged misdeeds of a Member before sending a censure citation to the floor. Impeachment of the President could consume months of closed door depositions, public hearings and floor debate. That was the process for impeaching former President Trump in late 2019. However, the House was much more hasty in impeaching Mr. Trump the second time after the Capitol riot. 

But nothing says a member can’t introduce a privileged resolution to censure a fellow lawmaker or even impeach the President without going through the additional machinations. If the House votes to censure or impeach, you are censured or impeached. The mechanics aren’t required. 

Even if that’s the "regular order." Or, the "regular order" 

BOEBERT FORCING VOTE ON BIDEN IMPEACHMENT HITS NERVE WITH HER OWN PARTY: ‘PLAYGROUND GAMES'

"Maybe we’re redefining regular order," said Luna in an interview. "Maybe we’re redefining what the typical process would be and that Members have more of a voice."

Allowing his rank-and-file to have a "voice" is key to McCarthy’s political success as Speaker. He promised to give Members more say in the legislative process. The Speaker certainly agreed with censuring his Golden State nemesis Schiff for his role in the Russia probe. And even though McCarthy is no fan of President Biden, he knows that impeachments of Presidents come at tremendous political cost.

As Speaker, McCarthy must protect the integrity of the institution, the Speakership and the seriousness of impeachment. That’s to say nothing of guarding vulnerable Republicans from battleground districts who look askance at impeachment.

Lots of Congressional Republicans hint at impeachment to keep them in the good graces of conservative voters back home. But they know that impeachments are rare, and they may never have to vote on such a proposal, despite the feisty rhetoric. So to Boebert, talk was cheap.

That’s why she circumvented the customary committee process for impeachment, depositing a privileged resolution on the floor without the typical volutions. 

"Bringing up this privileged motion to impeach Joe Biden absolutely forces members to put their money where their mouth is. If most of the Republicans (governed) as they (campaigned), then we would be a lot better off," said Boebert.

But Boebert’s approach failed to impress some of her GOP colleagues.

"We can't turn impeachment into the equivalent of a vote of no confidence in the British Parliament," said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn. "When we do that we cheapen what impeachment is. It's supposed to be a tool of last resort. Not a first resort."

Boebert failed to appear at a meeting of all House Republicans Wednesday morning to present her impeachment resolution and gain support for it.

"I don’t think that one minute of speaking time at (the Republican) Conference was going to persuade anyone," said Boebert. "I don’t think that is something that took precedence for my busy schedule."

For the record, nearly every House Republican also attends those same meetings and somehow finds a way to wedge those weekly conclaves into their schedules.

"I believe in team sports you should work together. And this was an individual who was undermining the team," said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., about Boebert. "Impeachment shouldn’t be something that is frivolous and treated in that way."

McCarthy needed to thread the needle on Boebert’s resolution. But he too was unimpressed with the gambit by the Colorado Republican.

"You just don’t flippantly put something on the floor," said McCarthy. "You follow the investigation wherever it takes you."

McCarthy then met with Boebert.

"I don’t think that my actions are flippant," Boebert said afterward. "I believe they are very intentional."

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO CENSURING SCHIFF THIS WEEK

But McCarthy wasn’t going to let Boebert’s impeachment resolution on the floor. He also wasn’t going to expose vulnerable Republicans to a scenario where they voted to table the impeachment resolution and then caught flak from arch conservatives in their districts. However, McCarthy wanted to block Democrats from tabling the resolution, too.

So McCarthy crafted a special provision to handle Boebert’s impeachment resolution. The House would vote on a "rule" to send the impeachment measure to the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. How much those committees investigated is then up to them. But McCarthy’s plan made sure to keep Boebert’s resolution alive. And it simultaneously inoculated anti-impeachment Republican lawmakers so they couldn’t face criticism for dismissing Boebert’s effort. 

In addition, lawmakers like Fitzpatrick and Bacon got their wishes, too. Committees could now continue to investigate the President – with the possibility of impeachment.

"The timeline of our investigation is pretty much in our heads," said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn. "We kind of know the pathway." 

Boebert said she’d like to see the House impeach President Biden by the end of the year.

"If there’s ever a hesitation that the articles are not coming to the floor, then we’ll make sure that happens," said Boebert, noting she’d dial up another privileged resolution.

"We have to be ready to vote for any number of fanciful ideas that the House Republican Conference comes up with," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. "They are trying to out-MAGA and out-extreme each other."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., intends to impeach Mr. Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Washington, DC, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. But on Wednesday afternoon. Greene and Boebert engaged in an animated conversation on the House floor. Greene accused Boebert of stealing her impeachment idea. It was reported Greene called Boebert "a little b*tch." 

"They had a discussion," said McCarthy, trying to downplay the rhubarb between Greene and Boebert. 

Yours truly pressed McCarthy on if the confrontation was truly a "discussion." 

"I think it’s healthy that people have discussions," replied McCarthy.

When asked for her side of the story, Boebert simply walked away from a pack of reporters gathered on the Capitol steps.

"Thank you all so much. Have a great day," said Boebert. 

McCarthy sidelines Lauren Boebert’s push for quick vote on Biden impeachment

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The House voted Thursday to send an impeachment resolution against President Biden back to two House committees, a move that allowed GOP leaders to sidestep a push from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to hold an immediate vote on impeachment.

Lawmakers voted 219-208 in favor of shipping the issue back to committee – every "yes" vote came from Republicans.

Boebert filed a privileged resolution on the House floor Tuesday evening aimed at impeaching Biden over the border crisis, and it appeared to catch members of her own party off guard. A privileged resolution allows lawmakers to force a vote on the House floor without going through the committee, a move that key Republicans opposed because it skirts the regular process.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the move "flippant" in comments to reporters on Wednesday. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told Fox News Digital, "I wish she’d gone about it a different way."

EXCLUSIVE: BOEBERT INTRODUCES NEW IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS

But Boebert and McCarthy managed to strike a deal and the House Rules Committee, which sets procedural guardrails for every bill, drafted a rule to put the question of impeachment into the hands of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees.

The last-minute workaround reflects the continued tensions between House GOP leadership and a small group of hardliners who have managed to use McCarthy’s slim majority to advance their agenda and throw regular floor proceedings into chaos when their demands are not met.

The speaker can only afford to lose four Republicans to pass legislation assuming all Democrats oppose it.

Boebert called the resulting compromise with McCarthy to advance impeachment procedurally "historic" during remarks on the House floor before the vote.

GOP REP. OGLES INTRODUCES IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST BIDEN, HARRIS

"For the first time in 24 years, a House Republican-led majority is moving forward with impeachment proceedings against a current president. This bill allows impeachment proceedings to proceed through the traditional institutional channels by building a body of evidence at the committee level, through the Committees on Homeland Security and the Judiciary," she said.

"Biden's lawless disregard for our federal laws has incentivized more than 5.5 illegal aliens to attempt to cross the border, overwhelming Border Patrol and allowing an invasion to take place that is causing real harm to the American people," Boebert added. "The Biden border crisis and massive wave of illegal immigration has fueled a record breaking fentanyl crisis since President Biden has taken office."

IT'S TIME TO BRING IMPEACHMENT CHARGES AGAINST JOE BIDEN

Democrats accused Republicans of weaponizing the impeachment process against the president. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said the move "should disturb every patriotic American."

"I cannot overstate the solemness and sadness that I feel right now, to see the House so debased by the invocation of our most grave constitutional duty, impeachment of a president," she said. "Common sense is revolted by the political grandstanding and petty stunts allowed by the House majority. Days on end, wasted catering to the whims of an extremist minority."

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, said on the House floor, "They have a policy disagreement with President Biden. And their first impulse isn't, ‘Let's pass an immigration bill.’ Their first impulse is to impeach him. Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves."

Texas Republican pushes Biden impeachment over ‘false’ compassion for migrants, ‘reach’ of cartels into US

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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, scorched President Biden in a House floor speech Thursday demanding his impeachment, accusing the administration and Democrats of expressing "false" compassion toward migrants while allowing the "dangerous hand of cartels" to stretch into the United States. 

On Wednesday night, the House Rules Committee reported a rule to refer House Resolution 503 to the Committee on Homeland and Security and Judiciary laying out articles of impeachment against President Biden "for his failure to secure the southern border of the United States." 

"The laws of the United States are there expressly and specifically laid out to ensure that our border will be protected, that our nation will be secure," Roy told the House floor Thursday. "That is the fundamental question before us is when the Executive Branch fails to follow the law, when the Executive Branch fails to adhere to its duty to defend the Constitution, the laws of the United States, then what is it that the Congress – that the People's House – is supposed to do in response?"

"The founders gave us a mechanism, and here today we are talking about putting forward and referring these articles to the Homeland Security Committee for determination of the extent to which the homeland is, in fact, not secure as a direct consequence of the refusal of the administration, well beyond maladministration, but very specifically the refusal to follow the laws of the United States that is resulting in the direct consequence of the death and damage to the American people.," he continued.

DESANTIS ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE COALITION OF 90 SHERIFFS TO PUSH BACK AGAINST BORDER CRISIS

Roy said since Biden took office, there have been more than 5 million illegal migrant encounters along the southwest border – including more than 240,000 illegal immigrants encountered at the border in May alone. Since the "relaxed enforcement" of Title 42, he argued about 2 million illegal immigrants have successfully evaded border agents, based on "relatively conservative accounting," Roy said. He said data shows 125 individuals from the terrorist watch list have been encountered this fiscal year, compared to about 98 in all the last fiscal year and about 10 in the last year of the Trump administration. 

In his floor speech, Roy referenced a recent opinion from U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas Reed O’Connor laying out how illegal immigrants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal migrants. The sentencing information shows that on behalf of the Juarez cartel, the defendants participated in a migrant smuggling conspiracy. 

The smuggling organization charged $10,000 to smuggle an adult illegal immigrant to the U.S. and between $12,000 to $14000 to smuggle a child.

The order lays out how authorities discovered that there was an illegal immigrant in Baltimore who was being held for ransom so that his family would not be abused by the Juarez cartel. The cartel member allegedly told the husband, "They would do things to his daughter he would not like," if he did not make a payment of $23,000, Roy said. 

"This is the state of affairs in our country. And this is the consequence to those migrants who were seeking to come here when my colleagues in the false name of compassion state that open borders is somehow good for them," Roy said. "But this is causing crime to extend into our communities. This is causing us to experience the dangerous hand of cartels. Just this morning, we had more news about cartels and their reach into Texas, into the United States. It is an everyday occurrence. Bailouts, damage to ranches, harm to Texans, death to Texans, fentanyl. How many more fentanyl moms? How many more angel moms? How many more Americans need suffer because this president refuses to follow the laws of the United States that he raised his hand and swore an oath to defend?" 

NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS

In a fiery response, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., slammed the House Rules Committee for convening Wednesday night to deploy emergency procedures to refer the Biden impeachment resolution to committee. 

"What a spectacular emergency. Truly something that needed to be done immediately," McGovern scoffed. "We all know the truth. The real emergency here was that the Georgia wing and the Colorado wing of the MAGA caucus got into a fight right over -- right over there on the House floor about who gets to impeach the president first. The truth is that Speaker McCarthy has lost control of this House, and it is being run by the MAGA fringe. This is nuts." 

Since the end of Title 42 on May 11, the Democrat argued that unlawful entries along the southern border have plummeted. As of June 6, Customs and Border Protection reported over 70% fewer encounters between points of entry or unscheduled encounters per day, McGovern said, adding that "fentanyl seizures have increased under the Biden presidency." 

"They would rather talk about building a stupid wall along our southern border that they know won't work," McGovern said of Republicans. "Or about a non-binding resolution they put on the floor this week that demonizes migrants but does nothing to fix our immigration system. I mean, they have a policy disagreement with President Biden and their first impulse isn't let's pass an immigration bill. Their first impulse is to impeach him. Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves." 

Before yielding his time, Roy responded to McGovern’s remarks. 

"I would just note that this morning, Texas DPS troopers arrested a Gulf cartel operative in the Rio Grande Valley moving smugglers across the river, having paid thousands of dollars, moving five illegal immigrants into the United States," Roy countered. "This is somebody that had been affiliated with a dangerous cartel. It's happening every day of the state of Texas because this administration refuses to do its job." 

Rep. Boebert says she will use a privileged motion to bring impeachment articles against Biden

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., revealed on Twitter she will bring articles of impeachment against President Biden using a privileged motion.

"BREAKING: I am bringing my articles of impeachment against Joe Biden to the House Floor in a privileged motion, meaning that every Member of Congress must vote on holding Joe Biden accountable," Boebert tweeted Tuesday evening.

The Republican lawmaker has contended Biden remains negligent on the U.S. border, failing to keep Americans safe from an influx of deadly fentanyl and criminal activity as well as failing to relieve the strain on the country’s immigration system.

"Biden intentionally ceded command & control of our border to cartels. His dereliction of duty caused the deaths of over 900 Coloradans from fentanyl, enabled sex-trafficking, & allowed an invasion," she wrote in a subsequent tweet. "I brought my articles of impeachment up via a privileged motion to force a vote."

EXCLUSIVE: BOEBERT INTRODUCES NEW IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS

The motion will require all House members to go on the record regarding the impeachment articles, according to the congresswoman.

Last week, during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Boebert accused Biden of mishandling his "constitutional duty to secure our southern border" and said she would introduce the impeachment articles if her party leaders failed to do so.

"Given the severity of the violation of Joe Biden's constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of the president, United States to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, this is something that we must do with our majorities in the House of Representatives," Boebert told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "This is our duty because Joe Biden has neglected the constitutional duty of the office of President of the United States."

IT'S TIME TO BRING IMPEACHMENT CHARGES AGAINST JOE BIDEN

"I introduced the articles of impeachment in the last Congress and had fully intended to introduce them this Congress, but I was also giving some other committees and leadership the opportunity to lead on this," Boebert continued.

She added: "It's about Joe Biden's failure to secure the southern border."

"And I did this so at any time, if the committees and or leadership does not step up and actually do something about the president's failure to secure our southern border and keep the country safe, then I will call my legislation my articles of impeachment for a privileged motion," Boebert explained.

GOP REP. OGLES INTRODUCES IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST BIDEN, HARRIS

Her motion may not result in an immediate vote, however, as leadership has two days in accordance with House rules to decide how to proceed.

"Under Rule IX in the House, we can bring up certain pieces of legislation under a privileged motion. So I would go to the House floor and call up my articles of impeachment and read it in its entirety. And at that point, leadership has a maximum of two days to respond and see if it's going to be sent to committee or a vote on the articles themselves," Boebert told Fox.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has also introduced articles of impeachment against President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during this session of Congress. They were introduced on June 12, and Boebert is a cosponsor.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also introduced articles of impeachment against Biden and other Biden officials including Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and U.S. attorney Matthew Graves. She may also use a privileged motion to force a vote. Boebert is not a cosponsor. 

Boebert, who has remained a vocal critic of the Biden administration since she was first elected in 2020, won her first re-election contest by a mere 546 votes. The closeness prompted a recount, which confirmed the result.

Immigration levels over the southern border with Mexico have witnessed historic highs under Biden.

Fox News' Houston Keene and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Hunter Biden agrees to plead guilty in federal tax, gun case

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Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty in the federal case stemming from years-long investigation into his tax affairs, Fox News has confirmed.

Fox News has confirmed that the president's son will plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. Hunter Biden also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. That investigation into his "tax affairs" began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations." 

Fox News first reported in 2020 that the FBI had subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019. 

2011 EMAILS REVEAL HUNTER BIDEN HELPED BUSINESS ASSOCIATES GET ACESS TO VP BIDEN , TOP AIDE

In December 2020, weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Biden publicly acknowledged he was under investigation related to his taxes. At the time, Biden said he took the matter "very seriously" and was "confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors." 

IT'S TIME TO END THE PROTECTION OF HUNTER BIDEN: JACK KALAVRITINOS

The firearms charge stemmed from allegations that Hunter Biden lied during a gun purchase in 2018. 

Fox News first reported in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018, when a gun owned by Hunter Biden was thrown into a trash can outside a market in Delaware.

A source with knowledge of the Oct. 23, 2018, police report told Fox News that it indicated that Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden's late son, Beau, and who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, threw a gun owned by Hunter in a dumpster behind a market near a school.

A firearm transaction report reviewed by Fox News indicated that Hunter Biden purchased a gun earlier that month.

On the firearm transaction report, Hunter Biden answered in the negative when asked if he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?"

Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.

The White House reacted to the charges Tuesday morning. 

"The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement. "We will have no further comment."

Questions surrounding Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings entered the political conversation in 2019. Former President Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launch an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings—specifically why then-Vice President Joe Biden pressed Zelensky's predecessor to fire a top prosecutor investigating Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden held a lucrative role on the board. 

That phone call prompted the first Trump impeachment. Republicans, in their defense of the former president, zeroed in on Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, even suggesting Biden testify as part of the impeachment proceedings. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump in December 2019, but he was acquitted by the Senate. 

Republicans in the Senate, like Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also began investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings in 2019. Grassley and Johnson released a report out of their joint investigation in September 2020. 

In that report, Grassley and Johnson said they obtained records from the U.S. Treasury Department that showed "potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals." The report also stated that Senate investigators found millions of dollars in "questionable financial transactions" between Hunter Biden and his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow as well as individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

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In the fall of 2022, Grassley and Johnson flagged to the FBI that they were in possession of whistleblower allegations suggesting the bureau had "significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden" and related to Hunter's work with Burisma Holdings. 

And when Republicans took the House majority following the 2022 midterm elections, the House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., ramped up its investigative work, focusing in on the Biden family and whether their foreign business transactions put U.S. national security at risk. 

The White House has maintained that the president never spoke to his son about his business dealings and that the president was never involved in them. Officials also say the president has never discussed investigations into members of his family with the Justice Department.

The charges against the first son come after an IRS criminal supervisory agent seeking whistleblower protections said the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was being mishandled by the Biden administration. 

The whistleblower claimed "clear" conflicts of interest, including giving the president’s son "preferential treatment." The whistleblower also claimed politics are "improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected."

The White House has fired back against those allegations, saying that Biden has upheld his commitment to ensure the investigation is "free from any political interference."

Meanwhile, a separate whistleblower has alleged that the FBI and the Justice Department are in possession of a document that describes a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. 

Comer and Grassley said the whistleblower claims the document "includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose."

The document, which Comer subpoenaed, an FBI-generated FD-1023 form, allegedly details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions. 

The White House on Wednesday slammed what it said were "unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the president and his family" made "without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests."

"When it comes to President Biden’s personal finances, anybody can take a look: he has offered an unprecedented level of transparency, releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public," White House spokesman Ian Sams told Fox News Digital. 

EXCLUSIVE: Boebert introduces new impeachment articles against Biden over border crisis

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., introduced articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden on claims that he mishandled his "constitutional duty to secure our southern border."

"I introduced the articles of impeachment in the last Congress and had fully intended to introduce them this Congress, but I was also giving some other committees and leadership the opportunity to lead on this," Boebert told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

While the congresswoman is giving others the opportunity to act, Boebert warned that if leadership does not "actually do something about the president's failure to secure our southern border and keep the country safe" then she will introduce the impeachment legislation under a privileged motion.

"It's about Joe Biden's failure to secure the southern border," Boebert told Fox News Digital. "And I did this so at any time, if the committees and or leadership does not step up and actually do something about the president's failure to secure our southern border and keep the country safe, then I will call my legislation my articles of impeachment for a privileged motion."

GOP REP. OGLES INTRODUCES IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST BIDEN, HARRIS

Boebert explained what her impeachment process would look like if she decides to call her impeachment legislation.

"Under Rule IX in the House, we can bring up certain pieces of legislation under a privileged motion. So I would go to the House floor and call up my articles of impeachment and read it in its entirety. And at that point, leadership has a maximum of two days to respond and see if it's going to be sent to committee or a vote on the articles themselves," Boebert told Fox.

IT'S TIME TO BRING IMPEACHMENT CHARGES AGAINST JOE BIDEN

Boebert also cosponsored her Tennessee GOP colleague Rep. Andy Ogles' articles of impeachment against the president and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday.

"I support any article of impeachment that is filed that qualifies Joe Biden for impeachment under our Constitution," Boebert said Tuesday. "So I'm happy to be a co-sponsor of Andy Ogles articles of impeachment."

The congresswoman urged Republicans to use their majority to take immediate action against the Biden administration.

"Given the severity of the violation of Joe Biden's constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of the president, United States to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, this is something that we must do with our majorities in the House of Representatives," Boebert stressed. "This is our duty because Joe Biden has neglected the constitutional duty of the office of president of the United States."

GOP Rep. Ogles introduces impeachment articles against Biden, Harris

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FIRST ON FOX: Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles introduced articles of impeachment on Monday against President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ogles’ articles accuse Biden of having "weaponized" the presidency, both in his tenure as president and vice president, to "shield the business and influence peddling schemes of his family from congressional oversight and public accountability."

Additionally, the articles accuse Biden of acting in a "manner contrary to the public trust and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States" with his handling of the southern border crisis.

Ogle's effort will likely face an uphill climb in the House, where a small minority of Republicans have pushed for Biden's impeachment.

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Harris’ impeachment articles take aim at her track record as vice president as well as her handling of the southern border crisis, accusing the vice president of having "extraordinary incompetence in the execution of her duties and responsibilities and an indifference to Americans suffering as a result of America’s ongoing southern border crisis."

"Joe Biden hasn’t just failed the American people with his abysmal excuse for ‘leadership’ — he’s violated his sworn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," Ogles told Fox News Digital.

"Joe Biden has repeatedly abused his position of power, both as vice president and president, to cover up his illicit family business dealings and exploitation of taxpayer resources," the Tennessee Republican continued.

"The American people know they can’t depend on the so-called ‘Department of Justice’ to investigate the Biden family’s corruption, and so it’s up to the U.S. Congress to hold him accountable once and for all," Ogles added.

Ogles said, "Biden is a disgrace to the Oval Office and should be stripped of his position and held responsible for his high crimes against the United States" and that his "accomplice" Harris "has demonstrated her extraordinary incompetence time and again."

"She has allowed the land invasion at our southern border to continue unchecked, threatening the livelihoods of millions and the lives of thousands who have been murdered at the hands of illegal aliens and died from illicit fentanyl," Ogles said.

Specifically, Biden’s articles accuse him of having failed to comply with "congressional requests for information and documentation, violating a personal commitment to transparency."

Additionally, the articles also accuse the president of withholding "a critical FD–1023 form until threatened with a congressional subpoena" that "reportedly details a bribery scheme in which members of the Biden family, including Joseph Robinette Biden, received $5,000,000 each to assist Burisma Holdings," the Ukrainian company of which Hunter Biden sat on the board.

In her impeachment articles, Harris is accused of having "consistently refused to visit the southern border to ascertain the root causes of the ongoing crisis, aside from a single trip hundreds of miles away from the epicenter of the migrant crisis."

"In permitting an invasion of illegal aliens and illicit drugs into the United States, as well as facilitating the extenuation of a major humanitarian crisis, Vice President Kamala Devi Harris has directly betrayed the public trust of the United States, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States," the articles read.

Ogles’ impeachment articles come as Biden faces a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017.

The White House did not immediately give comment on the impeachment articles.

Lawmakers demand answers from DHS about funding school program linking GOP, Christians to Nazis

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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security is targeting conservative Americans and must answer for bankrolling a university program that has explicitly lumped the Republican Party, as well as Christian and conservative groups, into the same category as Nazis, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

Biggs, along with 15 House Republican co-signers, sent Mayorkas the letter on Friday, calling on him to stop DHS's alleged targeting of the Biden administration's political opponents. 

"Under your leadership, the Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly targeted conservative Americans for lawfully expressing their First Amendment rights," the letter states. "The Constitution prohibits the federal government from suppressing the free speech of Americans, by any means, including the use of third parties to engage in unconstitutional attacks on free speech. But this unlawful federal speech regulatory regime continues to be the norm under the Biden administration."

Biggs highlights a DHS grant program that, he says, provides funding to organizations that "openly demonize and equate mainstream conservatism with domestic terrorism," adding that it's Mayorkas' "duty to stop this un-American politically motivated targeting of ideas."

UNIVERSITY PROGRAM LINKING CHRISTIANS, REPUBLICANS TO NAZIS GRANTED DHS FUNDS UNDER 'ANTI-TERROR' INITIATIVE

The letter refers to a story first reported by Fox News Digital in May showing how DHS is doling out taxpayer money through an anti-terrorism grant initiative to a university program whose work has explicitly targeted the American political right.

The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, obtained documents through Freedom of Information Act requests spotlighting controversial recipients of DHS's Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program (TVTP). The government initiative provides funds to various public, private, and non-profit institutions — such as universities and county governments — "to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism." Grant applicants must be based in the U.S. and implement a U.S.-based program.

The Biden administration has awarded 80 grants through the TVTP totaling just under $40 million. DHS named one of its TVTP goals as "media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives," which many grantees listed as the mission of their projects.

One grantee was the University of Dayton for its PREVENTS-OH program, which DHS awarded $352,109 to "draw on the expertise of the University of Dayton faculty" to fight "domestic violence extremism and hate movements."

The university's grant application submitted to DHS linked in a footnote to a controversial Dayton conference where an academic researcher presented a chart titled the "Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization."

Among the organizations and movements displayed on the pyramid were the Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, Fox News, Breitbart News, the National Rifle Association, PragerUniversity, Tea Party Patriots, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement, and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The pyramid also included hate groups like The Base, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, and the Daily Stormer, a pro-Nazi publication, seemingly comparing them to mainstream organizations such as the GOP.

In 2021, the University of Dayton held a seminar called "Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precarity" featuring several experts on extremism who compared mainstream conservatives to genocidal extremists.

The university's grant application to DHS linked to video of the conference, describing it as indicative of the university's work "to assess regional needs and capacities for violent extremism prevention" and directing government evaluators to view it for more information.

One speaker at the conference presented the "Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization." Another compared the Trump administration to the Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia that killed an estimated 1.5 million-2 million people from 1975-79. A third presenter compared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposing a volunteer civilian military force to assist the National Guard in emergencies such as hurricanes to the Nazis' Holocaust during World War II.

Another speaker at the event was a DHS official who appeared virtually in his official capacity to deliver a short presentation.

"Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precarity" wasn't the only controversial conference conducted by the University of Dayton. At a separate seminar titled "White Nationalism Workshop," the same researcher who presented the "Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization" spoke and explained how "antifascists" could "de-platform" alleged fascists — comparing them to the mainstream political right — by surveilling, infiltrating and physically confronting them.

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At the same event, another professor displayed images of anti-COVID lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate protesters, suggesting they were infiltrated by hate groups.

In order to promote its work to the city of Dayton, PREVENTS-OH sent the city an image, named Anti-Rights Movements and Democratic Regression, featuring a caricature of a Second Amendment supporter above the words "Why do we have a radicalized society."

Both DHS and the university of Dayton noted the controversial conferences were separate from, and pre-dated DHS awarding money to, PREVENTS-OH, adding they don't target or discriminate against groups expressing their constitutional rights. Neither addressed the fact that the school included the seminars in its grant application, which DHS reviewed.

"President Biden's authoritarian Department of Homeland Security is weaponizing limited taxpayer money and department resources to crush conservatives in America," Biggs told Fox News Digital. "This department appears to be taking guidance directly from George Orwell's 1984 novel, in which a police state controls all speech and pummels all dissenters. America must never become that society."

"Secretary Mayorkas must answer my questions in full and justify why a multi-million-dollar counter-terrorism program designed to prevent the next Osama Bin Laden is being used to prey on innocuous conservatives," the congressman added.

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Biggs' letter poses 16 questions about TVTP grants and DHS's approach to extremism and terrorism, requesting answers by June 11.

The letter also calls out DHS for awarding seminars led by "extremists" rather than targeting groups that "promote and amplify civil unrest and racial violence like Antifa and Black Lives Matter."

The document adds that the Biden administration shouldn't be awarding grants relating to combatting domestic radicalization to organizations and municipalities that "lack the ability to discern between speech and legitimate political decisions they disagree with and domestic terrorism."

In the letter, Biggs calls it "especially concerning" that TVTP grants were very much on the radar of DHS leadership. Mayorkas called the program a "high priority" in a document obtained by the Media Research Center.

"Secretary Mayorkas thanked the grantees for their work, and he reassured all in attendance that this program is a priority for the department and that the work being done is of the highest importance," the Maryland Department of Emergency Management wrote in its notes and documentation of the 2022 TVTP Grantee Symposium, which Mayorkas hosted.

The letter comes amid calls for Mayorkas to resign due to his handling of the ongoing crisis at the country's southern border. Several Republican lawmakers have pushed the idea of impeaching him for allegedly neglecting his duties.

Biggs and his letter's co-signers weren't the only ones to take note of Fox News Digital's reporting on DHS's grant to the University of Dayton.

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also highlighted the story on his podcast earlier this week.

"It's the latest example of the Biden administration being more than happy to weaponize the federal government to use the powers of the federal government to target you," said Cruz. "They're engaged in propaganda, and the propaganda is saying that anyone right of center is a terrorist, anyone right of center is a Nazi, anyone right of center is a Klansman. It is the vicious lie that the radical left pushes often… why is the government funding this? They're funding it because they want to give fuel to the fire attacking those they view as enemies of the regime."

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Cruz called out what he described as a double standard of many academics and U.S. officials targeting conservatives but not looking more into radical groups such as Antifa. He added that both the House and Senate should hold hearings on this issue to examine that taxpayer money is being spent responsibly on anti-extremism programs.

DHS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Trump says Biden family is ‘being protected’ by the ‘corrupt’ and ‘one-sided’ justice system

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Former President Trump said President Biden and his family are "being protected" by the "corrupt" and "one-sided" justice system in the United States, while telling Fox News that he should not have been impeached—especially if officials were aware, at the time, of Hunter Biden’s "evil" laptop.

During a Fox News town hall hosted by Sean Hannity in Clive, Iowa Thursday night, Trump railed against the "witch hunts" that he’s faced throughout his political career, while illustrating a double standard between how he is handled versus Biden and his family.

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"They’re being protected, and it’s a one-sided system—it is a very unfair system, but they’re being protected," Trump said.

The former president referenced then-Vice President Joe Biden’s efforts to have a Ukrainian prosecutor fired and halt an investigation into Burisma Holdings—a Ukrainian natural gas firm where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

During a call in July 2019, Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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, and Joe Biden’s successful efforts in having the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, ousted.

Trump's request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats cited as a quid pro quo arrangement. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.

But Trump’s questions about Hunter Biden were not unfounded. Hunter Biden, at the time of Trump’s first impeachment, had already been under federal criminal investigation for his tax affairs, prompted by suspicious foreign transactions, for more than a year.

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That investigation, which is ongoing and being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Delaware, was opened in 2018.

Fox News Digital first reported the existence of some type of federal investigation involving Hunter Biden in October 2020, ahead of the last presidential election. It became known then that the FBI had subpoenaed the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in the course of an existing money laundering investigation.

"When you look at all of this criminality like the laptop has so much stuff on it," Trump said during the town hall Thursday. "It’s so bad. It's so evil, and yet, they don’t want to do anything."

Trump said the laptop "even affected the impeachment hoax number one." 

"If they read the laptop, and they had the laptop, it should not have proceeded, because I was right," Trump said. "It is a dual system of government."

Trump added: "You can’t have law and order in a country where you have such corruption."

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 also impeached in January 2021 on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—making him the first and only president to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice in history.

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Meanwhile, Trump shifted, reflecting on the Russia investigation. 

"From the day I got in, I was under siege by people that had been in Washington for many years, put in there by different presidents," Trump said. "In most cases, people that were against me."

He added: "They spied on my campaign, they did all sorts of things. I was under investigation and under siege and so were my people." 

Trump said that if he "wasn’t tough," he "wouldn’t be here right now." 

"I guarantee that if I didn’t fight back, I wouldn’t be here," Trump said. "What they did was so bad, and they’ve been caught now." 

Trump was referring to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report, which Fox News Digital first reported last month. Durham, after years of investigating, found that the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law" when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation.

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Durham was appointed by former Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the FBI's original Russia investigation, known as "Crossfire Hurricane." That investigation looked into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Durham also found that the FBI relied significantly on "investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents." 

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"So far, nothing’s happened to them of consequence," Trump said. 

Durham is expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on his investigation's findings later this month. 

Biden, Cruz condemn Uganda law allowing death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined President Biden in condemning a new law enacted in the East African nation of Uganda allowing the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality." 

"This Uganda law is horrific & wrong. Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is grotesque & an abomination," Cruz tweeted on Monday. "ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse. #LGBTQ" 

President Biden released a statement Monday calling for the immediate repeal of the legislation and threatened possible punitive action.

"The enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a tragic violation of universal human rights – one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country," Biden wrote. "I join with people around the world – including many in Uganda – in calling for its immediate repeal. No one should have to live in constant fear for their life or being subjected to violence and discrimination. It is wrong." 

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Biden said he directed the National Security Council "to evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda, including our ability to safely deliver services under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other forms of assistance and investments." 

The administration "will also incorporate the impacts of the law into our review of Uganda’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)," the statement said. "And we are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption." 

The White House noted that the U.S. government invests nearly $1 billion annually in Uganda’s people, business, institutions and military. 

"This shameful Act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda," Biden wrote. "The dangers posed by this democratic backsliding are a threat to everyone residing in Uganda, including U.S. government personnel, the staff of our implementing partners, tourists, members of the business community, and others." 

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"Since the Anti-Homosexuality Act was introduced, reports of violence and discrimination targeting Ugandans who are or are perceived to be LGBTQI+ are on the rise," the White House said. "Innocent Ugandans now fear going to hospitals, clinics, or other establishments to receive life-saving medical care lest they be targeted by hateful reprisals. Some have been evicted from their homes or fired from their jobs. And the prospect of graver threats – including lengthy prison sentences, violence, abuse – threatens any number of Ugandans who want nothing more than to live their lives in safety and freedom." 

The version of the bill signed Monday by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni does not criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ+, a key concern for some rights campaigners who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights. The new law still prescribes the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people, according to The Associated Press. 

A suspect convicted of "attempted aggravated homosexuality" can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, according to the legislation.

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Parliamentary Speaker Anita Among said in a statement that the president had "answered the cries of our people" in signing the bill. Museveni had returned the bill to the national assembly in April, asking for changes that would differentiate between identifying as LGBTQ+ and actually engaging in homosexual acts. That angered some lawmakers, including some who feared the president would proceed to veto the bill amid international pressure. Lawmakers passed an amended version of the bill earlier in May.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.