Former President Donald Trump denied pushing the House GOP to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Biden last week.
“No, no,” Trump replied on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday when asked if he prodded Speaker Kevin McCarthy to open the inquiry. “He wouldn’t do it based on me, no.”
Trump also denied encouraging his Republican allies in the Capitol to back the inquiry, saying, “No, I don’t have to talk to them. …They’re more proactive than I am. They think it’s terrible.”
Several reports have suggested that Trump has quietly nudged several Republicans on the hill to back the inquiry. These reports stem from a phone call with House GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and a recent dinner with firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), according to CNN.
On Tuesday, McCarthy announced that he was directing three congressional committees to open an impeachment inquiry, which is a fact-gathering process preceding a formal impeachment.
McCarthy cited findings from the Oversight Committee and other Republican investigations that have raised questions about the Biden family’s overseas business dealings and a “culture of corruption” that pertains to it.
The White House has denied House GOP characterizations of the family’s foreign connections, highlighting Republican misgivings about the probe.
Trump himself has admonished the Biden family’s behavior in public and vowed to appoint a “real special prosecutor” to target Biden if he returns to the White House in 2024.
“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family,” Trump said in a June video message.
NBC News moderator Kristen Welker pressed Trump on whether he wanted to appoint an attorney general who will “prosecute the people you tell them to prosecute,” noting his pledge for “retribution” at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside of Washington, D.C., in National Harbor, Maryland, earlier this year.
“I’m looking to appoint an attorney general who’s going to be tough on crime and fair,” Trump responded.
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