Democrats call Biden impeachment inquiry 'about nothing,' GOP chair struggles to keep control
Republicans say Americans 'demand accountability."
House Republicans on Thursday held the first public hearing of their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Republicans say their House Oversight Committee inquiry is focused on whether Biden was involved in or benefitted from his family's foreign business dealings, among other issues. But so far, they have yet to release evidence that Biden profited from his son Hunter's business deals or was improperly influenced by them.
The White House has blasted the impeachment inquiry as "extreme politics at its worst."
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Democrats accuse GOP of doing Trump's bidding
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., was the latest Democrat to display Trump's social media posts behind her as she accused Republicans of doing his bidding.
"It's a campaign strategy ... we see the long arms -- but tiny hands -- of Donald Trump, and his fingerprints all over this impeachment," she said.
Republicans have largely ignored Democrats' jabs against Trump and his indictments, though one GOP lawmaker taunted Democrats.
"I love the fact that Trump lives rent-free in the Democrats' heads every day, that is a beautiful thing, even though we are here talking about the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden," Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said.
AOC: 'This is an embarrassment'
During her time to ask questions, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the allegations are "extremely serious," but called the hearing an "embarrassment."
She established that none of the four witnesses can give any firsthand witness account of any crimes committed by the president.
"This is an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country," she said.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., followed by saying he was concerned about the "seriousness of the allegations."
"We have all sorts of smoke, maybe not fire," he said. "It deserves a strong response from this body."
Witness for Democrats says flaw with inquiry is that 'name repeated most' is Hunter Biden
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, asked Democratic witness Michael Gerhardt what he believes is the "primary flaw" in the Republican claims about President Biden.
"Well, I suppose I can say a lot. The problem is the dots are not connected," Gerhardt replied. "The name repeated most often is Hunter Biden, not President Biden. And the point of an impeachment inquiry is not about a president's son, it has to be about the president himself and I don't think those dots connected. Lots of assumptions and accusations, not evidence."
Jordan potentially mischaracterizes Hunter Biden's former business partner's testimony
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called testimony from Hunter Biden's former business partner, Devin Archer, "the most telling evidence" of the president's potential involvement in an "influence-peddling scheme."
Jordan said that a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a Ukrainian company tied to Hunter Biden's was fired after Hunter Biden received a request from Burisma's top executive and then called his father, who "leveraged $1 billion of American tax money" to get the prosecutor fired.
But a review of Archer's testimony, detailed in a publicly-released transcript, shows that Jordan left out key parts of Archer's testimony and mischaracterized other parts of it.
Among other things, Archer said the request from Burisma's top executive wasn't specific to the prosecutor's firing, and he wasn't even sure that Hunter Biden called his father after getting the request.
--ABC News' Mike Levine and Luc Bruggeman
What to expect at today's hearing
The committee is expected to reexamine the findings of months of GOP-led investigations and offer an explanation as to why an inquiry is warranted.
"This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests," chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.
The committee will hear from four witnesses, three of whom were called by Republicans to provide testimony.
The panel's 46 members (plus other lawmakers) will be allowed to question the witnesses in a hearing that could stretch on for more than six hours.
Read more about what to expect from the hearing here.