S.C. Rep. Ralph Norman says there’s not yet the votes for impeachment
South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said there are not the votes in the U.S. House to impeach President Joe Biden yet, but supports the inquiry regardless of the potential political divisions it could foment among Republicans.
“No, I do not,” Norman replied when asked Wednesday by McClatchy if his caucus had amassed enough support for impeachment. “We didn’t try. Everybody wants the evidence. You just don’t do this.”
But the congressman insisted there’s “absolutely” enough evidence to merit the inquiry around the president’s role in his son’s foreign business transactions.
“Let’s see where the links are, if there are links. Influence-peddling is a pretty serious offense,” Norman said. “You and I could debate this back and forth. Let the evidence go where it will. Our jury is the American people.”
Following a briefing from House Oversight Chairman James Comer, Sen. Lindsey Graham said evidence surrounding Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities was “compelling.”
“How this turns out, I don’t know. But it needs to be investigated,” Graham said.
The White House has deemed the impeachment “illegitimate” and the president said Wednesday that Republicans “want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government.”
Congress is up against a tight time frame to avoid a government shutdown. Both the House and Senate must clear a dozen appropriations bills by Sept. 30.
Norman is one of the House conservatives refusing to approve a continuing resolution to fund the government unless he sees substantial cuts.
“We’re going to drive a hard bargain on basic things,” he said in the interview. “I’ve been disappointed in the spending. Very disappointed in the spending.”
But Norman batted away any potential concerns about opening an impeachment inquiry while negotiating spending cuts.
“I could care less about the political optics. I could care less about the political risk. Look, you do the right thing,” he said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 10:45 AM.
