The claim that there is "no direct evidence" that President Joe Biden was involved in the same corruption as other members of his family is a "flat-out lie," according to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Cruz said as much during an appearance Tuesday on the Fox News Channel's Hannity. There, Cruz weighed in on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) decision to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
"Today, I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe," McCarthy said on Tuesday, adding, "This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public."
The inquiry, at least initially, appears to be investigative in nature - that is, it has the purpose of discovering whether or not Biden has committed an impeachable offense. The purpose of launching the formal impeachment inquiry is to give the investigators tools that they otherwise would not have.
In the past day or so, many members of Congress have weighed in on McCarthy's decision. Some support it, while others do not. Cruz belongs to the former category.
Cruz, during his Hannity appearance, said, "Today, the House of Representatives announced they are formally opening an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. I think that’s exactly the right thing for them to do. I’ve been calling on the House to do this for many months now."
Not everyone, however, feels the same. And, some of those who disagree with the inquiry have argued that it is unwarranted because - they claim - there is no evidence that indicates that Biden was involved in the corruption of other members of his family, such as his son, Hunter Biden.
Cruz flatly rejects this claim.
He said:
You know, the latest talking points Democrats are trying to trot out in response to this impeachment inquiry is there is no direct evidence of Joe’s involvement in the corruption. So, they’ve pretty much given up on Hunter. Yeah, Hunter’s corrupt is the day is long, but there’s no direct evidence of Joe’s involvement. That’s what they’re saying. Now, that’s a flat-out lie.
Cruz went on to explain the difference between circumstantial and direct evidence. In Biden's case, Cruz argued that there is both circumstantial and direct evidence of Biden's involvement in his family's corruption.
As an example of the direct evidence, Cruz pointed to "Joe Biden’s admission in front of the Council on Foreign Relations that he held a billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer . . . hostage in order to force the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian oligarch."
Cruz continued:
That is one of the critical elements of bribery, of the quid pro quo. Quid pro quo, as you know, is Latin for this for that. The "that" Joe Biden has admitted to that is direct evidence that he’s admitted to. The only question is, is there the "quid?" Is there the $5 to 10 million of payments? Now, on that, there is circumstantial evidence. There are the million dollars plus of payments to the Biden family, and there is also the consistent pattern of obstruction and covering it up, which in any court of law you would draw a negative inference from.
The White House, nevertheless, continues to insist that House Republicans have "no evidence - none - that [Biden] did anything wrong."
Biden, for his part, says that he is "not focused" on the impeachment inquiry. Instead, he claims to be focused on "the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day."
