GOP lawmakers have drawn a line regarding what they say is “undeniable evidence of corruption” involving Hunter Biden, his father, and their extended family, with the Oversight Committee chairman, Congressman James Comer, stating that “evidence continues to support an impeachment inquiry.” Meanwhile, the White House is enlisting two dozen lawyers ahead of an expected impeachment. 

This comes as Hunter Biden faces the possibility — however uncertain — of being charged with felony tax and gun offenses in California or at Washington, D.C., by Special Counsel David Weiss, as well as with possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, while also being subpoenaed by the House GOP. 

During an August 27 appearance on Fox News, Speaker McCarthy said that opening an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden is the “natural step forward.” He added that such a move would provide Congress “with the apex of legal power” to get the information it needs.

The opening of an impeachment inquiry would allow Mr. McCarthy to deputize one or more committees to run the investigation, which would likely be led by the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees — all of which have played leading roles in exposing the younger Mr. Biden’s financial dealings. 

Mr. Comer pulled no punches in his appraisal of the matter, saying over the weekend on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “an overwhelming amount” of evidence “now shows POTUS participated in his family’s influence peddling schemes. The American people deserve accountability.” 

Meanwhile, influential Democratic press figures are warning of the prospect of impeachment while giving their elected officials talking points to beat back the GOP investigation. During a recent episode of the popular liberal podcast Pod Save America, two of President Obama’s former aides — Dan Pfieffer and Alyssa Mastromonaco — called the push to impeach Mr. Biden “a circus.”

“Congress has investigated this for over a year,” Mr. Pfieffer said. “A U.S. attorney has investigated this — Hunter Biden — a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who is now a special counsel has investigated Hunter Biden for five years. In that time, the media has dug deep into this — right-wing media, mainstream media — have thrown all their resources at this and never at any time have they found a single shred of evidence that Joe Biden did anything improper with respect to Hunter Biden’s business dealings.”

Mr. McCarthy has already said he would require a majority of the House to vote in favor of establishing an impeachment inquiry for the process to move forward — unlike Speaker Pelosi, who launched President Trump’s second impeachment  unilaterally. 

“To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes,” the speaker told Breitbart News. “The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives. That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.”

The White House says that the impeachment of Mr. Biden will only “backfire” on the GOP, leading to higher approval ratings for the president, as happened for Mr. Trump during his first impeachment in late 2019 and early 2020. 

“This baseless impeachment exercise would be a disaster for congressional Republicans, and don’t take our word for it: just listen to the chorus of their fellow Republicans who admit there is no evidence for their false allegations and that pursuing such a partisan stunt will ‘backfire,’” the White House’s spokesman for oversight and investigations, Ian Sams, said in a statement. 

In a sign of how it is preparing for an impeachment of the president, the Biden administration has hired key officials to beat back any effort in both a public relations battle and behind the scenes. On August 22, Mr. Biden announced that a Chicago attorney, Ed Siskel, will become his White House’s top lawyer in the coming days. 

Mr. Siskel previously served as deputy White House counsel during the Obama administration, when he dealt with Republican congressional investigations, including of the notorious Benghazi and “Fast and Furious” affairs.

Mr. Comer has already said he plans to subpoena the first son in the ongoing investigation, which continues to make its case that the Department of Justice slow-walked or even obstructed Mr. Weiss in his probe of the younger Mr. Biden. 

Another star of the looming impeachment inquiry could be the younger Mr. Biden’s former friend and business associate, Devon Archer, who said in a July interview with the Oversight Committee that Mr. Biden was selling the “illusion of access” to his father and often dialed his father into business meetings with foreign clients. 

A legal representative for Archer did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether his client had spoken with congressional Republicans about appearing before their committee again.