Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blamed former House Speaker Pelosi for his decision to open an impeachment investigation that does not meet the DOJ standard for legal validity.
McCarthy said when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju why he changed his position and didn’t hold an impeachment investigation vote, “Let me answer your question. I answered it every single day. Nancy Pelosi changed the precedent of this House. It doesn’t preclude — Nancy Pelosi changed the precedent of this house on September 24th. It was withheld and good enough for every Democrat here, it was good enough for the judge, why would it have to be different today?”
Video:
Kevin McCarthy blames Nancy Pelosi for his refusal to hold a vote on a Biden impeachment investigation. pic.twitter.com/ZFDbwIirX5
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) September 13, 2023
Kevin McCarthy was lying.
What Speaker McCarthy left out of his answer was that Speaker Pelosi did hold an impeachment investigation vote in October for Trump’s first impeachment. The impeachment investigation was authorized by the full House, which is something that McCarthy has not done, and the DOJ wrote in a January 2020 legally binding opinion that the House is required to do in order for its subpoenas to be valid.
Speaker McCarthy has started a possibly invalid impeachment investigation that he is blaming Speaker Pelosi for. None of this is Pelosi’s fault. McCarthy did not have the votes to open an impeachment investigation, so he tried to shortcut his way around the House and open the investigation anyway, and this decision could come back to haunt him if and when the entire investigation falls apart.
