The White House dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Biden as “embarrassing” following a chaotic hearing on Wednesday.
Republicans’ efforts fizzled on Wednesday when an eight-hour hearing failed to produce a clear path forward for the investigation into the Biden family’s unclear relationship with foreign business interests.
“That hearing was embarrassing for House Republicans. A total waste of time. It’s time to move on from this sad charade. There are real issues the American people want us to address,” said White House spokesperson Ian Sams.
AOC TAKES HEAT OVER ‘RICO IS NOT A CRIME’ COMMENT IN BIDEN IMPEACHMENT PROBE HEARING
A White House lawyer wrote a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday saying the impeachment inquiry into President Biden is “over” and its “obviously time to move on.” (AP/Evan Vucci)
“This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment,” Sams said in a separate statement. “Call it a day, pal.”
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer said at the culmination of the hearing that the committee would need to hear from the president himself.
The president is unlikely to accommodate the committee’s desire for him to testify.
Comer has indicated he is likely to abandon plans to draft articles of impeachment against the president and instead submit criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
HOUSE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING ON BIDEN FAMILY ‘INFLUENCE PEDDLING’ WITH EX-HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATES
From left to right, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., attend the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office,” in the Rayburn Building. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The hearing investigating the Biden family finances broke down in chaos at one point as two of the witnesses began lobbing accusations at each other.
The exchange began after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., slammed Democrats for inviting former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas as their witness, referencing his past criminal convictions, and asking GOP witness Tony Bobulinski for his reaction.
“I think it’s laughable that the Democrats are asking Lev Parnas to weigh in on my credibility. A convicted felon, who served jail time. I have an impeccable record,” Bobulinski said.
A name plate for Hunter Biden is seen before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office,” in the Rayburn Building. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bobulinski added that Parnas “warned” him earlier in the hearing that Democrats were coming after him, to which Parnas responded, “I didn’t warn you. I said just keep talking, you’ll be there soon.”
“I look forward to that, Mr. Parnas,” Bobulinski responded.
Then two continued going back and forth until Parnas turned on Gaetz and criticized him for not asking him a direct question, to which Gaetz responded that he did ask him about his “illegal business dealings” earlier in the hearing.
Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Stepheny Price and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com