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Biden's Impeachment Is Invalid According Legally Binding Trump DOJ Opinion
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Biden's Impeachment Is Invalid According Legally Binding Trump DOJ Opinion

In 2020, Trump's DOJ issued a legally binding opinion that impeachments are invalid unless they are voted on by the House.

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Sarah Jones & Jason Easley
Sep 13, 2023
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House Republicans Hit A Biden Impeachment Roadblock

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did not have the votes to pass an impeachment resolution against President Biden through the House of Representatives, so he launched the investigation himself.

Republicans have been spending the day on the defensive as they try to justify an evidence-free impeachment investigation.

However, House Republicans have a bigger problem. During the Trump presidency, the DOJ issued a legally binding opinion that any impeachment that is not authorized by the House is invalid.

According to the opinion written in 2020 by the DOJ Office Of Legal Counsel:

[W]e conclude that the House must expressly authorize a committee to conduct an impeachment investigation and to use compulsory process in that investigation before the committee may compel the production of documents or testimony,

The House had not authorized such an investigation in connection with the impeachment-related subpoenas issued before October 31, 2019, and the subpoenas therefore had no compulsory effect.

According to the DOJ, the only valid impeachment investigations are authorized by the House. If the House has not authorized the investigation, the subpoenas are invalid and the respondents can’t be compelled to comply.

In other words, Trump’s DOJ created an issue for House Republicans that we will discuss below.

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