Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, appeared to have a short memory Thursday when he argued Republicans should have a full floor vote before beginning an impeachment inquiry.
The Oversight Committee began its first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden’s alleged public corruption and bribery concerning payments from overseas interests.
“We’ve had to slide awkwardly into a House impeachment process without the benefit of the floor vote that Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy insisted was absolutely imperative and necessary when Donald Trump was impeached,” Raskin said in his opening remarks.
“That’s exactly what has not happened here, because they don’t have the votes, because dozens of Republicans recognize what a futile and absurd process this is,” he added.
Raskin argued that Republicans have been looking for months and, “They’ve got nothing on Joe Biden.”
He also pointed out that in 2019, the then-Democrat-controlled House held a floor vote regarding going forward with an impeachment inquiry against Trump.
What Raskin left out is that vote took place on October 31, 2019 (appropriately Halloween), but then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorized a formal impeachment inquiry more than a month before,