By: Benyamin Davidson

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on Sunday that Republicans in the House could vote this week to authorize the impeachment probe of President Biden.  As per CNN, Republicans are looking to formalize their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, and to strengthen their position against the president’s son, as this will be necessary in order to obtain key documents and further testimony.  As the legal battle develops, the White House recently told Congress that the inquiry lacks constitutional legitimacy without a formal vote by the House.  The House had never voted, rather the inquiry was launched unilaterally in September by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Also, last week, Hunter Biden, who told Congress that he is willing to testify publicly in the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry into his actions rather than in a private deposition.  On Friday, Republicans held a key conference meeting regarding the impeachment efforts and to try to convince holdouts in the GOP to go along for the inquiry vote.  Many see Johnson (R-Louisiana), a former member of the House Judiciary Committee, as a critical figure for getting reluctant GOPers on board with formalizing the inquiry and to building momentum for the President’s impeaching.

Johnson, 51, was also busy last week with two ritzy Manhattan fundraising events.  As reported by the NY Post, Johnson raised more than $1 million to help New York Republicans maintain and grow the GOP majority in 2024 congressional races.  The two events last week were organized with the help of House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik.  The first event was a luncheon at the Empire Steakhouse in Midtown East, at which Johnson spoke.  The event listed billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone global private equity firm, as a host. The reported asking price to “host” the events was $50,000 to $100,000. The luncheon was attended by billionaire businessman and WABC radio owner John Catsimatidis.

The second fundraiser was at the Upper East Side home of Haim Chera, head of Vornado Realty whose father had been close friends with former President Donald Trump. That event was co-hosted by real estate mogul Harry Adjmi, who is also the CEO of apparel giant One Step Up, and by former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, who ran for governor of NYS against Gov. Kathy Hochul.  An individual donor could donate up to $373,4000 to the joint Grow Majority NY fundraising account, which was set up to help re-elect NYS’s House GOP delegates.

Johnson said the House was “moving forward on the impeachment inquiry imminently – potentially this week,” an attendee at the first event said.  Still, the two events were mainly focused on raising funds to keep Republicans in control of the House.  In his speech, Johnson, who lives in Louisiana, emphasized his commitment to NY and said he will become “an honorary New Yorker” this election cycle.  Per the Post, who quoted an attendee, he said his Italian-American mother and his firefighter father made him feel at home in NYC and Long Island.

“New York will decide the House Majority in 2024 and thanks to Speaker Johnson’s strong leadership we will be victorious,” Stefanik told The Post.  NY’s congressmen were present at the events.  “Thank you to Speaker Johnson and Chairwoman Stefanik for prioritizing New York and ensuring we have the funding necessary to protect our seats and grow our Majority,” said Rep. Michael Lawler.