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MaddowBlog

From The Rachel Maddow Show

New GOP impeachment resolution targeting Biden joins long list

As a GOP lawmaker introduces an impeachment resolution targeting President Biden, it's a good time to ask: How many of these measures are we up to now?

By Steve Benen

Rep. Greg Steube isn’t exactly known for moderation. Last month, for example, the Florida Republican said he believes President Joe Biden might’ve committed “treason,” and the congressman is counting on a future GOP administration to “move forward with charges like that.”

Steube, however, isn’t necessarily prepared to wait that long to go after the Democratic president. Last week, the far-right Floridian appeared on Newsmax, a conservative media outlet, to boast about a new impeachment resolution he intended to file, which he said would go after Biden “for bribery, for extortion, obstruction of justice, fraud, [and] financial involvement in drugs and prostitution.”

To the extent that reality still has any meaning, there is literally no evidence to suggest the president is guilty of bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, fraud, or financial involvement in drugs and prostitution, but as The Hill reported, the congressman wasn’t kidding.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) announced he filed articles of impeachment against President Biden on Friday. In a statement, Steube’s office said he filed the articles against the president for “for high crimes and misdemeanors.” The articles feature accusations of fraud, obstruction of justice and bribery stemming from allegations of illegal business dealings and tax crimes.

For the record, the text of the impeachment resolution really does accuse Biden of “financial involvement in drug and prostitution activities,” which I think breaks new historical ground for unhinged congressional allegations against a sitting American president.

There is no reason to assume anyone will actually take Steube’s measure seriously — it currently has zero co-sponsors — but its introduction got me thinking: How many Republican impeachment resolutions targeting Biden are we up to now?

The answer, it turns out, is six.

  1. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was first, unveiling her anti-Biden impeachment resolution on May 18. (It currently has four co-sponsors.)
  2. Rep. Bill Posey of Florida acted on the same day, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution also on May 18. (It currently has one co-sponsor.)
  3. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee was next, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution on June 12. (It currently has three co-sponsors.)
  4. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was fourth, unveiling her anti-Biden impeachment resolution a day later on June 13. (It currently has four co-sponsors.)
  5. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas was fifth, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution on June 22. (It currently has zero co-sponsors.)

And now Steube has joined the unfortunate club. (There are, incidentally, other pending impeachment resolutions targeting other members of the administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, among others.)

I don’t seriously expect any of these resolutions to pass the House, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly raised the prospect of an impeachment inquiry, increasing the odds of a fierce political showdown. Watch this space.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."