Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the House should begin impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden over evidence suggesting his influence was sold to foreign agents.
Haley, a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, made the comments during an appearance on “Gutfeld!” on Fox News Thursday night. The panel, led by Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, were discussing a 2017 WhatsApp message that allegedly shows Biden’s son invoking his name to shake down a Chinese businessman.
“Why can’t they start impeachment right now?” Gutfeld asked, after comparing the allegations against Biden to those against former President Donald Trump about a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before Trump’s first impeachment.
“They absolutely should,” Haley responded. “Why doesn’t the media force him to get up and answer questions about it? If this were any other president, truly, think about it, they would have to be standing at a podium answering questions from the press on what did you know, when did you know it, how did you know it?”
“If the Justice Department is not going to do it, Congress should do it. But somebody needs to do it. It smells bad all day long,” Haley said.
She went on to tout the credibility of the allegations against Biden and his son.
“This whistleblower is actually legit. The guy was there 14 years. I mean, you’re not talking about some guy that showed up and decided to say something,” she said, referring to IRS agent Gary Shapley, who blew the whistle on what he says was Department of Justice interference with an investigation into the president’s son to protect the Bidens.
Haley spokesman Ken Farnaso told The Daily Wire in a statement: “Nikki believes Congress needs to get to the bottom of whether Joe Biden committed crimes or other impeachable offenses since the Justice Department refuses to do it. That process starts with a Congressional oversight investigation.”
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) released testimonies from Shapley and another IRS agent last week that alleged corruption at the Department of Justice and White House. One of the most significant revelations from those testimonies was the release of a 2017 WhatsApp message allegedly sent by Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, an executive for the Chinese energy company CEFC.
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“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter allegedly wrote to Zhao. “And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
President Biden has denied involvement in the alleged shakedown. An attorney for Hunter has dismissed the message. “[A]ny verifiable words or actions of my client in the midst of a horrible addiction are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” Hunter attorney Chris Clark said in a statement.
This piece has been updated with a statement from Haley’s campaign.