Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in a heated exchange with Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, during a GOP-led impeachment hearing for President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
Ocasio-Cortez pressed Bobulinski to provide concrete evidence of a specific crime committed by President Biden. When he couldn’t pinpoint one, she redirected her scrutiny towards the Republican Party for persisting with the investigation despite its key witness facing FBI arrest for providing false information about the Bidens.
She initiated her questioning by asking Bobulinski if he personally witnessed President Biden committing a crime, to which he responded affirmatively without specifying the crime. Ocasio-Cortez pressed him further to name the crime he witnessed, to which Bobulinski mentioned corruption statutes and RICO.
Their exchange continued, with Ocasio-Cortez expressing frustration at the lack of a specific crime being identified. She then reclaimed her time, emphasizing that the impeachment inquiry lacked a clear accusation of a high crime or misdemeanor against the president.
Ocasio-Cortez criticized the basis of the impeachment inquiry, highlighting that it stemmed from a now-discredited document alleging a bribery scheme involving President Biden. She underscored that the individual who provided these allegations had been arrested by the FBI for falsifying testimony.
She argued that responsible leadership would withdraw the inquiry based on false evidence but criticized the committee for proceeding despite warnings and lack of credible grounds for impeachment. Ocasio-Cortez emphasized the absence of specific charges against the president and questioned the committee’s decision to continue the inquiry based on unreliable information.
It’s not here. Now, when we compare the chairman’s opening from his previous opening, he’s talking about Ukraine and Burisma and all of this. It is, this entire inquiry is based on a blockbuster piece of information that was in a classified skiff room. And inside that room was a document alleging President Biden directly of a $10 million bribery scheme, a $10 million bribery scheme is extremely serious!
But, what happened? What happened a month ago, Mr. Chairman, that document, the FBI arrested the person who offered those allegations for falsifying his testimony and to the FBI. This entire impeachment inquiry is based on an actual, provable individual who has lied. Now, responsible leadership would withdraw an inquiry based on that. Withdraw it.
Instead. What we are seeing is that this committee was warned about the falsehoods of these allegations long before that, warned by Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
And yet they proceeded anyway. The chairman proceeded anyway. This committee was warned by a Rudy Giuliani associate right here, Lev Parnas. After that document, about the falsehoods of this, then held hearings where your own expert witnesses said that there was no grounds for impeachment, and you proceeded anyway.
And finally, as if none of this was enough, the FBI arrested the individual who was the source of the entire, to quote the chairman heart of the matter, to launch this impeachment inquiry and proceeded anyway. At this point, the story is not the fact that the basis of this impeachment inquiry is wrong. The story is why it’s proceeding anyway. Why is this committee proceeding based on false charges?
And by the way, no charges. I have yet to hear in the chairman’s opening the allegation that they are specifically charging the president of the United States with. I’m hearing about Biden family. I’m hearing about this and that. I am not hearing the specific allegation. By this committee. What is it? It’s not here. And that is the problem. The story is when this committee knew that they were working with falsified evidence! That’s the story. And with that, I yield back.
